Uproar on Nepotism in Film Industry: A Farce

            Recently, one of the famous actors, Sushant Singh Rajput committed suicide, without leaving behind a note. This gave rise to umpteen number of speculations about the reason why he committed suicide. The actual reason why he did so are only known to him who’s unfortunately not here to tell. One of the major so called predictions taking centre-stage has been that he was in depression because of multiple reasons, including receiving partial treatment due to nepotism prevalent in the film industry. Again, in absence of Sushant, it’s ironically anyone’s word against anyone else’s. Anyhow, this has led to a pandemonium online as well as offline. Any media content is incomplete without either a mention or at least a link of Sushant Singh’s death by suicide.

            Reflecting on this not as a movie buff or an avid media content aficionado but as a conscious human being, I couldn’t stop myself from writing a critique on this whole farce. Yes I dare call it a farce because the whole topic is overrated, meaningless and rife with vested interests of wannabe celebrities (sorry for the tautology here). Let me also declare plainly and clearly here that I’m neither for nor against any sides and I’m here only to point out the futility of the uproar and the pointlessness of general public wasting their time on this topic.

            Firstly, the word nepotism is thrown around as if everyone understands it in its true sense. Most examples from the film industry which are quoted as examples of nepotism are actually examples of cronyism. For readers’ reference, here are the definitions as given by Cambridge dictionary:

Nepotism: the act of using your power or influence to get good jobs or unfair advantages for members of your own family

Cronyism: the situation in which someone important gives jobs to friends rather than to independent people who have the necessary skills and experience.

            The purpose of clarifying this is, if you’re criticizing something or someone, at least be good with your language. All these people are not shouting against an actor launching his son or a daughter but producers or directors casting male or female actors who are from their ‘inner circle’ rather than recruiting ‘talented’ people.

Firstly, this is like crying against the world for not being fair to you. Understand that the word is highly subjective. What’s fair for you is unfair for someone else. Secondly, if you extrapolate this, nothing in the world is fair for that matter. So, actors crying against cronyism (or let’s just call it favouritism) are like humans crying for not getting what they want. My question is, who does? And Where?

This particular thing that these guys are complaining against is everywhere you go, may it be the film industry, politics, corporate world, educational institutes, government offices… You name it! Does an employee working for Reliance Industries complain against MukeshAmbani appointing someone as a director? Does a BJP party worker shout out slogans against NarendraModiji for appointing someone as a particular cabinet minister? Even if there are people saying ‘Yes’ as an answer to these questions, the numbers are very few and insignificant to even take notice of. Why? Simply because most of us accept a person’s judgment in taking a decision and secondly we accept certain favouritisms as natural. Understand why a Karan Johar would cast an Alia Bhatt or a Ranbir Kapoor in his next production. It’s simply because he likes them in general and is more comfortable working with them. It’s his choice. If you’re against it, start your own production or get hold of someone who’s willing to bet on you. If an employee of a company disagrees with the management’s decision of not promoting him or not giving him a sufficient hike, he doesn’t go to social media to shout against his superior or the employer. He either communicates his grievances to his superior, the HR or someone important. If he’s still unsatisfied, he quits and looks for another job. It’s as simple as that. If an entrepreneurial candidate doesn’t get the funding from one of the investors, he doesn’t wait and fight against the same investor but goes on and presents his idea to someone else who might be interested and willing to invest in his venture. Only people who do these allegations are crybabies and we all know what happens to crybabies.

Someone who has talent and the zeal to achieve something would never cry or wait for someone to recognize their talent. They’ll sharpen their skills and polish their being to such a level that people would have to take notice. I’d love to quote Annu Kapoor here as he perfectly encapsulates the crux of the matter. He says, “Hypocrisy, favouritism, corruption are integral parts of Indian society (I’d even go on to say Human society). The film industry is a product of this society, so it exists there as well. Expecting fair play would be like living in a fool’s paradise.”

I thoroughly respect this attitude. If you’re in it to win it, just focus and move ahead. Don’t waste your time complaining against things. If we get these crybabies cast in a movie with a good script and a wonderful director, all we would get is mediocrity. Things have a tendency to fall in the most natural way and we all know you just can’t win against nature. So here’s my advice to all those who’re crying against nepotism incorrectly (both linguistically as well as philosophically); if you had spent even half as much time honing your craft as you have in complaining against inevitabilities, you could have become a ManojBajpai or a NawazuddinSiddiiqui. True gems may take longer to shine, but when they do, they’re self-effulgent. They neither need anyone’s approval nor anyone’s favours. And they definitely don’t believe in wasting time complaining… If you’re still not satisfied, go audition for Big Boss 35 or 47 or whatever season is on… You may find like-minded people there and also audience who can appreciate your talent.

- Sarang Tilak

Corona: Connected world’s eye opener

26^th Mar 2020

Corona: Connected world’s eye opener

Covid-19, popularly called Corona virus has been an unprecedented phenomenon which has changed the way we live globally. Originated in Wuhan, this disease has now spread to almost all the countries of the world. This has resulted in panic, pandemic and severe stress in everyone’s mind. One of the worst affected countries are China (although as I write this the situation in China is largely under control), Italy (by far the worst affected with highest number of deaths recorded till date), US, Spain, France and Iran. South Korea has mitigated the spread commendably by extensive testing and isolation.

