The tragic and sudden demise of Sushant Singh Rajput has bought to light a lot of things that were prevailing in Bollywood. From conspiracy theories to assumptions, debates refuse to slow down. Amid all this, several renowned celebrities have spilled the tea on groupism and nepotism and how it affects people’s careers in Bollywood.
Here is a list of celebrities who openly revealed how they were professionally wronged because of gangs, groups, and nepotism in Bollywood.
Priyanka Chopra said she was cornered in Bollywood so she moved to America.
In a conversation with Dax Shepherd on his podcast Armchair Expert, Priyanka Chopra said,
“I was being pushed into a corner in the industry (Bollywood). I had people not casting me, I had beef with people, I am not good at playing that game so I kind of was tired of the politics and I said I needed a break.
“This music thing gave me an opportunity to go into another part of the world, not crave for the movies I didn’t want to get but I would require to schmooze certain clubs and cliques of people. It would require groveling and I had worked a long time by then that I didn’t feel like I wanted to do it. So when this music thing came I was like ‘fu** it I am going to America.”
Abhinav Kashyap said Salman Khan and his family ruined his career.
Anurag Kashyap’s brother Abhinav revealed in an interview that Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Sohail Khan and Salim Khan ruined his career in the industry. He also said that talent management agencies ruin the lives of many actors.
“Mr. Salman Khan and his family sabotaged the release of the film and got their PROs to run a sustained negative smear campaign against me and my film Besharam before release. This scared the distributors from buying my film. Reliance Entertainment and I were capable and courageous enough to release the film ourselves but the battle had just begun. My enemies, which there were many ran a sustained negative Trolling and badmouthing campaign against the film till the Box Office of my film collapsed,”
he wrote on Facebook.
Ranvir Shorey said that he was isolated and false rumors were spread about him.
Despite giving flabbergasting performances one after the other, Ranvir Shorey says he was professionally isolated and went through trauma. So much so, he escaped India for some time. This happened after his fallout with the Bhatts, he said.
“Yes, that (Bhatts) is what I am talking about. I was professionally and socially isolated, equally pressured from all ends. Every chance and every platform they would get, they would be lying about me, saying I am an alcoholic and abuser. You feel so helpless and powerless because these people are so powerful that the press will just listen to them and not even bother calling you for your side of the story. You just feel so helpless and frustrated because you can’t do anything about it. It got really toxic for me at the time and I had to leave the country for a while,”
he was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
Kangana Ranaut said ‘suicide gang’ said they told her she would be driven to suicide too.
Kangana Ranaut who has always been bold and blunt about the favoritism and gangs in the industry revealed that Javed Akhtar told her she would be driven to suicide if she doesn’t apologize to Hrithik Roshan. About Mahesh Bhatt, she said, he threw a chappal at her for refusing to do his film. She claimed her image was maligned by agencies who published false news and rumors. She said she was threatened by Aditya Chopra after she rejected Salman Khan starrer Sultan.
AR Rahman said that a gang is not letting him bag Bollywood projects.
The Oscar winning music composer who has given music to Sushant’s last movie revealed why he is doing less work in Bollywood. He said a “gang” is spreading false rumors about him that is stopping him from getting work.
“I don’t say no to good movies, but I think there is a gang, which, due to misunderstandings, is spreading some false rumors,”
he told Radio Mirchi.
Raveena Tandon said that there are bad people who ‘plan your failure’.
Raveen Tandon revealed that industry has “camps and mean girl gangs” that makes it toxic. She says favouritism prevails in the industry.
“There are bad people who do plan your failure; I’ve been through it. They are the ones who would want to see you down and removed from films. It’s literally like classroom politics. They play games,” she said in an interview with Hindustan Times.
Tigmanshu Dhulia said that two strong groups in the industry are making money but doing nothing for cinema.
Tigmanshu Dhulia who is known for playing the role of Ramadhir Singh in Gangs of Wasseypur and the man who mouthed the dialogue –
“Beta Tumse Na Ho Payega” is behind several acclaimed films like Paan Singh Tomar, Haasil and Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster among others. He recently revealed that groupism is not allowing Indian cinema to go forward.
