Vikramaditya Motwane on ‘Slight Prejudice’ Against Nepo Kids: ‘Ananya, Sonam Are…’ | Exclusive – News18

CTRL, a cyber-thriller, themed on the erasure of digital footprints through AI marks Vikramaditya Motwane’s first ever collaboration with Ananya Panday. The announcement of this partnership surprised many as they couldn’t have imagined two starkly different schools of cinema coming together. In an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, Vikramaditya reiterates that Ananya is the right fit for the part of a social media influencer in the film but agrees that the audience has a certain image of her solely because of her being a ‘nepo kid’.

Sharing his thoughts on how nepotism is widely misconstrued, he tells us, “There’s a slight prejudice that happens against nepo kids. People feel that they’ve got it very easy. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who you are. If you aren’t good at your work, not talented, don’t work hard and not show your potential onscreen, nothing will matter because these are the only things that can make one succeed.”

Vikramaditya feels that a lot of nepo actors aren’t taken too seriously because of the perception that’s built around them. Lauding the likes of Ananya and Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, he says, “Ananya has been doing that on the back of her own strength. People make a lot of generalisations about actors. Ananya is a reader. In fact, one of the biggest readers in the industry is Sonam Kapoor.”

The Udaan and Jubilee maker further adds, “A lot of people may be surprised with this bit of information because the impression that one has of her is that she’s just a fashionista. We’ve to look beyond pre-conceived notions. On a lighter note, a lot of people also have this perception about me that I’m not fun (laughs).”

Producer of CTRL, Nikhil Dwivedi, also strongly feels that the ‘nepotism debate is irrelevant’. He elucidates, “It doesn’t even apply. I’ll take this occasion to give you one of the biggest examples of nepotism and that’s Kishore Kumar! He wouldn’t have been a part of the film industry if his elder brother (Ashok Kumar) wasn’t already in it. He forced him to become an actor when all he wanted to do was sing. Somebody like Kundan Lal Saigal saw him singing and gave him a break and the rest is history.”

He further points out that there are far too many instances where actors belonging to film families haven’t been able to make the cut despite their well-placed connections and it’s those who’re truly talented that have made it. “There are so many of them who’ve relatives, parents and friends in the industry but they aren’t able to find a foothold here. Those who do are only doing so because of they’re doing some good work and are working hard at it. People need to see through that and actually start to appreciate it. There’s a pre-conceived notion about everybody and more so with actors,” Nikhil opines.

CTRL is all set to premiere on Netflix on October 4.