'Namaste England' vs 'Badhaai Ho' : When Nepotism Failed In Front Of Powerful Performance

If you aren’t living under the rock, you must be familiar with the term ‘nepotism’, which has given content to meme makers and nightmares to celebrities who are answerable to questions surrounding it. Popular opinion, that of the masses or as the industry calls them-audience, are totally against nepotism and cannot come in terms with the popularity and fame endowed upon a select few because of heredity.

On the other hand, celebrities from the film industry who are in the film fraternity either because of their popular surname or rich influential family member (s), feel that nepotism only gives them their first film (which they get after their own kind of struggle). According to theses prodigies of nepotism, their long standing career depends on the hands of the audience, who are supposed to like their performance.

Now, talking about the performance, the month of October has possibly been the most satisfying month for Bollywood, with some great movies hitting the box-office, and some equally disastrous films releasing to balance out the good ones. On the occasion of Dussehra, two Bollywood movies clashed at the box-office- ‘Badhaai Ho’ and ‘Namastey England’.

‘Namastey England’ directed by Vipul Shah stars Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra. Both the stars probably need no introduction. Arjun Kapoor is the son of popular filmmaker Boney Kapoor, while Parineeti Chopra is the cousin of former Miss World and now global icon Priyanka Chopra. The film is a sequel of the 2007 hit film ‘Namaste London’. The film had a very simple story line, which was narrated beautifully and performed well by Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif, among others. Well, the sequel, which focuses on love that travels distance, failed miserably to cover the distance from the screen to the heart of the audience.

The film has received slaughtering reviews from both the critics and audience. The average rating of the film is anywhere between a 1 and 1.5. As per certain tweets by the audience, it is less than the average rating received by the Salman Khan starrer ‘Race 3’.

On the other hand, Amit Sharma's ‘Badhaai Ho’ that released on the same day has garnered extremely good response from the audience and critic. The film stars Ayushmann Khurrana, Sanya Malhotra, Neena Gupta and Gajraj Rao in the lead. The film is about an old married couple expecting a baby, while their adult son who is of marriageable age is ashamed of it. The film deals with this topic in a fun yet sensible manner. As per the makers of the film, this topic has never been dealt with before. The film has been lauded for its powerful script and performance by the cast that does justice to the script.

The film earned around Rs 20 crores in the first two days, while Namaste England earned Rs 3 crore in the same time period.

Similarly, the month of October started off with the release of Ayushmann Khurrana starrer ‘Andhadhun’ and Salman Khan’s brother-in-law Aayush Sharma starrer ‘Loveyatri’. 'Andhadhun' turned out to be one of the best reviewed films of the year. Some of the reviewers even gave the film a full star rating. Apart from Ayushmann Khurrana, the film also stars Radhika Apte and Tabu and other character actors who were flawless.

Meanwhile, ‘Loveyatri’ tanked at the box-office. Not even Salman bhai’s relentless promotion could save the film from the harsh verdict of the audience and the review. (Now, looking back, changing the name of the film was futile and a waste of time, as nobody bothered entering the theatre after the reviews.)

Actress Alia Bhatt, who is a successful prodigy of nepotism had made a very sensible statement on nepotism. While speaking to TOI,she had said, “Of late, I have realised that there is no need to defend the nepotistic nature of the industry because it does exist. The reason why it has become an emotional debate is because those who don’t get a chance, it is difficult for them. If I was on the other side, I would be heartbroken. I may have felt the same way.”

Yes, it is very difficult for a person when they do not get a chance, as it is repeatedly taken over by someone with a powerful name. And to those celebrities, who feel that the audience is a judge of their performance and that their career depends on them, they stand wrong. If that was the case, the industry might have been short of certain Kapoors and other popular surnames that rule the industry.