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| Credit: The Indian Express |
The recent demise of famous bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, of which many consider depression to be the leading cause, has placed the current media imperative on nepotism in bollywood. Nepotism is defined as showing partiality or favor to family relatives or friends, especially for jobs or position of power, and is not only a common aspect in star-studded bollywood, but especially in corporate and political India.
Yet, what makes nepotism in Bollywood especially worrying isn’t just its impact on upcoming actors, but how it is slowly paving the way for corruption and injustice in Indian society - especially at the higher, more powerful levels. And therefore, not only is Sushant’s suicide an indicator of inequality in the bollywood industry, but of a much, much larger issue: corruption in India.
The Facts
The media has been drowned in controversy for the past few weeks, and the narrative has begun to expose the deep roots of corruption and nepotism in Indian civil society - Sushant’s suicide is just the tip of a very large iceberg. Bollywood is largely controlled by a few families, who retain the highest control on casting and production choices. Casting and selection in the industry is therefore built on personal relations and favor to these powerful families, rather than genuine talent.
It is crucial to understand how much of a driving factor Bollywood is of Indian politics - when you have a medium that is shaping the mindsets and perspectives of billions of people, how can you not gain power and how can there not be politics? The large audience and popularity of Bollywood has made it into an extremely potent political tool, because Bollywood allows for fame, money and power to the people who act and direct.
Popularity is the winning hand in democracy, and the ones who gain popularity, the ones who are casted, and the ones who retain the winning hand are the ones who originate from star-studded families, because they are given priority in casting.
The Importance
When power is given to people we do not elect and ones who do not represent our best interests, we are enabling them to subvert the legal system. Consider the cases of sexual harassment, illegal arms posession, drug use, domestic abuse and many other crimes that are prevalent in the bollywood scene, especially with reputed actors such as Salman Khan. The very little amount of accountability and liability given to these ‘criminals’ is because of the large economic power and popularity they wield - solely as a result of nepotism fueled bollywood - which allows them to shape public perception and judicial systems. Nepotism allows for the same individuals to garner more economic power and popularity, allowing them to manipulate essential social constructs.
Nepotism in Bollywood isn’t just an attack on talent or equality, it is an attack on democracy and justice, founding aspects of the county of India. Our obsession with bollywood is ignorant - we think the screen and media holds all there is to understand about bollywood. But behind the big screens is a system propagated by nepotism, one that cannot be controlled because we have let it become too powerful.
The Conclusion
Ideally, an equal and fair bollywood system would have allowed for an equal distribution of power, disallowing from families to gain a monopoly. Yet, Sushant and many others are a constant reminder of why this is unachievable. Our movie tickets have slowly become a gateway for the same rich and corrupt people to become more powerful, without us ever realizing.
When we revere movies and actors, we are not supporting the work of talented individuals who have gained a fair representation - instead, we are unknowingly facilitating a growing threat to democracy and justice in India.
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