Actor Sunil Shetty is one of the few actors who made it big without having any connection in Bollywood. He has been in the industry for more than 20 years. Starting the career with Balwaan in 1992, the audience loved his acting and accepted an outsider in the industry.
With the ongoing debate on nepotism, Sunil Shetty opened up and talked about his son Ahan Shetty and daughter Athira Shetty entering the Bollywood industry. Talking to ETimes, he said “This whole talk about nepotism hurts. It is something that is there in every field. Is my son or daughter not allowed to dream of becoming an actor just because their father is an actor? Does that mean the dream of that child needs to be squashed? An industrialist’s son dreams of taking over the business after his father. Is that dream wrong? A kid sees all the love their parents received from their fans. Is it wrong for them to want the same for themselves? People run to the best school and try all their influences to get their child admission. Is that wrong too? I don’t know where this is coming from.”
Further he talked about his online hunt for talent and how he is helping around two lakh people to get a job. He is also asking other people to give outsiders an opportunity. He said, “If two of my kids are trying to get work, there are two lakh people for whom I am trying to get work. It is very unfair that only the industry is looked at like that. People are being called names and are being abused while the industry has been giving so much back. We are always there for everything to support. All I can say is that I request people to look at it differently. Look at each kid as an individual. Yes, groupism exists in Bollywood but that is there everywhere. One has to learn to live with it. I believe it is not fair.”
Lastly, he mentioned how the career of his children will be decided by the audience. He said, “They might have that advantage of being a star kid in their first film but after that, it is the audience, the subject of their films, their co-actors who finally make or break their career.”
