The Mumbai Film Festival is generating much debate and how. Prahlad Kakkar, ace adman in the industry had his debate audience in laughs when he openly spoke about how Bollywood is nothing short of a “mom and pop shop”. He went on to explain, “Why use a good actor when you can have a nephew? And if you have to create stars anyway, why not from the family? It is hence very difficult for men to become stars. But since Bollywood does not want their women to be in films, females have a better chance of becoming stars or starlets. Men stars are usually useless nephews and sons.”
And he added even more fuel to the fire when he gave an example of Abhishek Bachchan. “Abhishek Bachchan has 17 flops in a row and is still going strong. He is unique and should be in the Guinness Book of Records,” he said before the crown erupted into a loud roar.
Learning from example, the panel went on to become more candid with the press and audiences. When the members of the press on the panel were openly questioned whether it is because of them that stars were made or whether the media preferred to cover only the most popular stars, popular media woman Indu Mirani simply said, “We do not make star, we only follow ‘A’ listers.”
A side debate arose when Anusha Rizvi, director to Peepli Live was questioned whether the film gained immense recognition because a name like Aamir Khan was associated with the film. She simply denied it but found herself debating with the panel who disagreed with her.
