When Saif Ali Khan defended producers casting star kids in films: ‘When you think of Amitabh Bachchan’s son…’

Talking to NDTV, Saif had said that the debate could go on ‘forever’ and explained what he meant in his open letter. “Most people don’t understand what I kind of said. I’ll say it again. I’m saying that film producers who take a bet on star children are making some sort of bet that this kid will know what his dad knew. When you think of Amitabh Bachchan’s son or Dharmendra’s son, you’re thinking maybe history will repeat itself. So they are making a genetic bet. That’s what I am thinking, rather than just making a bet on just talent.”

Saif said that while the genes are sometimes passed on, sometimes, the child does not have the talents of the parent. “They are assuming the son will have the talent. And sometimes, genes pass on and sometimes, they don’t. Tiger Pataudi’s father was an amazing cricketer, Tiger Pataudi was a better cricketer. Genetic brilliance. Then I came along and I couldn’t play cricket like that, so I don’t know how to explain these things,” he continued.

After being in the eye of a storm over his ‘nepotism rocks’ joke at IIFA 2017, Saif had penned an open letter for DNA arguing that eugenics or being ‘well born’ play a role in the nepotism debate. He claimed that nepotism cannot work in the film industry, which is a ‘democracy’ and the fairest place to work. “So yes, maybe I got a chance because of my mother (veteran actor Sharmila Tagore), but that is more genetics than nepotism. It’s a genetic investment that the producer was making,” he had written.