Saif Ali Khan has been hilariously trolled by netizens over his comments on 'nepotism in Bollywood.' The debate was reignited following the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who died of suicide in June.
In a recent webinar, the Bollywood actor, who is the son of yesteryear actress Sharmila Tagore, stated that he himself was a victim of nepotism and recalled an incident of losing a film to someone's son.
Saif's Statement
"Nepotism in its purest form is something that even I have been a victim of. But nobody's interested in that. Businesses work like that. I am not going to take names but somebody's dad has rung up and said don't take him, take him in the movie. All that happens and it has happened to me. There is inequality in India that needs to be explored. Nepotism, favoritism, and camps are different subjects," he is quoted as saying by a website.
In the webinar, Saif Ali Khan added that he is happy to see people making it big without roots in Bollywood and mentions the names of actors like Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Pankaj Tripathi, who have created a niche for themselves with a background in the Hindi film industry.
Netizens Create Memes
His comments have come under criticism as people claim that he is a "product of nepotism."
However, three years ago, he had come under severe criticism when he said "nepotism rocks" at an awards ceremony. Later, the actor had said that he was against it although he had benefited from it.
"Nepotism is a horrible thing. I am totally against nepotism. I have benefited from it for sure. Definitely, we have more opportunities than people who are not connected to movies," the PTI quoted him as saying.
Saif Ali Khan, who is married to Kareena Kapoor Khan, added, "But how long can one survives depends on the talent and hard work. There are so many people like Shah Rukh Khan who have survived without any conjunctions. For one star kid succeeding there are fifty-star kids which are failing."
