Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri has criticised the Indian film industry for its obsession with star kids and lack of new talent. He recently claimed that the industry’s focus on stars over writers has led to a decline in quality, with writers being undervalued and star kids being overexposed on social media.
Agnihotri stated that this nepotism prevents talented individuals from outside the industry from making a mark, as studios prioritise numbers and stars over original storytelling.
Vivek Agnihotri said in an interview Siddharth Kannan, “It is because there has been no new talent entering the film industry. A common man cannot make an entry. If Shah Rukh Khan comes today and if he can’t speak English or belong to an elite background, how would he make an entry to a studio? If your criteria is to have this many followers on Instagram and then on that basis your acting will be judged, then how will a person from Kanpur, Jhansi or Vishakhapatnam? He will not be able to make an entry. So what happens is, they take kids from film families. Also, star kids want to become influencers, and influencers want to become stars.”