The Power of Being Kangana Ranaut: Repentant Saif, Karan and Varun Apologise To The Queen After Joke Backfires. - Suhel Johar

 

It was a shocking and sad moment during the recently-concluded IIFA 2017, when Saif Ali Khan, Karan Johar and Varun Dhawan ganged up to take digs at a woman who was absent. The trio were at their juvenile worst when they attempted to crack a joke at the expense of one of the most vocal and opinionated actors in the industry: Kangana Ranaut. Only, they didn’t realise the joke was on them. The three privileged men with enviable pedigree in Bollywood, took digs at a self-made woman actor for speaking out against nepotism, which still makes or breaks the careers of many in Bollywood. Saif Ali Khan, son of actor Sharmila Tagore, Karan Johar, son of Dharma Productions' founder Yash Johar, and Varun Dhawan, son of director David Dhawan, came together in admitting that the issue, which was raised by Kangana Ranaut on Karan’s television show  Koffee With Karan, was alive and kicking.

When Varun went on the stage to collect his award for the Best Actor In A Comic Role in Dishoom, Saif raked the joke by saying, that the actor had made it big in the industry because of his father, director David Dhawan. To which Varun quipped, "And you're here because of your mummy (veteran actress Sharmila Tagore)." And then Karan, the co-host of the show, added, "I am here because of my Papa  (late film producer Yash Johar)." Following these admissions, the trio said in unison: “Nepotism rocks”.

 

 

It was not difficult to guess that the trio were indulging in shaming a woman for her opinion. To make it more apparent who their jibes were directed at, Varun elaborated. He reminded Johar of a song in his film, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, which goes, "Bole choodiyan, bole kangana." Karan’s rejoinder to this was: "Kangana naa hi bole toh achha hai ... Kangana bahut bolti hai. (It's better if Kangana doesn't say anything at all, she speaks a lot.)"

For the unversed, in February this year, Kangana had called Karan Johar 'intolerant' towards outsiders and a 'flag bearer of nepotism' on his chat show Koffee With Karan. Since then, Karan has not been exactly kindly disposed towards her. In interviews to different media outlets over the following few weeks, Karan made his displeasure clear. In an event in London sometime later, Karan said he was done with the 31-year-old actor playing the "woman and victim card".

Responding to his insinuation, in an interview with Mumbai Mirror, Kangana Ranaut said, "I use every card possible. At the workplace, it's the badass card to fight cutthroat competition. With my family and loved ones, it's the love card. When fighting the world, it's the dignity card, and for a seat in a bus, it's the woman card."

In another interview, speaking about nepotism, Varun added his two cents. "They (that is the 'outsiders' to the industry) are acting if their father hasn't even bought a pencil box for them," he said. "After a point, it just becomes an excuse." Clearly, not for the first time, he didn't realise that his comment was insensitive, if not offensive.

Coming back to the present controversy the Twitteratis refused to laugh off their ‘joke’. The criticism of Karan, Saif and Varun was swift. First came the barrage of tweets and then came the opinion articles on websites. Panel discussions on some news channels. Every tweet, every article had the same message: the men were boorish, the woman they were targeting, was smart. Because the lady in the midst of it all maintained a dignified silence possibly because the world had spoken for her.

 

Whether or not the remarks by Karan and others were insulting to Ranaut, they did prove that Kangana was right all along. Nepotism exists in the industry and the people who refuse to acknowledge that the competition was never been on a level-playing field, only exhibit their blindness to the blessings of their class and family lineage.

But it seemed like the privileges they have been blessed with naturally is something they tried to take advantage of to take a jibe at Kangana Ranaut.

While Varun Dhawan has publically apologised for hurting anyone with his act at IIFA, Karan in an interview with NDTV took the responsibility of the act calling it solely his idea. “The idea of that joke was entirely mine, so I take the onus of the idea of what we said. And I think we went a bit too far with the Kangana mention,” he said. After facing a barrage of criticism for promoting nepotism, Karan said, “Of course I don’t believe that ‘nepotism rocks’. Of course, I believe that only talent rocks. If anything that rocks, it’s your talent, hard work and conviction. It’s the energy you bring to your job. What we said was meant to be a joke, which I think has been misplaced, misunderstood and I think it went wrong. I regret it.”

 

Ever since the word ‘nepotism’ was mentioned on Karan’s show, it has become the buzz word in the film industry. But the filmmaker is regretful that he brought up the issue time and again. “No matter what I say or feel about my issues with what Kangana said on my talk show Koffee With Karan, I think I was raised to be a dignified, a chivalrous, and a decent person. That’s the upbringing that I was given and I feel that I failed on those accounts. I felt that no matter what my thoughts or personal issues on this, I should not have repeatedly brought that up. For that, I’m deeply regretful,” quipped Karan.

Closing the chapter of nepotism in his life, Karan had his last word as he said, “I want to once and for all say and close this chapter after this and subsequently I will not speak about nepotism nor Kangana because it would be distrustful for her and it would be ungraceful at my end, which I’ve already been. Nepotism is easy to access, nobody can deny that, but what you do with that access is what moulds you into a professional.”

After  Varun and Karan’s apology,  Saif Ali Khan, has clarified that his remark on nepotism during IIFA 2017 was more of a joke than an attack on the Queen actress. In fact, Saif Ali Khan gives it an intellectual twist and analyses threadbare the concept of nepotism and boy you will be surprised to see him discuss the concept so intelligently and honestly. Here is what Saif told a portal in this regard on Kangana and the concept of nepotism.

“To me at IIFA it was just a joke and nothing more to be read into. But now I feel had we given it more thought, we could’ve really finished this ongoing public discourse on nepotism more decisively.”

 

“I respect Kangana tremendously for what she’s achieved, for coming up the hard way. We’re a mutual admiration society. She also agrees that despite having illustrious parents, I too have had an uneven beginning in Bombay. I understand what Kangana means by her stance on nepotism, though I have a slightly different take on it. People knew who I was because of my parents but that didn’t necessarily give me an easy ride.”

“We are privileged in terms of getting an opportunity to meet a producer, which in itself is an advantage. But beyond that, only your talent can sustain you. There are also many star kids who are actors and directors who people aren’t so interested in because they perhaps lack the talent.”

“It’s easy to confuse nepotism with genetics. Maybe there is something in the genes too that makes many of Raj Kapoor’s descendants actors or Pataudis cricketers. I think it’s actually eugenics and genetics that’s coming into play.”

“Whatever it may be, this privileged versus the unaffiliated leads to a great deal of unfairness. Nepotism is also not to be confused with campism. What Kangana might be talking about is that people generally promote their own people. Which is disturbing but not that much different from say the studio system where say a Universal or a Paramount promotes their lot. It’s actually business. Nepotism is Donald Trump putting his son at the helm of things instead of someone more suited for the job. There are so many unequal opportunities in India today, no wonder then that people view us as being super privileged. Bollywood is a free market at its most brutal and nepotism can heighten that.”

Bollywood is an enormous uphill battle for an outsider. No matter the talent, the first break matters. One hopes that Kangana accepts the olive branch offered by Karan Johar  to end the matter.

It is quite possible that Saif, Karan and Varun might not get any credit for it but they have certainly displayed grace by admitting to their mistake. It doesn’t mean one has to be thankful to them for trying to undo their action but nevertheless it’s a start and a massive change from old Bollywood where women were truly considered second fiddle and any one fighting the big guns, was side-lined.