‘The Romantics’ features Aditya Chopra finally addressing the subject of nepotism in Bollywood for the first time.
Ever since Kangana Ranaut raised the subject on Karan Johar’s chat show, ‘Koffee with Karan’, there has been a never ending debate around nepotism in Bollywood. And now, filmmaker Aditya Chopra has addressed the subject finally in the latest Netflix documentary, ‘The Romantics’.
Talking about his own brother Uday Chopra, an actor, the Yash Raj Films’ honcho said that despite being the son of an illustrious filmmaker, Uday could not make it big in Bollywood, and could only manage a few hits in Bollywood, including ‘Dhoom’, ‘Meri Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai’ and ‘Mohabbatein’.
Aditya said, “One of the things that people tend to ignore, is that every person who comes from a privileged background–everyone is not successful. I can articulate it without mentioning other people. I can just articulate it by mentioning my own family. My brother is an actor, and he’s not a very successful actor. Here is the son of one of the biggest filmmakers. He’s the brother of a very big filmmaker. Imagine a company like YRF who has launched so many newcomers, we could not make him a star. Why could we not do it on our own? The bottom line is, only an audience will decide ‘I like this person, I want to see this person’. No one else.”
Following this, the documentary then features Uday Chopra, who explains how he trained hard for his debut film ‘Mohabbatein’, and added how Aditya Chopra told him that he would have to work hard at his dancing if he wanted to be an actor. To which Aditya added, “Yes, if you are born into a film family, there’s no doubt that there could be an easier time getting an audition or a break. But it stops there.” Uday added, “When Dhoom happened, I was still trying to be a mainstream actor. I should have taken Ali as an example and done roles like that.”
Uday then talked about how received many offers, but he refused them all, as he “was trying to get into a space”. He said, “When I started acting, I was very naïve. I thought everyone would like me. I didn’t imagine that people might not like me.” Referring to the time when he wasn't considered a ‘successful actor’, and was called a ‘child of nepotism’, Uday admitted, “It did affect me a lot.”
Lastly, Aditya Chopra acknowledged Uday Chopra’s talent but stated that the audience did not see him the way he saw himself. “They loved him in comedy, but he didn’t want to do comedy. He probably realised on his own that this is not for me because I am not going to be able to find the kind of success that I want.” Lastly, Uday signed off by saying that he is not looking at acting as a career anymore.