Bole Kangana! Actress' open letter on tasteless nepotism joke on her

Mumbai: In a scathing open letter published in Mumbai tabloid Mid-Day, actress Kangana Ranaut has had her say on the rather asinine gig that Karan Johar, Varun Dhawan and Saif Ali Khan acted out at the recently-concluded IIFA awards in New York.

In a tasteless joke, conceived by Karan Johar, the trio on stage shouted, “nepotism rocks!” after Ranaut had called out the director on his talk show six months ago as the “flag-bearer of nepotism”.

Varun Dhawan put out a generic apology on Twitter – “I am extremely sorry if I have offended or hurt anyone with that act”.

Karan Johar brought up his “dignified, chivalrous and decent” upbringing in a television interview and admitted he had “failed on all accounts”.

Saif’s explanation was truly bizarre. He said: “It’s easy to confuse nepotism with genetics. Maybe there is something in the genes too that makes many of Raj Kapoor’s descendants actors or Pataudis cricketers. I think it’s actually eugenics and genetics that’s coming into play.”

He put out some more: “We take a derby winner, mate him with the right mate and see if we can create another grand national winner. So, in that sense, this is the relationship between genetics and star kids…”

After all the public crow-eating, we thought Kangana Ranaut had won the battle without having to lift her little finger. But it is difficult to keep her down!

In the open letter titled, ‘If Saif is right, I’d be a farmer’, Ranaut has written: “The last time I was deeply pained and upset about this issue was when Mr Karan Johar wrote a blog on it, and even once declared in an interview that there are many criteria for excelling in film business. Talent is not one of them.”

“I don’t know if he was being misinformed, or simply naïve, but to discredit the likes of Mr Dilip Kumar, Mr K Asif, Mr Bimal Roy, Mr Satyajit Ray, Mr Guru Dutt, and many more, whose talent and exceltional abilities have formed the spine of our contemporary film business, is absolutely bizarre.”

Ouch!

She saves the best for Saif. On his explanation, she writes: “… you talked about the relationship between genetics and star kids, where you emphasised on nepotism being an investment on tried and tested genes…. I fail to understand how you can compare genetically hybrid racehorses to artistes!”

Point taken!

“Are you implying that artistic skills, hard-work, experience, concentration spans, enthusiasm, eagerness, discipline and love, can be inherited through family genes? If your point is true, I would be a farmer back home. I wonder which gene from my gene-pool gave me the keenness to observe my environment, and the dedication to interpret and pursue my interests.”

“You also spoke of eugenics – which means the controlled breeding of the human race. So far, I believe the human race has not found the DNA that can pass on greatness and excellence.”

That definitely tore to shreds Saif’s tongue-twister of an apology.

She goes on to conclude: “The world is not an ideal place, and it might never be. That is why we have the industry of arts. In a way, we are the flag-bearers of hope”.

Go, Kangana.