Industry veteran Kajol recently expressed her candid views regarding the nature of pressure that today’s star children undergo when stepping into the Hindi film industry. Talking in an open interview, she mentioned that the present generation of actors who belong to film families are in a “do or die situation,” a great difference from the atmosphere she herself had when she started working. “We got that opportunity to develop, we got that time,” she recalled, noting how previous generations of actors had room to learn through mistakes, build up over time, and establish a reputation for themselves.
Kajol, who hails from a distinguished film family, pointed out that although star children are privileged to some extent when it comes to access and opportunities, the burden on them today is tremendous. She feels that the current environment has very little tolerance for learning or mistakes. The onus to impress overnight has grown tremendously, particularly in the era of social media where opinions are built rapidly and severely.
As Kajol puts it, actors of her era were not judged so instantaneously. They could have the occasional flops, test their talent through films, and build their screen presence gradually. Nowadays, that cushion has apparently disappeared. “It’s like, if you don’t deliver in your first film, or even sometimes before that, you’re gone,” she suggested.
She also accepted the widespread trolling that occurs online, stating that while trolling is something everyone is exposed to these days, the magnifying glass zooms in even more strongly on star kids. In spite of the inherited fame and privilege, Kajol maintains that child actors from cinema families have an overwhelming burden to perform and live up to both family legacies and public acceptance.
Her comments arrive as the controversy surrounding nepotism, privilege, and merit in Bollywood has been making headlines. By neither romanticizing nor condemning both the positive and the negative, Kajol presented a balanced view, asking people to be kinder and more tolerant towards the next generation of actors, particularly the ones who are still in the process of finding their feet in a pressure-cooker, fast-paced industry.