“The two strong groups in the industry did not take cinema forward. They were capable of changing the taste of the people but they did nothing for the art of cinema. They made money, which is great and essential, but cinema is an art form. What happened to it?” he told Hindustan Times.
Amit Sadh said that the TV industry banned him for being outspoken.
Amit Sadh said that he was banned by the TV industry and was blacklisted for being “outspoken”.
“They called each other and said isko kaam mat do. Toh phir maine kaha, ‘Achcha? Nahi de rahe ho? Toh phir main picturon mein jaaunga,” he told Bollywood Hungama in an interview.
Sonu Nigam says ‘Music Mafia’ crushes talented musicians.
In a series of videos, Sonu Nigam revealed how the music mafia is bigger than the film industry. He says they manipulate the business and ruthlessly ruin the career of inspiring singers.
“The producer, director, and the music composer, all are ready to work but then the music company says, ‘this isn’t our artist’,” he said.
In another video, Sonu Nigam accused T-Series and Bhushan Kumar of being the music mafia. Singers like Kunal Ganjawala, Monali Thakur, Kailash Kher and Salim Merchant among others agreed with him.
Sona Mohapatra said she never got a second chance even after a blockbuster song Ambarsariya.
Sona Mohapatra said that she was never given a second chance in the industry even after she gave a superhit blockbuster song like Ambarsariya.
“Not very subtle.( FYI, Ambarsariya; both Javed & Farhan Akhtar were hostile/hated it.Only song Excel didn’t bother to shoot a music video for,montage got cut after much. Long story there but of course it’s no surprise why I never got a ‘second chance’. Stood up to the master,” she wrote on Twitter but deleted the tweet soon and issued a clarification on the same.
Madhur Bhandarkar says his professional obituary was written on the day his first film had flopped.
Madhur Bhandarkar said that he willingly stayed away from various groups in Bollywood. He says groupism is a reality in the industry. After his first film flopped, people isolated him, he said.
“The minute Trishakti bombed, people who used to take my calls — they were not even big people — they simply disappeared. They were suddenly nowhere. It was difficult for me to again get a foothold. People advise you ‘Your career is over’. My professional obituary was written that day,” Bhandarkar told Hindustan Times.
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Manoj Bajpayee said that the industry doesn’t respect outsiders at all.
Bajpayee admitted that the industry is wasting its talent.
“I have said it before that this industry has wasted talent; so much that in any other country those talents who have not been given their due here,” he told Wion in an interview and added that she struggled to bag good roles too.
Sharing who the industry operates and differentiates to outsiders, he said,
“How come I survived in this industry, an industry that doesn’t have respect for people from outside? So much so, if a good film is getting bad box office then forget about the industry as they will anyway criticise you whether you make a good film or a bad film, whether you give a good performance or a bad performance — the mainstream critics and the trade analysts will jump on it and they will try to prove that it’s a bad film because the box office is not that great.”
Govinda was cornered by Bollywood during his bad phase.
Shatrughan Sinha in an interview with Republic TV revealed that an actor like Govinda was cornered by the industry after he witnessed a bad phase in his career.
“I saw how his film, which was in production, was taken over due to some people. The film was already made but he still had to suffer through all of this”
Adhyayan Suman says 14 of his films were shelved because of groupism.
Addressing himself a victim of groupism, Adhyayan Suman, the son of Shekhar Suman, said that many of his movies were shelved because of groupism.
“Power dynamics and groupism are there in the industry for years. It happened to me too. My 14 films were shelved and the box-office collection of my films were projected wrongly. People haven’t paid attention to this earlier. It’s very unfortunate that we required a Sushant Singh Rajput to commit suicide for people to realise,” he told Bollywood Bubble in an interview.
Shreyas Talpade said that Karan Johar and YRF never showed interest in working with him.
Accepting that nepotism exist in the industry, Shreyas Talpade revealed about his struggle days when he didn’t have money to pay rent. He agreed that star kids have it easy.
“Nepotism and favouritism are here to stay. But we can’t just focus on that while moving ahead. At least I don’t want to. I’ve never done a Karan Johar or a Yash Raj film, I’ve never approached them, nor have they shown interest in working with me,” he told Hindustan Times.
