Gulf News

EISENBERG LAUNCHES AUDIO DRAMA

Producer Karan Johar has been accused of promoting nepotism in his projects

- By Manjusha Radhakrish­nan Chief Reporter

There was a time when being under the wings of high-profile Bollywood producer and director Karan Johar was a matter of pride, but his cult status seems to have changed dramatical­ly since the death of Sushant Singh Rajput.

Johar has been accused of promoting nepotism and star kids blatantly in his projects. The charge has intensifie­d ever since the self-made actor Rajput was found dead at his residence in Mumbai on June 14.

As soon as the trailer of Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl starring Janhvi Kapoor dropped, its producer Johar has been ambushed with online hate and calls for a boycott. Many have been trolling Kapoor’s wooden expression­s in the trailer.

Interestin­gly, the name of Johar’s production house Dharma Production­s has been expunged from the poster and trailer — prompting many to question if the web streaming giant Netflix had distanced themselves from the controvers­ial producer to avoid the movie being adversely affected.

There have been several calls online to boycott this film as a mark of solidarity towards Rajput, who many feel didn’t get his due in the Hindi film industry since he wasn’t born into a movie dynasty. Kapoor is late legendary actress Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor’s daughter. Many have openly declared that they will not watch the film, but will read the book instead.

The film, based on India’s first female combat pilot Gunjan Saxena, was scheduled to release in theatres in April, but due to the pandemic it’s now releasing directly on Netflix on August 12.

 ?? Photos by IANS, PTI and supplied ?? Karan Johar.
Janhvi Kapoor in ‘Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl’.
Photos by IANS, PTI and supplied Karan Johar. Janhvi Kapoor in ‘Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl’.

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