Filmmaker R. Balki triggered a controversy with his statements on the ongoing nepotism debate in Bollywood. Speaking to the Hindustan Times, he had said that star kids had an ‘unfair advantage’, but ‘find me a better actor than Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor’. "It's unfair on these few people who're probably some of the finest actors," he said.
His comments kicked up a row on social media with users slamming the director.
Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur also took to Twitter and expressed his disagreement to Balki’s statements. "Have huge respect for you, Balki. But I just saw Kai Po Che! again last night. Three new young actors at that time and stunning believable performances by each," he tweeted. The film, directed by Abhishek Kapoor, starred Rajkummar Rao and Sushant Singh Rajput. Kai Po Che! marked Sushant’s Bollywood debut.
Have huge respect for you, Balki. But i just saw Kai Po Che again last night. Three new young actors at that time. And stunning believable performances by each @filmfare https://t.co/cIvSVsfNJR
— Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) July 17, 2020
Best actors today are coming from theatre. Theres new found respect for them. And confidence.
— Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) July 17, 2020
I’ve worked with Naseer, Shabana,Satish Kaushik, Seema Biswas and entire cast of Bandit Queen, Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Heath Ledger Daniel Craig Eddy Redmayne
All are from theatre
In another tweet, Kapur shared a list of talented actors that he has worked with, in Bollywood and Hollywood. He wrote:"Best actors today are coming from theatre. There's new found respect for them and confidence. I've worked with Naseer, Shabana,Satish Kaushik, Seema Biswas and entire cast of Bandit Queen, Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Heath Ledger, Daniel Craig and Eddy Redmayne. All are from theatre."
Film editor and writer Apurva Asrani also opposed Balki’s stance and listed out talented actors including Manoj Bajpayee, Taapsee Pannu and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. In his reply on Twitter, Apurva wrote, “Manoj Bajpayee, Rajkummar Rao, Vicky Kaushal, Ayushmann, Kangana Ranaut, Priyanka Chopra, Taapsee Pannu, Vidya Balan, Richa Chaddha. Many others too if we look beyond A list film families, and take a few chances. I love Ranbir & Alia, but please, they aren’t the only good actors.” In another tweet, he added, “Pankaj Tripathi, Gajraj Rao, Amit Sadh, Jaideep Ahlawat, Rasika Dugal, Swara Bhaskar, Shweta Tripathi, Sanjay Mishra, Neena Gupta, Divya Dutta, Manav Kaul, Nawazuddin, Jeetu. My god, I could go on & on about the wonderful talents we have. Stop fussing over the same 3-4 names now!”
The nepotism debate was reignited after Sushant’s untimely demise in June.
