Bollywood, in general, has recently been under a lot of fire. Accusations of nepotism are currently being hurled at big directors like Karan Johar for being the flag-bearers of favoritism and nepotism, through and through. Surnames like Kapoor, Bachachan and Khan are said to be getting all the offers while the talented outsiders are mostly pushed to the periphery. While all of this may very well be true for Bollywood, it is high time that we take a close look at our own beloved industry too; Lollywood.
Before we delve into if and why Lollywood has a nepotism problem, we need to first break down what nepotism entails. To put very simply, nepotism is when people in power get people who are close to them, jobs and favors, by employing their influence or position of power. Let’s now try and see if our industry has ever witnessed something of that sort, through a few real life examples. Beginning with the upcoming film Parey Hut Love, it was recently announced that Frieha Altaf will be co-starring with her daughter, Parisheh James in the same. Even more recently, Wajahat Rauf posted a photo of his son Aashir Wjahat on his social media, announcing that his son would soon be coming with another song. While we have yet to see what Aashir and Parisheh come up with, the fact that having parents in the industry has made it easier for them to enter it, remain valid.
Now, here the question arises; if parents can help make things easier for their children, why shouldn’t they? Do our parents not do the same for us? The answer is, they should. They most definitely should. Expecting them to not do it is essentially defying the laws of nature. The real problem arises when they just don’t know when to stop. You forced your son/daughter/sister/mother on our screens because you had connections in the industry, fair enough. But now let us, for once, decide if we want to continue seeing them on our screens. Case in point; Ko Ko Korina. That’s something none of us signed up for.
Frieha Altaf was recently heard saying that even though her daughter is making her acting debut, it is only her talent that will help her survive and I, for one, couldn’t agree more but is it something that’s genuinely implemented in real life too? Do industry parents ever stop pushing their kids forcefully down our throats? Majority of the contemporary dramas and films now feature names like Shahroz Sabzwari (thanks to Behroz Sabzwari’s years in the industry), Shahzad Sheikh (thank you Javed Sheikh yet again), Ahad Raza Mir (this time we get to thank Papa Mir for gems like Ko ko Korina), Zara Noor Abbas (thanks to mother Asma Abbas and aunt Bushra Ansari) and the list goes on.
It seems like everyone in the industry currently is somehow related to everyone else which leads me to my second point; the directors have stopped scouting for new talent actively. The connections and the consequent availability of these industry kids and relatives have made the people in charge very complacent and this is probably why we are still miles behind Bollywood. Yes, we have more and more films coming out and the cinema is (hopefully) on its way to becoming bigger and better but do we have actors that we can proudly say are genuinely great at what they do? I, for one, don’t think we are there yet.
My point is, leverage your parents and their connections in the industry as much as you want but try and be more like Ali Sethi who despite having a father with powerful connections has never stopped trying to better himself. Secondly, please know when to stop.
Let us know in the comments what you guys think of the whole scenario. Some of us, at Galaxy Lollywood, have conflicting opinions too, on the issue and would like to hear what our readers have to say. Until then, let’s stop throwing shade at Bollywood because apnay giraban main jhnakna bhi zaruri hai.
