After taking potshots at actress Kangana Ranaut at the recently held IIFA Awards, Bollywood director Karan Johar has vowed never to mention her name or the word “nepotism” again as it would be “ungraceful”. He also said the sketch was “just a joke” and he would like the nepotism chapter closed now.
In an interview with NDTV, Johar said, “This is something I need to say to clarify, of course I don’t believe that nepotism rocks. I believe that only talent rocks. If anything that rocks, it’s your talent, hard work and conviction. It’s the energy you bring to your job. What we said was meant to be a joke, I think it was misplaced, misunderstood and I think we went wrong.”
He further said, “I want to once and for all say and close this chapter after this and subsequently I will not speak about nepotism nor Kangana because it would be distrustful for her and it would be ungraceful at my end, which I’ve already been. Nepotism is easy access, nobody can deny that, but what you do with that access is what moulds you into a professional.”
The discussion on nepotism in the film industry began when Johar brought Ranaut on his show in the last season of Koffee with Karan, and Ranaut called him a “flag bearer of nepotism and the movie mafia”.
Recommended
There has been no public truce between the two on the issue.
At the IIFA Awards this year, with Ranaut absent in the audience, Saif Ali Khan, and Varun Dhawan chanted “Nepotism rocks!” on stage, making light of Ranaut’s remarks.
While Dhawan has since apologised for their sketch, Saif Ali Khan admits that the joke was not his “smartest one“.