‘I’m a victim of nepotism,’ Saif Ali Khan crying over nepotism is like Rahul Gandhi crying over “Parivarvad” in politics

Saif Ali Khan, son of veteran actress Sharmila Tagore and cricketing giant Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, has made a profound revelation while speaking at a webinar organized by the New Indian Express. Saif is of the firm belief that he too, has been a victim of ‘nepotism’ in an unforgiving Bollywood industry. How he has experienced the detrimental side-effects of nepotism, which by the way is all-pervasive in Bollywood, is of course something he did not explain in great detail. The star actor’s remarks come at a time when Bollywood is engulfed in a storm of its own creation, following the demise of Sushant Singh Rajput.

“There is inequality in India that needs to be explored. Nepotism, favouritism and camps are different subjects. Even I have been a victim of nepotism but nobody speaks of that. I’m happy to see more people from film institutes come to the forefront,” Saif Ali Khan was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express. The actor was responding to questions that probed him on the issue of the prevailing nepotism row in the industry, and also Kangana Ranaut’s consistent all-out attack against the same.

However, what has taken the internet by storm is the actor’s single statement of him too, being a victim of nepotism. How can a man descending from an almost ‘royal’ lineage, be a victim of the same nepotism which a person like Sushant Singh Rajput from Patna would be? Not only do Saif’s assertions defy all logic, but they also expose him as a hypocrite, for it was not too long before the same man was shouting “nepotism rocks” in front of the industry.  In 2017, Saif joined filmmaker Karan Johar and actor Varun Dhawan to chant “Nepotism Rocks” at the IIFA Awards, in what was a response to Kangana Ranaut calling Johar the “flagbearer of nepotism” in Bollywood, on his show Koffee With Karan.

The same Saif Ali Khan had in 2017 also said, “I am very against nepotism and I think it leads to a lot of mediocrity. But I still don’t understand whether star children fell under nepotism or whether the talent is somewhere the key. But, definitely being a star kid gets you in the door easily. Then again it depends when people will put their money on you, then you must get it back. The bottom line is — talent is good, nepotism is bad.”

In 2004, Saif Ali Khan was awarded the National Award for ‘Best Actor’ for his role in “Hum Tum”, which people consider a mediocre performance at best, more so since the competition which Saif faced was from Shah Rukh Khan for his act in ‘Swades’. At the time, Sharmila Tagore was the CBFC chief.

Saif Ali Khan has been one of the top trends on Twitter throughout today. Indians are simply failing to comprehend how the star was a victim of ‘nepotism’, and in what way his career suffered a setback due to the same. The actor’s statement, if not worth a dime on other counts, has surely given meme-producers a lot of content.

https://twitter.com/ParmarNandika/status/1278613376453578753?s=20

To put things into perspective, Saif Ali Khan sounds awfully a lot like what Rahul Gandhi would sound, if he were to ever say that he has been a victim of “pariwarvaad” or dynastic politics. Has Rahul Gandhi’s political life been a bed of roses? No. Rather, it has been an unmitigated disaster. Does that mean that Rahul will go around town saying he’s a victim of nepotism? No. Similarly, Saif Ali Khan’s claims of him having suffered due to ‘nepotism’ are problematic, as he himself is a product of the term he occasionally seems to both hate and then love, to also claiming being victimised by it.