Sara Ali Khan, Janhvi Kapoor and Ananya Panday were targeted because of their family background; Ibrahim Ali Khan expected similar backlash

Ibrahim Ali Khan faced a barrage of backlash for his debut film Nadaaniyan, and the film received poor reviews from both fans and critics.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | May 13, 2025 09:00 AM IST

3 min read

Ibrahim Ali Khan confirms he suffers from hearing and speech disability.

Ibrahim Ali Khan opens up for the first time about his hearing and speech disability. (Photo: Netflix)

Actor Ibrahim Ali Khan didn’t have the most auspicious debut a few weeks ago, when he starred in the Karan Johar-backed Netflix film Nadaaniyan. Right out of the gate, the film was criticised for its poor acting and a juvenile narrative. But Ibrahim claimed that he saw the criticism coming, after observing what happened to fellow actors Janhvi Kapoor, Ananya Panday, and his sister, Sara Ali Khan.

In an interview with GQ India, Ibrahim said that fans will always target a ‘nepo-kid’, no matter “how good they are”. He added, “I was hoping to join the movies sooner. I realised that the tide was turning when Sara, Janhvi, and Ananya were starting out. Technically speaking, nepotism has been around forever, but these girls became targets.”

“I realised that anyone from a film background looking to debut as an actor from then on was going to face backlash, no matter how good they may be. I was prepared for it but didn’t expect it to be so harsh,” added the actor. Trying to live up to your family’s legacy can be a daunting task, and in the case of Ibrahim, he has some very big shoes to fill.

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Both his parents, Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh, are seasoned actors, even though the latter has not made an appearance on the big screen for quite some time. Ibrahim’s grandmother is the great Sharmila Tagore, who made a name for herself working with Satyajit Ray and has a filmography that could outshine even the biggest stars. Even she didn’t shy away from admitting that Nadaaniyan was a poor attempt at filmmaking when she said that she did not like the movie.

The other three aforementioned actors have also had an uneven track record, as both Sara and Janhvi received appreciation for the debut films Kedarnath (2018) and Dhadak (2018), respectively, but have been criticised for their later films. On the other hand, Ananya faced a lot of backlash for her debut, Student of the Year 2 (2019), but has been praised for the kind of roles she has chosen for herself since then.

Nadaaniyan released on Netflix in March, and apart from Ibrahim, the cast of the film included Khushi Kapoor, Suniel Shetty, Dia Mirza, Jugal Hansraj and Mahima Chaudhary.

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