Sep 4, 20203 min read

What is Nepotism in Bollywood?

Updated: Jul 11, 2023

Nepotism. I am very sure you have heard this term a lot in the past few months. I am not going to talk about the context it has been talked in as much as I am going to talk about the angle of nepotism we should consider looking at.

When I said nepotism, most of you imagined mental images of Bollywood, didn’t you? But this is where most of us often go wrong. Yes, nepotism is prevalent in Bollywood but it also exists in all other industries of our country.

So, firstly, let’s start by defining nepotism. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, nepotism is defined as “favoritism (as in appointment to a job) based on kinship”. In other words, it’s when you get some kind of work done on the basis of the relations or connection you might have, for example- your family, close friends, etc. Now that we’ve cleared that up, wouldn’t you all agree that we have used nepotism to our advantage at atleast one point of our lives?

Don’t take me wrong, I am not saying nepotism is necessarily good, but it isn’t something that only a exclusive class or industry practices. Talking about Bollywood, it got it’s status of an industry only a few decades ago and the conversation on nepotism started when some “non-filmy kids” started calling out some directors for favouring “filmy kids”.

Many of us know this is true and I won’t deny it either but let’s try to look at it this way- directors have to go through a lot of processes just to get their movie produced, shot, released and made widely available for everyone to notice and watch it. With such high stakes at hand, they would prefer known names which help give their film the extra boost that it needs.

When it comes to this, I myself am not a big fan of choosing popularity over talent but then I try to think of it this way- If I’m an insider, I will have the door right in front of me to open and enter while for some outsider(who will be an insider for some other industry if he or she had chosen that industry), he or she will have to climb the stairs, look for the right door and then enter it. Then again, whether either of them gets kicked out of the door, is based on their skill, ability and talent.

Moreover, we also need to realise that nepotism is not a product or part of only Bollywood. Almost every industry involves some level of nepotism, whether it be real estate, politics, corporate business and so on.

While having this same discussion with a friend recently, she said- “Coming from a Marwadi family, if my family had my own business and even if some qualified dude comes up, my dad wouldn’t give him a chance just like that, right? It’s a family business he’ll go with someone from the family. For trust issues and a 10,000 different reasons.”

This just enforces my previous statement. To add to it, I would like to mention that unfair use of being an insider is wrong but blaming someone because they were born as an insider is also not that right either.

So, then what would be my suggestion to you? It’s simple. Don’t just skim on the surface of all the Instagram stories and loud, TRP-grabbing news shows. Go beyond the surface and dive deeper into the roots, causes, effects and justifications of this existence of nepotism in Bollywood and so many other industries, because only then will we be able to think of a viable, thoughtful opinion and solution to this term “nepotism”. Therefore, to end, I would like to share this quote by Malcolm X- “When ‘I’ is replaced with ‘we’, even illness becomes wellness.”

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Have you ever felt like an insider in one place and an outsider in another? Feel free to share your experiences in the comment box below. Also, if you liked this blog or related to it in any manner, please don’t forget to like, comment, share it with your family and friends and for further blog updates follow me on my Instagram handle https://www.instagram.com/helzeeblog/ and also on WordPress. See you next time! Till then, always remember, Be brave. Be strong. Be great. ♥