Actor Tiger Shroff has weighed in on the debate on nepotism in Bollywood, which was rekindled after the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput last month. Tiger, who is the son of actor Jackie Shroff, says that while those who are from the film industry have it easier than the outsiders to grab initial attention, the expectations from them add more pressure.
Speaking to IANS, Tiger said he believes he has been able to get out of Jackie’s shadow. “Being my father’s son, there’s an added pressure of being a star’s son. People think it’s very easy for us. I won’t lie, in a way to get a little attention it helps. It’s easier for people who are from the film industry but it’s double the effort to make it on our own. I managed to get out of my father’s shadow,” he said.
“My father has been in this industry for 30 odd years. He has seen the highs and lows of the industry and he protected me from that from a very young age. Now, that I am out there in the open, I have become an easy target,” he added.
Other stars who have voiced their opinion on nepotism in Bollywood include Manoj Bajpayee and Vivek Oberoi. Manoj had said in an interview that the industry celebrates mediocrity, and ignores those that are actually talented. “Let me start with this, the world is not fair. I have been saying this since 20 years that as an industry we celebrate mediocrity. Forget about industry, as a nation we celebrate mediocrity. Something is lacking somewhere — in our thought process, our value system. When we see talent, we immediately want to ignore or push it away. This is the value system of ours which is so deplorable,” Manoj said.
Vivek, who is the son of actor Suresh Oberoi, reacted to being called ‘nepotism born’ with a tweet. “Many of us chose the harder path and believed in sheer talent and merit. It feels unfair when people make uninformed comments like this, one such comment can brush away years of struggle and perseverance,” he had written.
Tiger was last seen in War with Hrithik Roshan. The film was an action thriller and became the biggest hit of 2019.
