Ever since Kangana Ranaut appeared on Koffee with Karan and called KJo the “flagbearer of nepotism”, people have really been discussing the privilege of being born as a star kid. Soon after, several actors, musicians, and artists have spoken against the favouritism and groupism that is allegedly rampant in the film industry.
However, Shahid Kapoor revealed that things had been much different when he started off and did his first film Ishq Vishk in 2003. In an interview, he spoke about how despite being Pankaj Kapur’s son, he was pretty much an ‘outsider’ as he wasn’t handed a film on a silver platter, unlike many star kids today.
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“Normal people get chances now a little more than earlier when I came into the industry. There were way fewer chances for a newcomer.”
In case you didn’t know, before he became an actor, Shahid Kapoor worked as a background dancer in films, like in Taal. He claimed that people didn’t know him as Pankaj Kapur’s son as he used to live with his mother. Hence, he auditioned like any other newcomer.
“People still think of me as Pankaj Kapur’s son, but I was auditioning on my own. I was pretty sceptical about whether I’ll be able to make it or not. For the first 10 years, I found it pretty difficult to feel like a part of the industry. There are way more opportunities today, compared to when I started off.”
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He went on to add, “I’m very thankful to Kumar Taurani and Ramesh Taurani for believing that a newcomer who doesn’t come from any lineage or doesn’t have any previous hype to their launch would be able to find a place for themselves.”
“A lot of new people are getting opportunities…new filmmakers…and that’s very good. We might be talking about nepotism today but I think that there’s still quite a bit of opportunity today compared to when I started,” he said.
Nowadays you’ll find that star kids are gracing magazine covers, are assigned professional photoshoots, and are called to talk shows even before they’ve had a film release. Hence, do you agree with what Shahid has to say? Tell us!