Currently the whole nation is awakening and is raging with the topic ‘Nepotism’. Everyone is putting their thoughts out by writing blogs, sharing pictures, videos, comments to highlight the scenario and the consequences associated with it. The real question that is prevailing is “Has it all started now?” “Is there something wrong in it?” Should it be stopped? Before all these, one needs to know what nepotism is.
Meaning of Nepotism
Nepotism is a noun that derives from the Greek word nepos which means nephew. It refers to the action of favoring family and friends with jobs, public positions, awards or other favors for the mere fact of being close. This favor is usually done as they do not have the merits to be able to occupy those places or privileges. It somehow contains emotion and is definitely an unethical act.
However, if one passes their business to their children then it is not Nepotism because “business” belongs to their personal property. But if a person passes a public opportunity to some other person just because of their acquaintance and some talented gems loses their opportunity in this process then this is what we call Nepotism.
Moreover, if we will get deeper inside the topic then we will realize that it comes under some natural human reactions and habits.
Nepotism in Bollywood
Everyone is blaming one or the other celebrity for making a successful career of starkids. But the reality is it's the audience who were and who are supporting their careers. Star-kids are being offered with the platforms however, audiences are the ones who are making or breaking their career. We as an audience, are the ones who are awestruck by the starkids and are showing our interest in them, at times even before their launch or debut in films.
Nepotism and Talent
There is nothing wrong in following the profession of the family predecessor and getting into the same industry as your parents or relatives. The problem arises when they follow shortcuts and instead of getting into the audition rounds they get projects on their platter. Preferring someone over the others (because of favouritism) leads to a shift in providing opportunity to someone with less talent and skills as compared to someone with abundance of talent and skills.
If we check the record of past few years then we can see that the actors like Taapsee Pannu,Kriti Sanon,Nawazuddin Siddiqui,Ayushmann Khurrana,Rajkumar Rao, etc has grown tremendously in the industry. Moreover, the most interesting fact here is none of these actors are from filmy background and neither have any Godfather in the industry. They are shining and growing on the basis of their Talent, Skill and Hard Work.
Also, we can say that there are various platforms available for the aspiring actors to get opportunities inside the film industry. Platforms like FirstCut App application, which is the result of passion and curiosity to find the best and new talents for the entertainment industry. It connects the Casting Directors, Production Houses and Casting Agencies to the budding stars of Bollywood.
Conclusion
Real Talent needs to be found whether it is a star kid or a layman starting and making his career into a different industry whether they come from a pre-established background or not. What is wrong is passing an opportunity to someone else just because of their hold in industry. Due to these actions some talented gems lose their opportunity and some don’t even dream to get into the industry.
There are a lot of star-kids who are extremely talented and on the other hand there are star-kids who disappoint us. The thing which needs to be stopped is the handholding. If the opportunities are given to those who really ace at it and evaluations made on common grounds, then everything can function smoothly.
Patience and hardwork always makes a person progress in each and every field or industry. So, there is a message to all the aspiring actors that you will grow and glow and the key to this is “Consistency” and “Hardwork”.
Evolution has started and the stereotypical thinking of launching only starkids has started decreasing. There are a few people who are still following these trends but there are a lot of casting agencies who are offering opportunities to everyone on the basis of their talent, without getting biased.
For instance, applications like FirstCut App offers the platform and great opportunities to all the talented and aspiring actors to move ahead in their journey of becoming an actor. One has to upload his audition video online in the application and will get the best opportunity depending upon their talent and requirement of the roles.