Bollywood is simultaneously the largest and smallest film industry in the world.
It’s massive in volume, but from the outside looking in, it comes across as an exceedingly insular industry where ‘power’ is centralised among a relatively few people/studios.
Whereas Hollywood has a much larger playing field in that regard.
In Hollywood, the very concept of a ‘star kid’ is non-existent. Now, that isn’t to say that the offspring of famous actors don’t become actors. Several such examples have already been cited.
However, a Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese isn’t going to ‘launch’ a Colin Hanks or a Dakota Johnson.
There are no ‘star kid launches’ in Hollywood, certainly not in the way the likes of Ananya Pandey, Jahnvi Kapoor and others have been ‘launched’ by one of Bollywood’s largest studios.
That Colin is the son of Tom Hanks, one of Hollywood’s crown jewels, doesn’t appear to have drastically affected Colin’s shot at ‘stardom.’
In fact, Colin often plays down the fact that he’s Tom Hanks’ son; his parentage hasn’t defined his career or the opportunities he has received.
Others choose a similar route – Nicolas Coppola, the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, changed his last name to Cage to establish his own identity.
The principle of meritocracy runs stronger in Hollywood. Jaden Smith, son of Will Smith, has disappeared into the ether. Yes, he was given his shot, but it didn’t work out and now he’s been benched.
That doesn’t happen in Bollywood. Most ‘star-kids’ with even a modicum of talent are given umpteen opportunities and those who fade away only do so after multiple large scale failures.
Then there is the fascination with celebrity. While it certainly exists in Hollywood, it is a fair few pitches higher in Bollywood. Stars such as the Khan triumvirate and several others are not only loved, they are deified.
Naturally, there will be an intense fascination surrounding their kids. And the media plays up this angle as well.
In some ways, it is a chicken or egg scenario – Is the fascination with star kids a result of them being shoved down our throats or are they in the limelight because we put them there?
Nepotism is unavoidable. But there has to be a balance. Most of today’s Bollywood stars are products of nepotism, and many of them are not there on merit.
The entire industry, including its various stakeholders, has been ostensibly tailored to propagate the ‘star-kids’ phenomenon.
And while nepotism certainly exists in Hollywood, it doesn’t at this scale and to such outlandish proportions. A mediocre actor will not survive, let alone thrive, based merely on his/her parentage in Hollywood.
The finest directors will not cast a ‘star-kid’ because it will bring added visibility to their films; because in Hollywood, it doesn’t.
John David Washington is the lead in Christopher Nolan’s next film, Tenet. He’s the son of Denzel Washington, but most people know him as “the guy from BlackkKlansmann.” That he is Denzel’s son isn’t a part of the narrative.
Lastly, nepotism in Hollywood seems to adhere more closely to the idealised version of the phenomenon compared to Bollywood – your surname might get your foot in the door, but after that, it’s all on you. In the long run, your surname doesn’t matter.
But it does in Bollywood. Your surname will not only get your foot in the door, it will also open multiple doors until you find one that you can fit through.
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