The nepotism debate is at an all-time high after the shocking demise of Sushant Singh Rajput. Many within and outside the industry have pointed fingers at groupism and favouritism that are quite common in the entertainment world. And there are those social media users that have taken it to the next level by blaming Sushant’s death on nepotism and pointing fingers at Bollywood biggies like Karan Johar and star kids like Alia Bhatt, Ananya Panday, and many others for the same. Many such people probably don’t even know the actual meaning of nepotism, but they have continued to blame this handful of people for boycotting Sushant.

While that is yet to be proven true through police investigation, renowned director R Balki was asked about the recent nepotism debate on social media in an interview with Filmfare. He said that it is undeniable that nepotism happens everywhere and not just the film industry. He gave the example of the Ambanis, Bajajs, and Mahindras and asked if anyone had a problem with their fathers passing on their businesses to them. He also gave an example of a vegetable seller or a driver who passes on his business to his children and brushed off the argument saying it’s foolish. The director also agreed that the star kids have an unfair advantage but there are pros and cons to that too. Over and above that he said, ‘I’d ask one simple question: Find me a better actor than Alia or Ranbir, and we’ll argue.‘ He said it was unfair on these few people who are actually talented and are some of the finest actors. He further added that the audience doesn’t like an actor without talent and sometimes they also want to see star kids on screen. He ended by saying that while he completely agrees that it is extremely difficult for an outsider to make an entry in films, talent finally gets the opportunity.

Reacting to this statement of his, filmmaker Apurva Asrani tweeted in reply giving Balki a list of actors who he thought was better than Ranbir and Alia. He added that while he loved Alia and Ranbir, there are many talented actors beyond the A-list families.

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Even filmmaker Shekar Kapur who was extremely close to Sushant reacted to Balki’s statement with a tweet.

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These are just a few people who’ve reacted to Balki’s statement so far. If we know anything about social media the director is in hot waters.