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A young girl with oil-soaked plaits and a starched uniform stands in the middle of a crowd of children. They're taunting her, pulling her hair, asking where she's from, and if she knows English. Pooja, the daughter of a sweet-seller from Chandni Chowk, fumbles, surrounded by the jeering bullies. They point derisory fingers, chanting, “Vernie! Vernie! Vernie!” (short for vernacular) as she shrinks away, confidence crushed.
Years later, the bullied schoolgirl is unrecognisable. Designer clothes have replaced the over-starched uniform, an impeccable blow-dry in place of oily plaits. "Pooja" is now “Poo,” sitting pretty atop the social ladder of her universe, she spends her time deciding whom she will honour with her attention.
So goes Kareena Kapoor's character arc in Karan Johar’s Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.
Skip to February 2017.
Kangana Ranaut is on Koffee with Karan, sitting on the most coveted couch on Indian television. “As per your experience," Johar asks, "Who has given you more unnecessary attitude in the industry; female or male co-stars?”
She looks Johar square in the eye and says, “I think you have, Karan.” In the same breath, Ranaut calls Johar “a flagbearer of nepotism” and the “movie mafia.”
Her comments triggered a nationwide debate on nepotism in Bollywood and instantly turned her into a pariah in almost every drawing room and corridor that matters in Bollywood.
Kangana Ranaut’s is one of Bollywood’s best rags-to-riches stories. The actress has been bagging awards since her first film, but it took eight years for people to begin to realise that she was was more than just a talented actress; that she was a star.
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In 2007, as she picked up IIFA’s Best Debut award for her role in Gangster, her first words were, “I don’t know how many times I’ll get nervous. But, I love the excitement.”
She had already won several major awards that year and it wasn’t really a surprise seeing her on stage again. However, each time she had gone up on stage, she had been subjected to sneering and ridicule for her poor English. She has also been criticised for being "demanding" and "eccentric" on set.
Imagine better manicured fingers pointing, "Vernie! Vernie!"
As time moved on, so did Kangana's career, with more misses than hits. However, as of 2017, Ranaut has three National Awards, a widest range of characters under her belt, over 10 years of experience, and she’s only 30. She hasn't got there without her share of controversy, having been accused of bullying scriptwriters and exes along the way. But by any standard, she is an A-lister, sought after by almost every director in the industry.
So why does Bollywood hate Kangana Ranaut so much?
Because unlike other Bollywood outsiders who've risen to the top, she isn't keeping quiet about the forces and folks that tried to keep her out.
Karan Johar is no stranger to snide remarks about his filmmaking style or his nepotistic ways. A Bollywood starchild himself, he has directed six films in a career that spans almost 20 years. In these films, he has cast zero people in lead roles whom he didn’t already know of before he started casting for the film. He has cast best friends, old connections, assistant directors, children of family friends, co-stars of best friends, wives of best friends, and even people he respectfully calls uncle and aunty.
Star World / Via twitter.com
By the time Kangana took her turn on Karan’s couch, it had already witnessed numerous digs at the show’s host, all of which had gone down better than hers. He's been called out for being a bad filmmaker, being nepotistic and for creating controversies on his show by stars as big as Ranveer Singh, Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and even Aamir Khan.
Star World
Back in 2014 at the AIB Knockout, in a script Johar himself helped write, All India Bakchod made countless jokes about his nepotism. He laughed at each one
AIB
In a 2014 interview, Johar even admitted to letting his connections in the industry affect his casting decisions for Student Of The Year. He added, “There are too many factors in this country that determine movie stardom and true talent is the least of them. It is truly tragic.”
So why did Ranaut pointing out an old, threadbare observation evoke Bollywood's most petty and undignified response in recent history, and a news story that's lasted months?
The truth is a bitter pill to swallow and over the past few months, the industry and the numerous star kids that populate it have been force-fed this pill over and over. Public opinion is changing quickly and the fact that the last dialled number on a star’s call log matters less than the audience's response to their last movie now looms large over their heads.
