The death of Sushant Singh Rajput has shaken the Hindi Film Industry and given rise to the nepotism debate again. There have been discussions on the power dynamics in the Industry and the dangerous lobby it nurtures.
As social media, especially Twitter tried to make sense of the demise of the young star, various theories were thrown into the mix. Various theories suggested that the death was indeed a murder and not suicide. Even as these theories were not substantiated, a widespread discussion took place on Twitter. One such theory included producer Karan Johar at the center.
Karan Johar has been criticized for brewing nepotism in the industry and after the death of Sushant it has only blown up. Coming to Karan’s rescue is the acclaimed filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma. Varma has come out in support of Johar and called him the bigger victim. He called those who are targeting Johar as being jealous of the filmmaker. He said,
“Of the people who are venomously targeting Karan Johar partly they are outright ignorant of how things work in the film industry and partly they hate his success and are just taking advantage of poor Sushant’s death to vent their suppressed jealousy towards Karan Johar.”
Talent is Subjective
Talking about Nepotism in an interview with Siddharth Kanan, Ram Gopal Varma claimed that without nepotism the society would collapse. He said that nepotism is the basic human tendency to favor his immediate family rather than the most deserving one. He asked,
“Should Shah Rukh Khan launch someone unknown instead of Aryan just because someone is more talented?”
Ram Gopal Varma also sheds light on the word talented. He said,
“Talent is subjective. A filmmaker is the one who decides whether the actor is talented with respect to the role he is casting for.”
He further went onto comment on people who are outraging on social media that none of them were talking about Sushant missing out on films before his death. He also said people who are talking against Johar, will go and ask him for work once the fake storm trickles down. As for nepotism debate, he said,
“Sushant might have turned down many films for many reasons. He might not have liked the store or whatever. Like how Sushant has the right to exercise his choice of working with someone, the filmmaker too has a choice to work with anyone he feels like.”
In the end, Varma said that many so-called insiders who are targeted for being successful are successful because of those people who have watched their films. He further said, at this time, Johar is the bigger victim.
Source: Pinkvilla
