I generally refrain from commenting on anything and about anybody, so this article is in best interest of all those artists regardless of within or from outside the Bollywood industry who are working hard to entertain the audience at large. Deeply shocked by the tragic suicide incident of Bollywood actor, Sushant Singh Rajput and many other competing as well as emerging stars lately, I am sharing my thoughts and observations about the entertainment industry relating to our individual lives at large.
There is a massive rage and fire suddenly on social platforms where most of us are talking about Nepotism and favoritism. Are only the insiders of the industry to be 100% blamed? If this was the root cause, then let me share two big examples of outsiders whom the industry not only accepted but, cannot think of their own survival without them – The Kohinoor of Indian Cinema – Amitabh Bachchanji and The King of Bollywood -Shahrukh Khan! Both are live examples of outsiders who not only entered with a long journey of struggle but, also made top production houses rely on their presence to make their movies a success.
If you dig in your own family, relatives, friends, and surroundings; we often talk about ‘SPORTS’, Winning, Competition, Awards, Recognition, ever since we stepped in the school or our children stepped in the school. May I know why? Why are we compared as kids with other performing children and why do we compare our kids when we have them with other children of the school? The harsh fact is; the era of GAME is suddenly shifted to SPORTS where PLAYING is not important, WINNING IS… No one plays any game or performs an activity to enjoy but, everyone is rushing to win, to be recognized, and to achieve that fame. We are countless number of times pressurized and raised to compete, do the best, grab the best, and perform the best! The question is, WHAT IS BEST? Is this BEST justified by outside people, our people, or by ourselves!
Life of an artist has suddenly shortened to a BLUE TICK on Instagram and Facebook, and the numbers of followers on social media. On the other side, their performance and life in Bollywood is decided or being judged upon by few media houses.
The issue of politics and nepotism is in every industry; some bear with it, some fight back, some live with it, and some get frustrated and finally give up feeling left out… Even in the corporate world, if you do not party or take those short smoke breaks with your bosses, it is unlikely to get promoted…
Coming back to the world of Bollywood, is it only the people in the industry who are to be blamed? The audience outside has degraded star kids too and behaved with them the same way how Sushant Singh Rajput was treated by some in the industry. Let us think with a calm mind and understand, what would the high-profile kids do outside the industry if not acting? If they find jobs like us, will you behave with them as an insider or outsider? The few statements that I assume by many would be;
“Kya din aa gaye iske”,
“Isko kya zaroorat padi, yahan aa gaya hamare pet par laat maarne…”,
“iski qualification bhi nahin kuch karne ki sivay actor banne ke”,
“Iske maa baap ke paas to bahaut paisa hai, yeh kyun yahan aaya…”, etc…
The people are same everywhere with a mix of those who will encourage you, bully you, put you down, or raise you up. Regardless of star kids or outsiders, artists are pressurized in their own way to perform the best.
Let me share few examples of Bollywood starkids who strived hard to emerge and the audience failed them by trolling them so bad that many left immediately being shattered on the response and many are yet struggling to win the hearts of the audience; (mind you, some names have given remarkable performances but, the industry as well as the audience failed to recognize them too in many ways!).
- Abhishek Bachchan
- Bobby Deol
- Abhay Deol
- Neil Nitin Mukesh
- Govinda
- Vivek Oberoi
- Mohnish Bahl
- Harshvardhan Kapoor
- Shahid Kapoor
- Riya Sen
- Esha Deol
- Uday Chopra
- Harman Baweja
- Jackky Baghnani
- Shahid Kapoor
- Amisha Patel
- Mahima Choudhary
- Aathiya Shetty
- Shruti Haasan and many more…
Some of them really have the potential and did become superstars but, not just the industry; it is the system and the audience that failed them with their harsh comments. Also, it is about the right potential, right time, and luck that work regardless of the background of an artist, which play an important role too.
Let us come back to some amazing super talented artists from outside who made a huge prominence in the books of Bollywood:
- Shahrukh Khan
- Akshay Kumar
- Jackie Shroff
- John Abraham
- Sushant Singh Rajput
- Ayushmann Khurrana
- Manoj Bajpai
- Irrfan Khan
- Nawazuddin Siddiqui and many more…
To me, every artist deserves respect as he tries hard to win the hearts of the audience. You cannot judge a person based on few hits or few flops or his family background or his personal issues… It is we – the audience, who firstly have to change the mind-set of ENTERTAINMENT! You buy a ticket to get entertained not to debate or degrade an artist after the movie gets over. If you did not like it, be still glad that you took 2 to 3 hours of your life for a change. Are we not bullying them or bitching about them all over social platforms? Do not let the word; ENTERTAIN become ENTER PAIN for any of us as well as the artists with your comments and thoughts.