As far as Johar’s films go, India has eagerly lapped up every fantasy he has fed us in the past 20 years. But the more glimpses we get into the making of these films, the more the questions start to pile up. Johar’s oft-repeated mantra that he wants to tell the story in the best way possible — and that involves casting the best voice and face available — has been put under the spot thanks to the storm Kangana has kicked up.
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And let's be real. When was the last time we really saw a star kid shine? Tiger Shroff may have a massive female fanbase that belies his filmography, but Armaan Jain, Sooraj Pancholi, Athiya Shetty, Shraddha Kapoor, Harshvardhan Kapoor and many others have just been passing faces in a sea of less-than-passable movies.
We have excused many star kids, expecting that at some point, their genes will somehow reflect the legacy they were born into.
It goes without saying that nepotism allowed a lot of mediocrity and below par performances to make it to the big screen. Uday Chopra's entire career, for example, was a matter of waiting to see if he could ever go beyond being just a well-built man. We have excused so many actors, giving them multiple chances to prove themselves, because we expect that at some point, their genes will somehow reflect the legacy they were born into.
Despite what Saif may think, I don't think genetics works that way.
Besides, people have always found a way to side-step the star system. Modelling and beauty pageants have been one way to enter the industry. Some of our biggest stars are proof of that. That later shifted to casting from television. Ex-TV stars such as Sushant Singh Rajput and Ayushmann Khurrana have proved their mettle as dedicated actors in their short careers, with both big banner YRF movies as well as smaller productions.
As more of the usual first-weekend-going, pop-culture-loving audience turns to the Internet for entertainment, stars are starting to emerge from there as well. Tanmay Bhat, for example, has a way bigger Twitter fanbase than star kids like Tiger Shroff, Athiya Shetty, or Harshvardhan Kapoor. Internet stars such as Mallika Dua, Rohan Joshi and Kanan Gill have also found their way to the big screen in some capacity.
If bankability is the excuse we are given for casting children with a strong legacy backing them, let's look at some of the most bankable stars in Bollywood right now — Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Akshay Kumar and Anushka Sharma to name a few. They have made it to the top without any parents, godparents or legacies to live up to. Over the years, they have struggled to prove their worth and their talent and now, every project with their name on it has top billing.
The likes of Jhanvi and Khushi Kapoor (Sridevi and Boney Kapoor's daughters), Sara Ali Khan (Saif Ali Khan's daughter), Suhana and Aryan Khan (Shah Rukh Khan's children) are all currently being groomed to take over from their parents. And before they've even made it, they're already in the spotlight. Jhanvi Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan are followed around by paparazzi on their way to the gym or to classes where they will work on the skills required to be actresses.
Jhanvi Kapoor (L) and Sara Ali Khan ®.
Viral Bhayani
They might even stand out in that audition that they will eventually, inevitably get, because they've had the privilege of being trained for it. While struggling actors work hard for the shot that may or may not come, the privilege of the star kid won't just get their feet in the door, it will also ensure that those feet are well-manicured and clad in expensive designer footwear.
But despite all that, they may get rejected by audiences who will seek their entertainment elsewhere if they're not satisfied with the weekend Bollywood release.
The direct, undignified jibes against Ranaut by Karan Johar, Saif Ali Khan and Varun Dhawan on one of Bollywood's largest stages revealed just how easy it is to rattle ruling dynasties these days. They haven't just been called out. They've been called out by an outsider-turned-A lister, one of Bollywood's most bankable actress.
The twist? She's talented enough that you, I, and Karan Johar know that she'll still keep getting work and still keep making money.
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The times have been changing since the likes of Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone and Irrfan Khan found their way to the top by using the star system to their advantages. By starring in movies with top-billed superstars, they earned enough money to be able to extend their careers beyond the khandans and fuel global ambitions. Anushka Sharma, who moonlights as a Bollywood producer now, admitted in an interview that if not for bigger budget movies with the Khans like PK and Sultan, she wouldn't have had the capacity to make movies that she wanted to watch as a viewer.
The monarchs of Bollywood are guilty of forgetting that while they sit pretty in their little bubbles, hungry newcomers are racing to the top.
The bullied little girl always finds her way up. Karan Johar should know. He wrote the script himself.