How much does the Bollywood PR machinery control our minds?

Out of the 10 films Sushant Singh Rajput did, at least 8 were critical and/or commercial successes. Yet he never got dubbed as the actor with a midas touch, he was hardly talked about the way people like Varun, Ananya, Shahid and others are.

Why do we end up discussing these starkids so much? I was doing this self-evaluation for myself. How did I miss out on Sushant? Like, I saw almost all of his films. I knew he was handsome, talented and a hardworking lad who had a heart of gold. Why then, did I completely miss out on him? Why didn't he stay in my mind as much as the other nepo kids do? All I knew him as was this wannabe, social climber who was a womaniser obsessed with sex (from blinds).

I realized our collective memory of Bollywood is dictated too much by what is reported in the media (paid articles, blind items, box office manipulations), awards shows, talk shows like KWK, and all of these are ruled or owned by the bigwigs. Somehow they end up controlling the narrative because they have practically hijacked every point of the supply chain. So we ended up reading so much more about how the failure of Kalank affected Varun, but so little about what the super success of a Chhichore did to Sushant. And we never questioned it.

Also, even if we are dissing starkids, it only helps them because it keeps them in the news and they build a counter narrative of sympathy for themselves and there is a wave of new fans who will fall for it and defend these nepo kids.

I have decided to be more conscious of what I am subconsciously supporting and enabling from now on. I have always been a supporter of outsiders (but evidently not good enough if I ignored people like Sushant). I am going to be a lot more vocal about my support for outsiders from here on. That's my learning from this.

I have lot of things on my mind but i am not articulate enough to convey them. I would just say i really appreciate of the introspection you have done as well as learning from this unfortunate incident. Its high time we all need to bring change in all of us. Be more conscious and emphatic towards others.

I loved loved loved Kedarnath. I was in Mumbai and watched it with my friends and remember coming back n speaking to my father about the last scene where he bobs his Adam's apple❤️.

But later me and my roomie spoke about Sushant's performance not being written about as much which was a surprise, I felt he was so so good as Mansoor.

So yeah I think its great that you did introspect, and maybe this brings in the lesson for us to be more empathetic and kind towards everyone around.

I dunt usually read through blinds and stuff coz they seem malicious so didn’t know sushanth had this image

I remember him briefly being criticised for sounding arrogant when he did this Twitter q n a and said he deserved the award for ms dhoni but I did think he was phenomenal in it and deserved recognition

My mum is a huge fan and went to see kedarnath for him...same with chichore

I looked at him as a guy who just hasn’t had that “big hit” that put him on the map (most of msdhoins collections were credited to the man msd himself) but someone who is well on his way..:like the dark horse who silently runs away with the accolades...when I heard he was doing paani and all with Shekar Kapur I thought he’d really make it. I really did. him and Ileana I always rooted for Coz I really think both had a lot of untapped unexplored potential but just weren’t in the news as much and kept a low profile. I just thought it was their personality to not be all obnoxious and in ur face and silently hoped they would get that big trailblazing break.

Now that I think back, I do see how they made kedarnath all abt Sara when she was below avg in it...and chichore abt the whole gang/directors and not sushanth...msd became all abt msd and not sushanths performance....suddh desi everyone talked abt the director and parineeti..I wish he had a success that he could truly own without anybody giving the credit of success to someone else...

Okay. Wow! Didn't even realise he had a such a great filmography.

SDR, DBB, KPC were all great movies. And lot of the rest were critically acclaimed.

I agree, PR plays a huge role.

It is simple. Out of sight, out of mind.

We do not go looking for news and stuff, we lap up what is fed to us. There is obviously more of these star kids' stuff that is going around, so there is going to be more discussion about them, and we'll hear more about them, too.

Don't forget the power of suggestion. For instance, if you're told long enough and hard enough that Alia is Meryl Streep, you'll start believing she is. Or at least start thinking of her as a cut above the rest. N it works in her favour.

Thank you for this post Ponymo. A much needed one. 🤗

I completely agree with you. Consciously or unconsciously, we are all enablers of nepotism. We tend to discuss, highlight and ponder more on the fate of nepo products than outsiders. They linger in our collective unconscious far more, whether it is because of PR, articles, trashy shows, and even social media.