As the saying goes; ‘An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind…’
Sushant’s demise has enraged a different mind-set altogether which is sadly again not positive but, negative. I regret to say that some media platforms are misrepresenting the news in a manner that will further hamper the other struggling artists who would assume that being outsiders nothing good can happen to their career in Bollywood. Furthermore, the hatred for good potential artists from within the industry could be demeaning too in terms of their efforts and hard work to entertain you.
It is WE and the SYSTEM that needs to change. The challenge is, being a commoner you cannot change the system but, you can certainly change perception and your comment attitude!
‘Be the change to see the change in the world!’
Every comment of yours matter to an artist. There was a mass of common audience who spoke all rubbish about various brilliant performers including Sushant Singh Rajput and about many other star kids as well once upon a time. Most of them are doing the same even today!
Signing petitions, boycotting production houses, and demeaning known personalities would do no help! Start appreciating every single character in and behind the scene. If you don’t like someone’s performance, do not spread the word and spread negativity or troll him on social platforms. The industry survived beautifully before social media too. Social media was a tool that was emerged to curb the gap between the audience and the artists. Train your own mind to appreciate others. How many of us actually promote the artists who request or urge us on Facebook and Instagram to promote their songs, their movies, their campaigns, or even like their posts or page???
Change yourself if you really wish to give justice to all those who left us. Bring the change by;
- Stop writing negative about any artist,
- Stop judging them based on their religion,
- Stop criticizing them on their gender,
- Stop trolling them on their flops or on their background,
- Stop all the negativity in your mind and start appreciating the good,
- Stop going by others’ words to rate a movie or someone’s performance
- Stop being so negative about each other on social media at large!
The above goes for all of us regardless of audience, fellow artists, and people from the industry.
If you cannot do it, it would be wise to speak less and avoid poisoning more minds on suicidal attempts…
Appreciate people whose performance you really liked; it could be the director, actor, actress, costume designer, makeup artist, cameraman, music composer, and singer. Remember, every single person involved in a project of a TV program or a movie contributes to its success.
Lastly, on behalf of millions and trillions of fans from across the globe, I would like to appreciate every single entertainer of the entertainment industry as we do not know the individual struggle they are going through regardless of a godfather or no godfather, money, fame, recognition, family, and stardom. You all are doing amazing to entertain us. Continue to do so…
Before I leave this article with a hope that it will change at least a certain percentage of mind-set if not all, let me share few more good examples of artists whom the audience and the system of Bollywood, both failed to give the deserving applause! Some of these names were legends and some are loaded with talent and potential. Answer to yourself – what did you as an audience do to their acceptance in the industry?
- Meenakshi Sheshadari
- Aditya Roy Kapoor
- Akshay Khanna
- Emraan Hashmi
- Mahima Choudhary
- Amisha Patel
- Vidyut Jammwal
- Arshad Warsi
- Bhoomi Pednekar
- Rahul Bose
- Dino Morea
- Ali Fazal
- Sudhanshu Pandey
- Bipasha Basu
- Zareen Khan
- Deepak Tijori
- Sharman Joshi
- Aftab Shivdasani
- Arjun Rampal
- Diya Mirza
- Sonu Sood
- Kunal Kapoor
- Suniel Shetty
- Manisha Koirala
- Sonali Bendre
- Jimmy Shergill
- Parineeti Chopra
- Huma Qureshi and many more…
If you really wish to see the change in the industry, I advise you all please visit the above artists’ social profiles, follow them, and write a note of appreciation to them regardless of their Bollywood or non-Bollywood history. Majority of them are picking up new hobbies, learning new things, launching their own production houses, directing movies, launching their own YouTube channels, or waiting for a good project. Rather spending time on degrading or demeaning other artists, take a moment and spend that time to visit their profiles, encourage the above and many similar ones striving for recognition…. Perhaps, this liking and acceptance may start sowing the seeds of a new perception in the industry which will be competition-free and non-biased.
As an artist myself, I can share that your one message can make someone’s morale high and bring back the confidence in his/her life to do lots more…
Ending this article with a thoughtful note; “It is time to change, not to shame…”
Love and Light to all.
– Shruti Sharma
P.S. (People have mistook me as a journalist, PR, media agent., Etc… I am not paid for this article nor have I ever intended to get paid for any of my blog articles. This article has no intentions to take any coverage or publicity. Thus, it has no hashtags, no meta tags, and no backlinkings! It is an attempt and appeal to change mindset of the self and learn to appreciate others…)
Nice article, you have given depth to the issue, that’s why a writer is always a writer.
Thank you Ankit Awasthi. It is the first time someone has mentioned my profession correctly too! People have assumed me as a journalist, PR, media agent., Etc… I am not paid for this nor have I ever intended to get paid for any of my blog articles. This article has no intentions to take any coverage or publicity. Thus, it has no hashtags, no meta tags, and no backlinkings… It is an attempt and appeal to change mindset of the self and learn to appreciate others!