Emraan Hashmi Gets Candid About Kangana Ranaut's Views On Nepotism: 'She Might Have Had Bad...'

Emraan Hashmi has come a long way in showbiz with rich content-driven and commercial films. The actor will soon be seen in a one-of-a kind web series titled Showtime. The money, the business, the glamour, the relationships, the lifestyle, the inside scoop on all of Bollywood’s best-kept secrets—the web show is releasing exclusively on March 8th on Disney+ Hotstar. Ahead of its release, Emraan Hashmi got candid about the nepotism debate and Kangana Ranaut’s view on it.

In an interview with Dainik Bhaskar, Emraan Hashmi quipped about Kangana Ranaut’s view on nepotism. He stated, “I like Kangana a lot personally, as an artist, and a person. Maybe she might have had some bad experiences in the film industry. My experience with Kangana was such, that I had given a hit that time, but still in Gangster I took the villain’s role where she was given center stage. It was almost like a female-centric film. So, I don’t know when this perception about the industry started and people started saying that we all are drug addicts or the industry only works through nepotism. I think it is dumbfounding and not true.”

Emraan Hashmi further addressed the public’s negativity towards Bollywood,

“There was a lot of negativity towards the industry after Covid, and even after the Sushant Singh Rajput episode, and the Boycott Bollywood trend for that matter. There was a resentment, where the entertainment industry was focused on singularly,” he explained.

However, this was not the first time when he had spoken about nepotism. He recently shared, “I’ve been very vocal about this. When the nepotism debate started off, these questions were thrown at people from the outside and from the inside. I am part of a film family. My entry point in the industry was relatively easier because I was part of the family, and people can’t expect someone in that position to be apologetic, nor am I. I think this is the hand that was dealt to me.”

He added, “But I didn’t have a grand launch. I had a film in which I started off as a supporting actor and worked my way up. But granted, the entry point was easier. When I started off for two years as an assistant director, I saw how difficult it is for an outsider to get an entry point into a film office. Forget about being cast in a film; even speaking to an assistant director or a director, that’s a long shot.”

Apart from Emraan Hashmi, Showtime also stars Mahima Makwana with Mouni Roy, Rajeev Khandelwal, Shriya Saran, Vishal Vashishtha, Neeraj Madhav, Vijay Raaz, and Naseeruddin Shah in pivotal roles. The project is being backed by Karan Johar.