Star Kids Are A Symbol Of Structural Inequality In Bollywood

Arey, naa hum Amitabh, naa Dilip Kumar, naa kisi hero ke bachche, hum hain seedhe-saadhe Akshay...

Twenty-six years ago, such claims were possible for Akshay Kumar, who had left his job of a chef in Bangkok to become a hero in Hindi cinema. Looking at a fresh crop of star kids who are set to invade Bollywood this year, it does not seem possible for anyone like him to do so now.

This year, a plethora of new but high-profile debutants are set to enter the tinsel town, but almost everyone happens to be either the child or a relative of a big shot of the industry. Such debutants include Amitabh Bachchan's grandson Agastya Nanda, Shah Rukh Khan's daughter Suhana Khan, Aamir Khan's son Junaid Khan, Sridevi and Boney Kapoor's daughter Khushi Kapoor, Sanjay Kapoor's daughter Shanaya Kapoor, Sunny Deol's son Rajveer Deol, Saif Ali Khan's son Ibrahim Ali Khan, Poonam Dhillon's daughter Paloma, Salman Khan's niece Alizey Agnihotri and many more.

It will be interesting to see if the audiences will accept these newcomers with open arms or leave them in the lurch at a time when the Hindi film industry is grappling with a raging outsider-vs-insider debate and putting up with vociferous calls to boycott the ’nepotistic’ Bollywood.

There is no denying that the new crop of star kids will have to face tougher challenges than their predecessors primarily because of the influx of a whole lot of talented actors from diverse backgrounds who are not from the charmed circle of the industry.

In a ‘nepotism index’ published by a leading English-language business newspaper in 2017, Sajid Nadiadwala & Grandson, Ajay Devgn Films and Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment were ranked on the first three spots among the ten big film production houses that gave lead roles to actors having relatives in the industry. Big banners backed the children of film personalities under an apparent belief that it would reduce their financial risks because of the curiosity factor of the audiences.

For the record, the star kid is not a new phenomenon in cinema. In fact, Raj Kapoor had also used his father's name when he went out in search of a job in the Bombay Talkies studio headed by Devika Rani in the early days of his career. This is mentioned in a book written by his daughter Ritu Nanda on his father. But a huge controversy over nepotism erupted when Kangana Ranaut dared to openly question the easy entry of star kids into the film industry.

Appraing on Karan Johar's show 'Koffee with Karan' in 2017, Kangana accused the Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) maker of being the patron of nepotism in the industry. After the death of Sushant Singh Rajput in 2020, the insider-versus-outsider debate became part of a fierce debate all over. The way Kangana raised the issue of nepotism was perceived as a veritable attack on the inherent system of the film industry to patronise star kids

It is important to understand here that the term 'star-kid' is not limited to the children of film stars only. Its definition also includes the kids of producers-directors and other influential people with inside access who managed to get work in films without any struggle. Over the years, dozens of star kids have been launched with a lot of fanfare. Remember the pre-release hype of Hrithik Roshan's debut film Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai in 2000! His father and producer-director Rakesh Roshan left no stone unturned to project him as ‘the star of the century’.

A similar launch was designed for the debut of Alia Bhatt and David Dhawan's son Varun Dhawan by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions many years later. Such a launch is considered to be a perfect start for the career of any star kid but it is not in the destiny of any common debutant.

example, the period between 1981 and 1983 saw the high-profile launch of the three most sought-after star sons. In 1981, Sanjay Dutt and Kumar Gaurav started their career with Rocky and Love Story respectively while Sunny Deol made a grand entry into the industry with Betaab in 1983. Their entry created a lot of buzz back then. Curiously, at around the same time, talented actors such as Ravi Vaswani and Sadashiv Amrapurkar made their debut in Sai Paranjpe's Chashme Baddoor in 1981 and Ardh Satya in 1983 respectively but it was hardly talked about in the media or elsewhere.

The high-profile launch of a star kid is primarily meant to introduce new faces to the audience but it has been used over the years as a privilege that maintains the distinction between 'insiders' and 'outsiders' in the film industry. Viewed from this perspective, the star kids are not merely a few faces from the privileged families but a symbol of the structural inequality of Bollywood's 'star economy'.

Such a tradition is not limited to Hindi cinema only, though. Be it Hollywood or South Indian cinema, star kids have always had the advantage of the reach and influence of their parents or relatives. But are all the star kids devoid of the requisite talent that is required to make it to the top?

The nepotism debate has revolved more around suppressing talent than finding it. But if it is a question of getting films on the basis of talent, how and why are so many talents coming only from influential film families? At the heart of this trend is apparently the practice of perpetuating inequality in the name of talent.

The unwillingness to take risks, reluctance to experiment with new actors and the practice of scratching each other's backs have turned Bollywood into an industry dependent on the stardom of a few names. Every newcomer who comes out of a film family and easily grabs the first film, adds to this imbalance of power in the industry.

There are examples of star kids such as Twinkle Khanna, Uday Chopra, Harry Baweja and Tusshar Kapoor who could not shine despite getting films on a platter. So, no star kid can hope to achieve success without having talent. Like any other struggler, every debutant star kid also faces the same challenge of proving himself after the din and bustle over his grand launch dies down.

The young faces who are coming out of film families to chase dreams this year will also have to pass muster with the audiences like any other newcomer. Beyond a point, family connection does not work.