Emraan Hashmi On 'Gangster' Co-Star Kangana Ranaut's Views On Nepotism: Dumbfounding And Not True

Nepotism in the Bollywood industry has become a hot topic of discussion in the past few years, and actor Emraan Hashmi agrees to it. During a conversation with Dainik Bhaskar, the actor, who’s gearing up for the release of his series ‘Showtime,’ shared his thoughts on the never-ending nepotism debate and also highlighted former co-star Kangana Ranaut’s claims on the same.

When asked about how he perceives the industry post the pandemic, Hashmi stated, “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.”

Heaping praise on his ‘Gangster’ co-star Kangana Ranaut, he also acknowledged her challenges. “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.”

For those who are not completely familiar, it was the actress herself who called renowned producer-director Karan Johar ‘a flagbearer of nepotism’ and ‘movie mafia’ on his talk-show ‘Koffee with Karan’ back in 2016. Now almost a decade later, Emraan Hashmi-led ‘Showtime’ is being released, which narrates around the premises of nepotism in the film industry.

As for ‘Showtime,’ it will be available to stream on Disney+ Hotstar on March 8. It also stars Naseeruddin Shah, Mouni Roy, Rajeev Khandelwal, and Shriya Saran in key roles.