Apoorva Mehta of Dharma Productions explains why star kids get easier breaks; says, “There’s a certain public interest in them”
The debate around nepotism in Bollywood continues to spark strong opinions, and Dharma Productions CEO Apoorva Mehta recently shared his perspective during the I.I.M.U.N. Leadership Talk. Addressing one of the industry’s most discussed subjects, Mehta acknowledged that star kids often receive opportunities more easily but argued that the reasons go beyond family connections.
Explaining his stance, Mehta said, “I’ll tell you two things. And, it’s a fairly wrong branding that this film industry has got of being nepotistic. Yes, the nepotistic kids get a better opportunity. They get a break easier because of the fact that they have faces that are visible, because there’s a certain public interest in them, where they’re clicked at restaurants or parties or airports or be what may, you know, and they’re known to be the child of this X-actor or X-actress, and there is a certain awareness of him or her. So when you’re making a film with a new talent, you’re just happier to get somebody else who’s got certain additional eyeballs to be watched in the theatres, because other than that, if you know, there are 20-30 newcomers who gets launched every year, but if I ask you to name three of them, you won’t know them. That is just the reality, because audiences are so, so disconnected, audiences are so scattered with the content viewing, it’s really difficult to launch a new person so easily.”
According to Mehta, the entertainment landscape has changed significantly, with audiences consuming content across multiple platforms. He suggested that this fragmentation makes it increasingly difficult for completely new faces to gain instant recognition, while star kids already benefit from public familiarity even before making their debut.
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Mehta also addressed the criticism that Dharma Productions primarily launches actors from film families. Pointing to the banner’s track record, he said, “And having said that, while people are remembering us for being nepo launchers, we’ve launched a lot of non-nepo people. Like, we are launching two people on a show right now, Zaeden and Katyani. They have come from different fields. We’ve launched Sidharth Malhotra; we’ve launched Lakshya right now. So we’ve launched a lot of people also who are not from the business, but unfortunately, that doesn’t get remembered.”
His remarks offer a nuanced perspective on the nepotism debate, acknowledging the visibility advantage enjoyed by star kids while maintaining that production houses also continue to introduce fresh talent from outside the industry. Mehta’s comments are likely to reignite conversations around Bollywood’s casting practices, balancing the discussion between privilege, audience recall, and the challenges of launching newcomers in an increasingly competitive entertainment industry.
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