‘Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor succeeded because they’re real actors’: Piyush Mishra defends nepotism, asks ‘what’s wrong with it?’

Asked about his stance on the nepotism debate, Piyush Mishra said in Hindi, “Of course it happens. Of course I would want my children to have the best opportunities, what’s wrong in this? People try to launch their children in the film industry, but unfortunately for them, this has only worked very few times. Most people just fizzle out. Ranbir Kapoor succeeded because he’s a real actor, Alia Bhatt is a real actor.”

He continued, “How many times can you launch somebody? Only once, right? They do it, what’s wrong with this? If you have the money, do it. But these people didn’t get results because they were bad actors. Even I wanted my children to pursue a career in the film industry, I encouraged them to do theatre. But they came to me and told me they prefer sports. So my wife and I encouraged them to play sports. Now my elder son is doing sports management, and my younger son wants to be a scientist. Who doesn’t want nepotism? Every person would like this.”

Piyush Mishra has worked with Ranbir in the film Tamasha. Alia and Ranbir are often cited as examples of actors who gained the audiences’ trust and appreciation despite being products of nepotism. But the debate rages on.