Nepotism may be the buzzword in Bollywood over the last few years, but there was a time not too long ago when actors from the film industry did not face that much scrutiny from the audience.
However, even the old-timers say that the scrutiny from a section of the media existed even two decades back. In a no-holds-barred chat with HT, Tusshar Kapoor recalls his first year in films and how people tried to pull him down.
Tusshar Kapoor on the buzz around nepotism
Tusshar, the son of 70s’ star Jeetendra, made his acting debut with Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai in 2001. The actor agrees that the discourse around nepotism was not as prevalent when he began, but it was starting. “It had started in my time, too,” he recalls, adding, “Especially if you were from a film background, then the glass is always half empty for a certain section of the media. You have to be very thick-skinned. Bahut neecha giraane ki koshish, bahut negativity thi (There were efforts to pull you down, a lot of negativity).”
Tusshar says that a certain section of the media tried to find faults with whatever star kids did. “If you come to a press conference naturally without makeup and hair, you are criticised that aap hero dikhne ke laayak nahi ho (you don’t look like a hero). If you come with makeup and hair done, you are told you are too filmy. Everyone was trying to pull you down,” he says.
‘There was attempt to derail my path’
Having spent 24 years in the industry now, Tusshar feels it was all down to having a thick skin very early on. “I feel fortunate enough to have the willpower to tolerate it and just concentrate on my work. That work ethic is what took me forward. The film (Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai) released, and it did really well. Otherwise, I could have been crushed under this pressure. I didn’t come into the industry feeling I had to live up to someone’s expectations. But there was an attempt to constantly judge and derail my path. But the audience is very pure. They will judge you based on what they see on the screen.”
‘Star kids don’t have it easy’
The general perception is that star kids, as the term goes, are born with the proverbial silver spoon. However, Tusshar says that is not true. “Contrary to what people think, when you are a star son, you don’t exactly have a red carpet,” he says bluntly, adding, “You can get your first film much easier. It can come into your lap. But even that is a chance. To finish that film and what choices you make after that, it’s all unknown. The constant scrutiny and that feeling of ‘no matter what you do, the glass is half empty’, that is something you have to face and move on from.”
The actor also has a bone to pick with how star kids are sometimes unfairly treated in comparison with the ‘outsiders’. He explains, “There are so many actors who are not from an industry background who haven’t had that kind of success. But they are hailed as icons of diversity. And there are a number of actors like me who are from the industry, we are always judged. No matter how many successful films we do, we hear ‘acha ye sirf multi-starrers karta hai. You have to learn to ignore it.”
Tusshar is currently starring in the horror comedy Kapkapiii. The Sangeeth Sivan film also stars Shreyas Talpade and is releasing in theatres on May 23.