According to the most commonly used dictionary these days, which we all know as Google, Nepotism is defined as “the practice among those with power or influence of favouring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs.” However, considering the current scenario, Nepotism in India means “practice among producers/directors/actors casting their relatives or friends in a movie.”
This article is not about Nepotism, it is about the ongoing fight against Nepotism. It is to understand and figure out if we are doing it the right way. Let’s start where it all started. This wave began with the death of a great and underrated actor Sushant Singh Rajput. When news broke out about his passing it radicalised the masses. T.V channels, politicians, Twitteratis, Instagrammers not to forget the fans of the actor unanimously blamed Nepotism.
Nepotism exists, has existed and I assure you it will continue to exist in every field you can imagine. Our history, our mythology, the stories we enjoy and even the current political situation are some of the brilliant examples. Our gods chose their offspring for responsibilities. Every time they needed a new god they would coronate one of theirs. The “God” did not give power to just any ordinary human, sent his son Jesus down here. Odin left the throne to Thor. Kings always made their child the heir. In Marvel comics, Black Panther leaves the mantle to his sister. Iron man makes his best friend the Iron Patriot. Politicians choose their friends to be in a powerful position. Hence the whole concept of having a party in the first place. That’s too big, let me bring it to everyday life, the founder of my school chose his wife to be the Principal. The founder of my society chose his relative to be the secretary. The guy who runs the billing counter at the grocery store is the nephew of the owner. Relatable yet?
Now that we have established that we all grew up to see Nepotism in every field on every step of our life, let’s proceed with the question, “Why now?”.
What is different this time that triggered us despite we being used to it?
Let’s consider a few possibilities and try to understand it.
This has not been proven that SSR chose to not live his life because of Nepotism, however since that is the general opinion let’s consider that the base of it.
So, are we protesting Nepotism much more than ever because it caused someone’s death, and death makes things serious?
Let’s try and search for people who killed themselves for getting denied of an opportunity because it was given to someone related to the person-in-charge, you will find not one, but hundreds of such cases, indeed that has happened before and did not cause a protest. So must be something more.
Now, some of us are saying, Nepotism exists more in the industry than anywhere else, and it needs to be protested.
Again, let’s look up specifically the people who killed themselves because they were denied opportunity in the industry. SSR had a big name, a reputation, some talented people do not get a chance to so much as even audition for a gig because of Nepotism. Do we know their names, did any of us read any such news someday and decided to protest Nepotism?
Would it be baseless to consider that this wave of protest and anger came out because it involved a famous film star?
I would say, no, it will not be incorrect or baseless.
Several of us are protesting Nepotism, however, none of us thought of a way to eliminate it, or come up with some great idea where it can be fair for those who are fortunate and those who are not.
We are considering Nepotism one of the bad things, I agree, it most certainly is not beneficial for the majority. I being a part of the majority have been denied several opportunities due to the existence of it, however, if we understand the origin of Nepotism, what triggers it, will we still be able to protest what causes it? The will to help those who you consider your own, your closest and dearest is what causes it. The will to help your loved ones to do something good with their lives is what triggers it. The motive behind it is not to deny an opportunity to those thousands and millions of strangers they don’t even know, it is to uplift the ones they do. Being in a position of power would you not want to give your kids that extra boost possible to make their life better, give them everything you couldn’t get, and if you don’t then what was the point of achieving so much. I know some will still not do it, but again, the issue is that the majority is suffering, so let’s again stick to the majority and we all know deep down that most of us will do whatever it takes to help the ones we love. I am not defending Nepotism, I am simply trying to understand it. And what I understood is that as long as love exists people will be biased, as long as people are biased there will be favouritism and as long as there is favouritism there will be Nepotism.
Anyways, the purpose of this article was to find out a way to make things better. People have suffered, their hearts been broken because of it, so if not Nepotism then what shall they fight, what shall they change? Well, you think of it. If you are fighting Nepotism what would you rather replace it with? Equal opportunity? Consider yourself a producer, there are thousands of people outside your office every day asking for a chance to show their skills. Can you do that? Check each one of them out? I am sure not. Now among those are the few who are way more talented than people who are already working, but do we or they have any way to filter out the cream? One look at them cannot decide that, or else there will be another wave of revolution which will protest giving opportunities to actors based on their looks.
The actual reason for the film industry to practice more Nepotism is because we are the ones who have turned them film stars into gods. It’s not something they asked for but because of how obsessed we are with their lives we get religious when it comes to them. It’s because we treat film stars with so much love that everyone would want to be one. Hence the huge crowd outside the office. But who do you choose now?
A producer who is a businessman or businesswoman would choose someone they can make money off. Do you think they all hire star kids because they are very close to their parents? I think not. It is because before the kids even become teenagers we start anticipating their arrival in the industry, we wait for it, we demand it. A producer simply invests in the interest of the majority. It’s not even necessarily Nepotism at that point, just a decision taken to profit off our interest.
Let me lay out some examples of how we show our interest. Before they make their own official page they have fan pages made of them. If Nepotism was doing it, then they all would get success and will keep getting endless opportunities, but all they get is a break, getting ahead of the line, standing apart from the rest of the crowd. We are curious to see if they are good enough, we also want to have their parents’ legacy continue and we most certainly feel pleased when they are able to do good. Right after the announcement, you start seeing “fan pages”, I am yet to come across one that says “anti-fan-page-do-not-launch-this-one”.
Nepotism is unnecessary, totally agreed. But it is understandable. Upon pondering over it for weeks I understand the problem does not lie with Nepotism, it lies with us.
Now consider the crowd outside that producer’s office to be of ten people every day. Just like any other job, competitive but a bit less. I guess you being the producer in this situation will be ready to take on that challenge and find out the cream, the best, the actual talented ones.
So to conclude it, I would like to say that what we need to change is the amount of power and attention we give to stars. I would like to start by treating them as people. I deny being amazed by the news that an actor entered the kitchen for the first time. People do that all the time. I deny to be amazed when a star kid takes a selfie on their own, not a big deal, toddlers are doing way more than that. It’s like they are being born with this information. I deny checking news titled “some star visited their girlfriend/boyfriend”. Being curious is one thing, actually following them to the doorstep, have cameras hanging around them the moment they step out is sick and obsessive. I deny being obsessed with my favourite entertainer. I deny to only be influenced by news related to the industry. I deny to look up to entertainers for motivation and would rather read the example of the poor guy/girl who made their driver dad proud by becoming a high-ranked Officer. If I have to protest crime or wrongdoings, I would not wait for it to start in the industry. #metoo could have been started a long time ago, but it only started with the stars. Drugs investigation on such a big scale could have been started years ago, but it started when it involved stars. Now the whole nation eagerly follows the news for updates. We are the ones making them the centre of the universe. And they are not even demanding it, I am sure a lot of times they are feeling suffocated when it’s too much. Be fans, enjoy their content, shower them with love, but give them their space and never forget they are also people. If we want things to change we have to start with ourselves, every crime can be addressed with the same outrage and unity. Let’s protest even more often than we do now, but do it to make the world a better place, before your loved ones or actually, even your favourite entertainers suffer because of it. I chose to not let them be the centre of my universe and if I do, I lose the right to demand a change, I choose to live the way things are, with them having more power than the rest, and where there is power there are favours, favours lead to favouritism and where there is favouritism, there is Nepotism.
