Respect talent, says Prakash Jha on 'nepotism' row

National Award winning filmmaker Prakash Jha, who has produced the forthcoming film "Lipstick Under My Burkha", believes talent in all forms and across genders should be respected, in the wake of the "nepotism rocks" controversy.

"Whose view on nepotism can be good ? Any proper-thinking person's views will not be good. Talent should be respected, especially for other gender. You get respect when you respect others," Jha told the media here on Wednesday to queries on the latest controversy that has created a stir on social media.

At the recent IIFA Awards in New Jersey, filmmaker Karan Johar, the son of late filmmaker Yash Johar, along with actors Varun Dhawan and Saif Ali Khan, took a jibe at actress Kangana Ranaut by bringing up the nepotism debate.

While Varun apologised for the act on Twitter on Tuesday, Karan said that he also feels that it's talent that rocks and not nepotism.

Karan and Saif, who were hosting the gala, revisited the much-talked about nepotism issue that started in Bollywood when Kangana branded Karan as a "flagbearer of nepotism" on his chat show "Koffee With Karan" earlier this year.

On the issues of censorship in cinema, Jha reiterated that he is against scissoring content.

"Why do we need these shackles? There is no need of censor board. You can specify what the content is and the certification but there is no need of censoring," he added.

"Lipstick... " struggled for certification from the Central Board of Film Certification earlier this year.