Another insider opines on nepotism & entitlement, and it’s a doozy - Page 15

Personally the problem I have with the young nepo brigade off late is, they seem/look so effing dumb, without any knowledge or respect for good cinema or their craft itself . No ideas or passion to innovate in any way. Even if earlier batches were similar, we didn't get to know due to little social media but now the shallowness is glaring. Kuch toh personality ho, kuch toh grace ho, kuch toh stories ho jo audience ko sunne ka mann kare. 

agree but impression doesn't come out of thin air, what you see shapes it and that has happened with the audience.

for example,  let me tell you some things which shape my opinion 

ayushman, vicky and rajkumar all got national awards for some of the best male performances in recent years but does the film industry talk about it in any context. in contrast, when keerthy suresh won it (same year as ayushman), the whole film industry felicitated her and the makers in a function, there are literally tons of videos of top filmmakers talking about the film on youtube. not just her but even small movies like colour photo or c/o kancheraplalem were lauded publicly by the stars and the makers and actors in these movies are unknown. 

similarly, arjun reddy was hailed and still metntioned as a game changer though nobody from the movie had any connections. 

recently, chiranjeevi mentioned that his nephew asked him to watch fidaa in which he had starred but once he watched it he told him i barely noticed anybody else except sai pallavi on screen, can we think of any bw actor doing this at the expense of their proteges. 

rana has taken a complete backseat in virata parvam promotions and put sai pallavi forward, he literally owns the biggest production house in telugu.

mahesh babu took adivi sesh (no connections) in his home production and has promoted him and when asked whether he could have done that role he said nobody except sesh could have done it, this is a huge boost to any newcomer. do any stars in hindi have been generous to do so. 

kamal hassan has taken siva karthikeyan and sai pallavi in his home production and will promote them. 

i can think of tons of such examples. one may say they are just doing it to create an image but doing all this takes a lot of effort and will defintely boost those with no connections. one may also say why should they do that, it matters because it means you care about the profession beyond yourself, just as we mentor and build organizations.

what this gives an impression then is that, yes there is nepotism and they promote their kids/relatives but beyond that they have some intergrity and passion towards cinema which makes them appreciate a good movie, a great performance. 

isn't that finally what anybody is there for beyond the money and the fame, to be moved by the sheer art of filmmaking

again I am not saying they don't have selfish moves or don't monopolize but arre 80% do that atleast 20% do something for the greater good of cinema, don't be tone deaf

in hindi I would say aamir is somebody who appreciates good cinema, which is why he is invited by people across languages who appreciate good cinema. there is this gollapudi award which is given to new directors and several good ones have won it, he regularly comes to the award function, interacts and gives some wonderful talks too. it is a low profile event but he has been doing it for ages,

anil kapoor is another person who has deep appreciation of fimmaking, he has talked of movies like woh saath din and easwar, directed by directors from south, how he worked with maniratnam etc in the north-south context.

amitabh was another who had great links with bengal cinema and appreciation, but he is aged 

kashmir files (leave aside the politics) was the only hit, only abhishek spoke about it and said that it is actually a well made movie beyond whatever you think of the politics

there are barely 2-3 of these kinds who have some depth or sincerity, the majority dont and dont even seem to realise that cinema is much more than insta reels

kapoors were pioneers in filmaking and theater (shashi), do the present day kapoors have any understanding of their legacy or history

somebody like rana gives the impression he does, he recently started a literary event to attract young writers to cinema as his grandfather was known for making films based on literature and he wants to revive it. 

its not about kjo, he has just become the front face of it. 

this is the point, where is somebody with a knowledge of cinema or passion for it. 

i am sure all these star kids were planning and plotting to become stars since they were born, can you learn a bit of classical arts , dance, music something 

in olden days actresses used to learn dance as a stepping stone to acting 

i was shocked to hear in that netflix series, shanaya's brother saying he can't speak hindi, he live in mumbai for godssake and i am sure this guy will turn up in hindi films 

isn't that really taking the audience for granted

Reading your post about south actors and how they involve outsiders as well, the only Bollywood actor who would put the focus on others is Aamir Khan. Tara Zameen Par poster had Darsheel in the forefront and Aamir in the background. Aamir doesn’t even appear till almost the second half of the movie. Dangal focused on the girls and they were prominent in all the posters. I’ve also seen posters and/or stills that has the younger girls upfront and he’s again in the back.  And a few posts back we already discussed how Aamir Khan is probably the only one who cares about quality of films above anything else. But yea off the top of my head right now I can’t think of any other Bollywood actor/star who would do this.   

i agree, even lagaan everybody was given prominence based on their roles, 

he is a true lover of cinema and really changed hindi cinema 

as i was saying he turns up at this gollapudi srinivas award which is really low profile. 

those interested listen to the award videos on youtube, they have some nice talks by rajamouli, konkona, shyam benegal, resul pookutty etc, key note speeches etc

when somebody does stuff for the love of cinema without worrying about whether it will get them publicity you truly know they are passionate

true, there are a few sensible ones maybe but I can't think anybody of this generation being passionate about cinema 

boney and anil are from the previous generation