Qissa Controversy Ka: SSR and Nepotism!

14th June 2020. Bandra West, Mumbai. It has been 12 days since Sushant Singh Rajput has left the world. We accept it or not but, his death has impacted us to a great extent more than any other death in the film fraternity. There are uncountable rumours regarding his death and it is really shameful that it took a Death to realize the roots of Nepotism and Favourites that run in this industry! In the blog post, I would just like to share some radical views about the statements and the controversies that evolved after his death.

                              

• JUDGEMENTALITY: Probably after the Nepotism debate, the most talked-about reason for his suicide is the Rhea Chakraborty And Mahesh Bhatt angle. Just because intimate pictures between Mahesh and Rhea have started doing rounds on the internet, the public has come to the conclusion(let alone an assumption) that there is something brewing between the two. Well, it is very obvious that the partner/spouse is suspected in that case but reaching conclusions without evidence is absolutely incorrect. Moreover, Sushant ended a 6-year-old relationship with Ankita Lokhande and then that did not propel him to take this drastic step. Then, it seems weird how can a 2-year-old relationship with Rhea push him to suicide! Moreover, society has become judgemental (as usual) towards Rhea (because in our patriarchal society men are 'allowed' everything) and declared her a murderer! Moreover, the capability and the genius SSR was (💔) a fight between a  couple is normal since, we do not know the reason for the fight, calling it a purposeful fight directed by Mahesh Bhatt is absolutely incorrect.  

                                                     

• NEPOTISM:  There has so much that has already been spoken and that is absolutely correct and Karan Johar is definitely at fault. One focus that really needs attention in this is the fact about the Indian hypocritic audience. We cannot skew Nepotism to only the producers for showing us, but also the audience for investing in it (case in point 'Dhadak/ Student of the Year/Kedarnath)! As Akshaye Khanna has said previously said, "If you ask a random person walking on the street if he would like to watch X person's movie or Akshay Kumar's son Aarav's movie, the person would obviously pick the latter." This statement does make sense. Nepotism exists everywhere but we single out the INDIAN film industry because for every other field there is an 'entrance test' like for Medical it is NEET/Engineering is AIEEE/IIT which is definitely not there in the industry. For star kids, it is all getting into the family business by giving 'look tests'. For an outsider, it is always about the entrance test or the 'BIG BREAK' if they need to get into the industry. Funny enough, the star kids get multiple chances to prove themselves but outsiders have only 1 movie to prove their mettle. This is definitely wrong and there can be a little hope of change especially because the audience NOT present on social media drives approximately 60% of the box office collection so if you want to boycott star kids, this news should reach that section/Tier-3 cities of India. Even in Hollywood, Nepotism tried to exist but tremendously failed otherwise we would have had Colin Hanks (s/o Tom Hanks), Patrick Schwarzenegger(s/o Arnold Schwarzenegger) rocking the box office but barely people know them. Of lately, actress Adah Sharma has also pointed out that how in spite of a supporting role in Dharma's 'Hasee Toh Phasee', she was not allowed to be part of the promotions and it was only Sidharth and Parineeti doing the entire thing which pretty much clears as to why people are upset majorly with Karan Johar.

                                                       

•  FUN FACT: Even after being in the Hindi film industry for over 9 years now, Taapsee Pannu has still not featured on Vogue India's Cover Page whereas, in the June 2018 and August 2018, Jhanvi Kapoor and Suhana Khan featured on it. Why? Maybe because Karan Johar and Vogue Editor Anaita Shroff Adjania are close friends? Or is it not a phenomenon of Favouritism? Moreover, Taapsee has never been invited to Koffee with Karan as well.

                                                          

• ELITISM IN NEPOTISM: Surprisingly, even amongst the 'privileged' star kids, the phenomenon of Elitism seems to be present. Surprisingly enough, it is suspected that this elite group mainly consists of the Johar, the Pandeys, the Kapoors (majorly Kapoors) it is really disheartening to see actually some good products of nepotism like Akshaye and Rahul Khanna (s/o actor Vinod Khanna), Rohan Mehra (s/o actor Vinod Mehra) etc lost among the glossy showy kids from the airport looks. It is definitely no surprise to see Archana Puran Singh's son, Sanjay Kapoor's daughter, Sridevi's younger daughter gracing the big screen in 2-3 years and we, the audience paying to watch them (for sure).

                                                        

• MILKING OPPORTUNISTS: Definitely, Divya Khosla Kumar has the best PR team! She knows how to receive attention and single out someone who spoke up against the 'music mafia'. If T-Series was promoting 'talent', why are the majority of the songs are sung by Tulsi Kumar (an awful singer) and Dhvani Bhanushali (daughter of Divya's relative) whose music singles are every time produced and presented by T-Series? If they were good singers, why didn't other music labels run after them the similar way they run after Darshan Raval, Asees Kaur etc? Not far behind is yesteryear actor Sonam Kapoor who should realize that it was Mr Kapoor's karma that she was born there (good or bad, we leave it for Mr Kapoor to decide). Yes, it is definitely not her fault that she was born at Mr Kapoor's house but it is definitely her fault if she is arrogant, stubborn and justifying her place in an industry she literally walked into. Not to forget, Mrs.Ahuja's BFF Swara Bhaskar who is out supporting Karan Johar.

                                                        

• THE REAL VILLAINS: We have had enough of Blame Game. One of the real villains is INDIAN AUDIENCE. Since a long time, the Indian Society is a Hypocritic Society and we refuse to accept this fact. These days we criticize Nepotism, a few days/months later we shall be watching their movies and making them the next superstar and a potential outsider (currently Kartik Aaryan) will lose out on films the same way Sushant lost out Ram Leela/Befikre because Ranveer had a two 50crore+ and a 100 crore+ grosser and Sushant just had 1 movie over 50 crores (Kai Po Che) back then. The reason the Indian Audience needs to be called out is, if these things did not affect their movie-going experience Bigg Boss would have not run for 13 seasons! Apart from Karan Johar, it is really surprising that reports do not comprise of Sajid Nadiadwala's name: a man who launched Tiger Shroff, Nandish Singh, Bhagyashree's son and is currently launching Ahan Shetty (Sunil Shetty's son) with the RX100 remake. It seems like a pact that KJo will launch the Kapoors whereas Naidiadwala shall launch others. It is fairly surprising but true if such kind of pattern is observed in the near future. Moreover, the silent villains include the paparazzi which since their birth have been feeding people with newsfeeds of airport look/no makeup look etc. The Media has always been autocratic and if anyone attacks them it becomes a way of curbing 'Right to Freedom of Expression'. Therefore the double standards of Indian Audience and the Autocraticity of Media need to be checked before calling out to producers like KJo, Sajid Nadiadwala because after all, they are in the business of making money: money the audience provides!

                                                

As for SSR, it was very heartbreaking that he found this way out. He did inspire a lot of us because of his humble and hard-working nature, being there for everyone (people claim). It is really heartbreaking and shocking to see him go, but we look forward to his last Wonderful Work in Dil Bechara which unfortunately releases on Disney+Hotstar on 24th July 2020. I hope that people may thank you for inspiring them when they stand on stage after an achievement!