There were whispers of it before, no doubt, but all hell broke loose when Kangana Ranaut made went on Karan Johar’s show and called him the flagbearer of nepotism. Naturally, every media outlet carried the news and Ranaut was praised for having belled the cat. Johar was lambasted on social media and his “nepotism rocks” stunt at an awards show didn’t help matters – it seemed like no matter what he did, KJo was not going to be able to rid himself of that particular image. Now, in an exclusive interview with us, Johar shares his views on the topic:
“I don’t want to talk about my struggles, it’s not like I had the most cushy existence and my father wasn’t this mega film-maker who made a hundred blockbusters and then introduced me. I always say that nepotism exists in Bollywood like it does in many industries. Yes, it gives you access and it gives you the privilege of your first opportunity, but if you fall or fail, you will be out. While there are 5 or 10 examples of nepotistic stars achieving something, there are 300 who are not on the radar anymore. I mean there are enough and more of movie stars who are not from the film industry who are phenomenal movie stars today. This conversation started on my show, so I feel like I’m partially responsible for it,” he said.
“Kangana [Ranaut] came, said what she had to and left, caused the storm and it continues to have this impact. I’m not even holding anything against her. She said what she had to. Honestly, if you ask me, I don’t think Kangana even realised what she was saying would cause this stir. If I feel Varun Dhawan is good for the part, so what if he is David Dhawan’s son? Should I not launch him and find somebody just because I should not adhere to this nepotism phenomenon? I never said I was running an NGO. I’m running a bona fide commercial entity. I’m very excited to introduce new talents. Some will be from the fraternity, some will not. I’m done with being apologetic about it. There have been 15 to 16 directors whose films have been produced by me who are not from film families. No one talks about that,” he added.
Read the entire interview HERE.