India, my own country, is in a state of National Lockdown and everyone is house-bound, stepping out only for essential goods/services and emergencies. While Governments, Police, Healthcare professionals, Cleanliness workers, Emergency services and people working for companies classified under essential services have been working day and night to keep situation under control and with minimum hassles for community living, people are shaken to their cores. No one, even in their wildest imaginations, had seen anything like this coming. The world has turned upside down. In my imagination, the nature has given the world the tightest of slaps till date, at least in the last 50 odd years.

            Let us, for a moment, sit back and look at how this whole thing has unfolded. The world got infected in a matter of months, with 1^st case having been reported in Dec 2019 and in March the whole world is (pun intended) sneezing. How did we go from being oblivious to each others’ cultures to getting the same diseases?

Equalizer

The same global connectivity which has benefited the mankind in terms of knowledge, accessibility, travel, awareness and progress became the vehicle for this deadly, invisible equalizer. Yes, Corona is the biggest equalizer which has brought everyone in this world to the same level. Suddenly, no one is rich and no one is poor. No one is spending lavishly but only spending on basic necessities. No religious discrimination reported in the last month or so. No criminal activities (at least none reported) doing the rounds. Suddenly there is an eerie silence across the globe, silence of fear, introspection and to some extent gratitude. Everyone is empathizing with others, trying to understand each others’ pain. I mourn Italians’ deaths, express concern over increasing numbers in US, Spain etc. People show care and concern about the condition of other people across social strata. How has this been possible? We all have been slapped and forced to sit idle and think. We had all, in our perpetual materialistic rat races, forgotten that we’re all humans and need to have that sense of belongingness and gratitude. We’ve been force fed the bitter syrup of empathy, introspection and humility. All temples, mosques, churches etc. are closed and people have started looking inward for answers.

Mirror

            The virus has indeed shown us all the chinks in our so called armor. The armor of global connectivity, the whole ‘global’ness in fact. We were under the false impression of safety, supremacy and dominance. Nature has gently (on his scale, for us it’s been disastrous) told all of us how insignificant and puny we are. At the slightest hint of this disease, all our travel, social gathering and lavish displays of wealth have stopped. We had been trying to exploit our mother earth as if there’s no tomorrow. Nature has only shown us that there is tomorrow but we humans may not be a part of it. In a very relatable clip from the movie Inferno based on Dan Brown’s novel, Betrand Zobrist speaks about how fast we’re growing (rather outgrowing ourselves) on this earth. With such limited supplies, this overexploitation is just reducing our time here. Without sounding too dramatic, I’d like to note here that our doom is certain. It’s just a matter of when. We, especially in the last century, have started hurrying towards our own extinction. Nature has just shown us the mirror. If we still want to race towards it, we would be successful, but ironically won’t be there to celebrate it. This lockdown has also given ample time for everyone to individually introspect. To look at what we have been doing in the past, and how much of it really made sense. We’re reinventing our true needs and realigning our priorities. It is surprising to see how few things are actually necessary. Everything else is just a way to fulfil our snobbish wants. It is a wakeup call for us. Wake up from your stupor of ego, self-centeredness and arrogance.

Tutorial

            Whatever be the theories about origin of the Corona virus, may it be through accidental or intentional intimate contact with bats or any other wild animals or though some laboratory, one thing is certain. We should learn not to mess with nature. We’ve been taught this tutorial many times but we just don’t listen. As Alanna Shaikh, a global health expert and an expert on health systems, puts it beautifully: With our constant exploration and exploitation of nature, it’s not a question of if but when we would get the next virus. As we interact with the wild and come in contact with the unexplored areas of the earth, we’d come in contact with these unknown bacteria and viruses for the first time. This will not stop as our ever growing population means there’s going to be ever growing need for land; for cultivation, for housing, for travel enthusiasm and finally for pure curiosity. What we CAN do is, be more responsible and appreciate nature while interacting with it. Be harmonious in our ways rather than being violent. Live by being a part of nature, not trying to dominate it or be above it. Not only is it pathetic and futile, it is in the best interest of mankind to be gentle.

Positive Vibe

             While this Corona virus has terrorized people to the core and caused inconvenience across, there are still many positive outcomes which would have never happened if not for this virus. Some of them are:

·         People spending quality time with family

·         People speaking heart to heart, rather than about business and in some artificial way

·         Air pollution coming drastically down and climate becoming surprisingly pleasant

·         Calm and serenity with almost no noise around

·         Appreciation of natural beauty in the surrounding

·         Me time (Most important according to me) for spirituality, introspection and reinventing yourself

·         People doing physical and mental exercises to stay fit

·         People staying away from bad habits such as tobacco, smoking, drinking etc.

Friends, I totally understand that all of you are tense, stressed and (to different degrees) in panic. The whole world is telling us how bad the situation is, how important isolation is and how tough the times ahead are (sometimes even when we don’t want to look at it). I have simply tried to go beyond all that and touch a bigger point that transcends work, economy and daily grinds. Even if some of you feel refreshed, positive and introspective after reading this, I would consider myself successful.

May this earth be as beautiful as ever…

Stay Healthy, Stay Safe, Stay with yourself!!!

Sarang Tilak

Mumbai, India