The point is, the industry is structured in such a way that outsiders are treated as second-class citizens. They don't "matter" much. Their successes are appreciated, but not discussed as much as the failures of insiders. How many of us tend to shove aside the success of outsiders and continue to focus all our energies on insiders? I know I have been guilty of the same.

The curiosity which star kids excite in us is laced with a certain kind of forceful intent, we tend to attribute success or failure with far more intentionality than we do to outsiders. Outsiders occupy the fringes of our consciousness, their success doesn't make a dent on our thinking the way insiders' success do.

Take this forum, for instance. I have seen posts celebrating insiders' successes and attributing it to talent. When the same thing is done by an outsider, they attribute it to milking of genre. The desire to bring down outsiders is far stronger, perpetuated by a narrow narrative which endows insiders with far more permissiveness and agency.

This agency is taken away from outsiders. If an outsider succeeds, it's because of luck or external factors. If an insider succeeds, it's because of talent.

This forum is a microcosm of what is prevalent, the forces in the industry which are at work, and the bandwidth with which we embrace the longevity of certain stars.

Originally posted by: mintyblue

I completely agree with you. Consciously or unconsciously, we are all enablers of nepotism. We tend to discuss, highlight and ponder more on the fate of nepo products than outsiders. They linger in our collective unconscious far more, whether it is because of PR, articles, trashy shows, and even social media.

The point is, the industry is structured in such a way that outsiders are treated as second-class citizens. They don't "matter" much. Their successes are appreciated, but not discussed as much as the failures of insiders. How many of us tend to shove aside the success of outsiders and continue to focus all our energies on insiders? I know I have been guilty of the same.

The curiosity which star kids excite in us is laced with a certain kind of forceful intent, we tend to attribute success or failure with far more intentionality than we do to outsiders. Outsiders occupy the fringes of our consciousness, their success doesn't make a dent on our thinking the way insiders' success do.

Take this forum, for instance. I have seen posts celebrating insiders' successes and attributing it to talent. When the same thing is done by an outsider, they attribute it to milking of genre. The desire to bring down outsiders is far stronger, perpetuated by a narrow narrative which endows insiders with far more permissiveness and agency.

This agency is taken away from outsiders. If an outsider succeeds, it's because of luck or external factors. If an insider succeeds, it's because of talent.

This forum is a microcosm of what is prevalent, the forces in the industry which are at work, and the bandwidth with which we embrace the longevity of certain stars.

I am 1.5 months old in this forum, so, don't know about before. But thanks for making posts on some underrated actors and actresses. Your posts on Sushant are on first page since yesterday. Glad that you made them earlier . I am talking about myself. Can't say about the forum. ❤️🤗

Originally posted by: mintyblue

I completely agree with you. Consciously or unconsciously, we are all enablers of nepotism. We tend to discuss, highlight and ponder more on the fate of nepo products than outsiders. They linger in our collective unconscious far more, whether it is because of PR, articles, trashy shows, and even social media.

The point is, the industry is structured in such a way that outsiders are treated as second-class citizens. They don't "matter" much. Their successes are appreciated, but not discussed as much as the failures of insiders. How many of us tend to shove aside the success of outsiders and continue to focus all our energies on insiders? I know I have been guilty of the same.

The curiosity which star kids excite in us is laced with a certain kind of forceful intent, we tend to attribute success or failure with far more intentionality than we do to outsiders. Outsiders occupy the fringes of our consciousness, their success doesn't make a dent on our thinking the way insiders' success do.

Take this forum, for instance. I have seen posts celebrating insiders' successes and attributing it to talent. When the same thing is done by an outsider, they attribute it to milking of genre. The desire to bring down outsiders is far stronger, perpetuated by a narrow narrative which endows insiders with far more permissiveness and agency.

This agency is taken away from outsiders. If an outsider succeeds, it's because of luck or external factors. If an insider succeeds, it's because of talent.

This forum is a microcosm of what is prevalent, the forces in the industry which are at work, and the bandwidth with which we embrace the longevity of certain stars.

There was a time when the playing field was more even. Being a star kid or having a famous last name has worked against some actors - Lolo & AB Jr. come to mind.

Now it has completely tilted in the favour of the star kids.