Pinkvilla's Open Letter to Janhvi Kapoor(Must Read)

Dear Janhvi and Ishaan,

It seems like it was only yesterday when a no-filters attached Kangana Ranaut berated Karan Johar for his tryst with nepotism on Koffee With Karan. What was a well-timed and witty remark at the time became a nationwide topic and everyone finally understood the literal meaning of the tag nepotism.

With so much backlash on nepo kids, it didn't seem surprising that all eyes rolled behind their backs when Karan Johar proudly made the announcement that he was launching not one, but two star kids. One is the daughter of the late legendary actress Sridevi and filmmaker Boney Kapoor and the other is the half-brother of the established star, Shahid Kapoor.

Pre-conceived notions on you were a plenty and trolls went on an overdrive. When the trailer came out and you were excited and nervous about it, many scrutinized you left, right and centre. The idea was that, if you come out of nepotism, you don't deserve your immediate standing as a star, which is what you two became even before the movie's release.

I will unabashedly accept the fact that I too was worried when it was announced that a simplistic and classy movie like Sairat was being remade, that too with two rookies.

What is admirable about the two new stars was how they presented themselves and faced the backlash against them with utmost grace and no remorse. In interviews, both were pitted with the hard-hitting questions - Dhadak-Sairat comparisons, Janhvi-Sridevi comparisons, Ishaan-Shahid comparisons, etc. The two tackled the questions like how every Karan Johar disciple would.

After watching Dhadak, I concede and take back all the pre-conceived notions that I had in my head, which arose because you two became stars out of nepotism.

Firstly to Mr. Khatter, it was immensely brave and clever of you to do a Beyond The Cloudsbefore venturing into a Dhadak as people already got the right glimpse of how you were born to be a star, it was in your bloodline, quite literally. For every bad product of nepotism, there is a Shahid Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor and Ishaan can proudly exclaim that he is a part of the latter club.

On the other hand, Janhvi, you were under the most scrutiny as you happen to be the daughter of the legendary Sridevi, who over her career span of decades starred in 300 films and was touted as the first female superstar. That is a feat, that was always unattainable but just like you said, you were never meant to be the next Sridevi, you were meant to be the Janhvi Kapoor, instead. Is there a room for progress? Yes, but for Dhadak being her first movie, it was a valiant effort.

While the debate of nepotism will linger for years to comes, you can't help but root for Ishaan and Janhvi and their bold attempt at bursting into the Bollywood scene, all guns blazing and persevering with flying colours.

It's also befitting that the end credits would only be Janhvi and Ishaan, Kapoor and Khatter nullified as it's all about the talent and not who your parents are.