Karan Johar is all set to launch two-star kids — Sridevi’s daughter Janhvi Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor’s brother, Ishan Khattar with the remake of the hit Marathi film, Sairat. The film has been titled Dhadak and KJo shared three posters on Wednesday.
Ishaan Khattar’s first look from Dhadak
Soon after the posters went viral, Twitteratti reignited the never-ending nepotism debate:
What a bakwaas pairing … she is looking much older than him.. Hope they have at least acted well, to justify your love for #Nepotism KJo!
— ms_kriti (@kriti2126) November 15, 2017
NEPOTISM again , wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww kabhie STRUGGLERS ko bhi launch kr diya karo
— shruv srk khanna (@ShruvDey) November 15, 2017
All Hail the Baap of Nepotism!!@karanjohar ..Lage raho.
— Rahul chaubey (@Rahulchauba) November 15, 2017
Dhadak.. Ishan… Janhvi… Nepotism… Karan Johar https://t.co/QNni4I5KeY
— मंदार पद्मावती (@yourboy_md) November 15, 2017
Another example of Nepotism …this man is ambassador of Nepotism .
— ssshravani (@shravani_sub) November 15, 2017
With so much airtime invested in discussing KJo’s alleged nepotistic tendencies, we thought it was only fair that we do a quick count of the films he’s directed or produced recently and the stars who had been cast (or repeated recast).
2017:
Ittefaq
Director: Abhay Chopra — Grandson of late B.R. Chopra
Stars:
- Sidharth Malhotra — Assistant director to Karan Johar in My Name Is Khan, later KJo launched him in Student Of the Year
- Akshaye Khanna — Vinod Khanna’s son
- Sonakshi Sinha — Shatrughan Sinha’s daughter
Badrinath Ki Dulhania
Director: Launched by Karan Johar in Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania
Stars:
- Varun Dhawan — David Dhawan’s son
- Alia Bhatt — Mahesh Bhatt’s daughter
Ok Jaanu
Director: Shaad Ali — An eminent director started his career with Saathiya
Stars:
- Aditya Roy Kapur — younger brother of Siddharth Roy Kapur [CEO of UTV Motion Pictures]
- Shraddha Kapoor — Daughter of Shakti Kapoor
2016:
Dear Zindagi
Director: Gauri Shinde — Known for her directional debut — English Vinglish
Stars:
- Shah Rukh Khan
- Alia Bhatt — Mahesh Bhatt’s daughter
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
Director: Karan Johar
Stars:
- Ranbir Kapoor — Son of Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Kapoor
- Anushka Sharma
- Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Baar Baar Dekho
Director: Nitya Mehra — Directorial debut
Stars:
- Katrina Kaif
- Sidharth Malhotra — Karan Johar’s former student
Kapoor & Sons
Director: Shakun Batra
Stars:
- Sidharth Malhotra
- Fawad Khan
- Alia Bhatt — Mahesh Bhatt’s daughter
So out of a grand total seven films (directed or produced in 2016-17) six of them have a cast comprising star kids. That’s no mean feat.
After Kangana Ranaut labelled Karan Johar as the ‘flagbearer of nepotism’ on his talk show Koffee With Karan, and he himself re-invoked the discussion by mocking her at an award show along with actor Saif Ali Khan (son of Sharmila Tagore) and Varun Dhawan (son of director David Dhawan) – this debate seems to be heading nowhere whatsoever. With Janhvi Kapoor and Ishan Khattar launch in the pipeline, looks like this issue, just like Bollywood’s love for remakes with a terrible twist, is here to stay.
