The debate of the existence of nepotism in Bollywood has once again started with the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Actor Saif Ali Khan who in conversation with Times Of India, termed sudden love for the late actor as hypocrisy, also mentioned of star kids have privilege over the good talent who do not belong to the industry. Later the actor in conversation with film critic Anupama Chopra during an online interactive session was asked about being addressed as Khan Sahab on the sets of Omkara by his cast and crew and the actor ended up sharing his opinion about the ongoing debate about nepotism.
He said, “Being the kind of person I am, the films that I have done, there has also been a sense of privilege and lack of privilege, and people coming up the hard way and people coming up the easy way, that’s always been the undercurrent, especially in an ensemble like this, with some of these NSD guys and film institute chaps.” The actor took Khan Sahab term as a compliment. Continuing further he also mentions of an outsider making their way into industry purely because of talent unlike them who are privileged to have it because of their parents.
Saif further said, “They’ve come up purely through talent, while some of us, frankly, have had doors opened for us by the privilege of our birth and the parents we’ve had. So, given that undercurrent, when you’re on set and you do a scene and you are as prepared as anyone else and you deliver a line which is on par with if not better than everyone, then you feel better. And to earn the respect of those guys felt really important.”
In this interaction, he also mentioned the privileged ones getting better opportunities than good actors and this being very common in the country. He said, “It happens a lot in India that there are good actors that do not get the opportunities that sometimes some privileged people do.” ALSO READ: Sushant Singh Rajput Death: Saif Ali Khan Calls The Late Actor 'Edgy'; Reveals 'SSR Wanted To Come, Have A Drink And Talk About Various Things'
The actor is always included in the talks pertaining to nepotism, ever since he had poked fun about this topic during an award show. The award show saw Karan Johar and Varun Dhawan along with Saif, saying “Nepotism rocks!” Post which he penned an open letter about the same which read, “It’s not something that I wrote or something I believe in. It was a joke on ourselves, between Varun (Dhawan), Karan (Johar) and me. It was not supposed to be a big deal, but I realised at some point, that it might have offended Kangana (Ranaut). I called her and apologized personally. That should be the end of it. Everybody needs to take a chill pill and back off.” ALSO READ: Sushant Singh Rajput Demise: Saif Ali Khan Calls Out Bollywood’s 'ULTIMATE HYPOCRISY' And Sudden Concern, Says It's An 'Insult To The Dead'
Also, the actor during an interaction with news agency PTI had mentioned, being against nepotism and agreed on the fact of him being benefitted with it more than outsiders. Saif said, “Nepotism is a horrible thing. I am totally against nepotism. I have benefited from it for sure. Definitely, we have more opportunities than people who are not connected to movies.” ALSO READ: Sushant Singh Rajput Demise: Late Actor's Dil Bechara Co-Star Saif Ali Khan Is Numb, ‘Terrible That He Felt That This Was The Way Out’
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