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Urmila Matondkar Says Nepotism Exists In Bollywood; 'I Didn't Respond By Lashing Out At Everyone'
Sushant Singh Rajput's untimely demise reignited the debate on nepotism in the film industry. As a result of this, many star kids and their films had to face the wrath of the netizens. Further, Kangana Ranaut's comments on nepotism in Bollywood opened a floodgate of discussions.
Recently, in an interview with Barkha Dutt, actress Urmila Matondkar opened up about the existence of nepotism in the film industry and said that she has faced it in her career. The diva said that she was a victim of nepotism in the beginning of her career as a lead star and was 'written off like no other actor in the history of cinema.'
Urmila Matondkar Talks About Facing Nepotism Right From The Beginning Of Her Career
Urmila who worked as a child artist in Shekhar Kapoor's Masoom, made her debut in a leading role with Sunny Deol's Narsimha in 1991. That year besides Urmila, many other new female faces were launched, and most of them were star kids.
Speaking about it, Urmila told Barkha Dutt, "This word called ‘nepotism', if I start talking about it, I will have to talk for quite a few hours. The amount of it that I have faced, in spite of being from Mumbai, was quite alarming, to say the least. There was some 16-17 new girls who were introduced that year and out of them, some eight or nine of them were somebody or the other's daughters. I will tell you a few of them - Raveena Tandon, Karisma Kapoor, Pooja Bhatt, Kajol, lots of them."
Urmila Matondkar Says She Was Written Off Like No Other Actor In The History Of Indian Cinema
"After my first film, I made a decent name for myself as a good dancer and a decent actor, and yet, I struggled tremendously. By the time I was doing Rangeela, I was written off like no other actor in the history of cinema. ‘She makes faces', ‘her language'...everything," Urmila revealed in her interview.
Urmila Says She Was Never Given Any Credit When Rangeela Became A Success
The actress told Barkha Dutt that even when Rangeela became a success in 1995, she was never given any credit for it. Talking about it, Urmila said that everything else about the film was discussed, but not her. However, she chose to take it in her stride and focus on the positives of the film industry.
Urmila said, "Of course there is nepotism. Ask me about it. Ask me how I had to struggle, how I had to battle to make a small place for myself. But I did not respond by lashing out at everyone and becoming toxic."
Urmila Matondkar Says She Was Discriminated Against More By The Media Of That Time, Than People In The Film Industry
Revealing the reason, the Rangeela actress said that back then, film magazines had immense power as there was no social media. Urmila said that she was judged by a different yardstick than star kids, and also opened up about not even getting nominated for her performances at awards shows.
