Swara Bhaskar feels that the word ‘nepotism’ doesn’t apply to Bollywood. A more appropriate word would be ‘star driven’, Bhaskar told Hindustan Times.
“The [film] industry is dynamic in nature, based on relationships and that is true. Also, we’re a star-driven industry not a talent-driven industry and unless this doesn’t change, you can call it nepotism or feudalism or whatever you want to call it. The fact still remains that children of stars come with a certain kind of advantage,” she said.
To elaborate further, she gives an example. “Come on, it’s not an IAS exam where the top 10 scorers get the part. There have been cases where bigger stars have been cast instead of me for example and honestly, they were not even big stars. It is just people’s perception about them.”
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Swara, who has long been playing supporting roles in films, recently got her big break starring as the lead in two films – Nil Battey Sannata and Anaarkali of Arrah. While it took her while to get lead roles, she has in the past, spoken about how it’s never that simple for an outsider.
She also said that she makes it a point to not judge people by how privileged they are. “When I look at Sonam (Kapoor), I think maybe things are not that bad and you shouldn’t judge people by where they are born and where they are coming from, because they really can’t help it. At the end of the day, everyone should get the chance to prove themselves,” she said.