Bijay Anand On Nepotism In Film Industry: If A Producer's Son Is An Idiot...

Bijay Anand, who is in the news for his recent appearance in the Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff starrer Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, recently shared his opinion on the ongoing nepotism debate in the industry. The actor, who had quit acting after his 1998 blockbuster film Pyaar Toh Hona Hi Tha, had given one of his reasons for quitting the space as 'sense of belonging'. Now, in an exclusive interview with Republic, the actor spoke in length about both nepotism and his statement about the sense of belonging in the industry.

I will choose my daughter over others, it doesn't matter if it's nepotism: Bijay Anand

Bijay Anand, who made his acting comeback with the 2015 television series Siya Ke Ram, talked about nepotism and said that he never had anything against it. To further clarify his statement, Bijay said that any day he will choose his daughter for a role she would fit for than looking for strangers.

Talking to Republic, Bijay said, "I never had anything against nepotism. I never in my life had anything against any kind of nepotism. You know what nepotism is basically? See a producer putting a ₹50 crore or ₹100 crore is not stupid. He won't do it just because he wants to launch his son. If the son is an idiot, he is not going to do that right. He will not waste ₹50 crores just to launch his son."

He added, "You look at the characters in front of you, you look at the options. I mean when I was casting for my film which I produced. We looked at many actors that we could cast for the girl's role and believe me I had to request my daughter even though she is not interested in acting, I said please do this role, you are so perfect for it. That's not nepotism."

Bijay justifies his stand on nepotism

In the same conversation, Bijay also gave an example to justify his take and said, “If I will have a job in my company, I will ask my daughter first if you want to do it? Because then I will trust her, I won't have to worry about 'she will run away' with my money. So, how is it nepotism? Why will I cast someone else who will go give 1000 interviews, then pray to god she comes on time, why will I go through so much trouble when I can cast my daughter? How does it matter if it's nepotism?”

Bijay Anand on the sense of belonging in Bollywood

When the actor made his acting comeback after 17 years in 2015, he revealed that one of the reasons he quit acting back then was that he didn't feel like he belonged in the industry. When asked to detail his statement, Bijay took the blame on himself and said it was not Bollywood's fault.

He said, "That is not the industry's fault, it's my fault, I didn't fit in there. Now look at me, I am in the art industry, I belong there. When I go to a Yoga festival, there are 12000 brothers and sisters, I belong there. So not being part of the film industry then and even now is my fault. Because I didn't do what was required. I don't like going to parties, I don't drink alcohol, I don't do all those kinds of things. Socialising nahi kiya toh it is not their fault."

He added, "I was never part of the film industry because I didn't become part of the film industry. It's not because they didn't make me part of them. In fact, the film industry has been kinder to me than they have been to anybody else because of the kind of roles I have been offered. It wasn't about nepotism or anything here, they looked at me, they looked at my work and they cast me. I think the industry has been very good to me, I have no complaints."