Pavail Gulati holds audiences equally responsible for adding to the nepotism debate: You were also watching a star’s film and not a newcomer’s film

“I find these debates futile, I’m at a loss of words,” says Pavail Gulati on the ongoing discussions about nepotism that gained ground after actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s sudden demise last month, which stirred several other debates about how Bollywood functions.

The Thappad actor adds, “Sushant has gone away and the only thing we’re doing is blaming the other person. It’s just a pool of hate right now. It wasn’t as if the people, who’re crying foul now, were nicer to Sushant when his films were bombing. People were trolling him then. Now that he’s gone, people are trolling other people.”

Gulati finds the film industry to be a “soft target” when it comes to the whole debate about nepotism.

“Yes, it exists, we all agree. It’s there everywhere, yaha par thoda zayada hota hai because this industry is such that you don’t need qualifications. There’s more favouritism and nepotism here but that’s not against the law. Morally may be, but is trolling people going to change that? There’s no point complaining or bitching,” he asserts.

The actor feels that the audience, too, is responsible to a large extent in adding fuel to the fire. “Sab logon ne badhawa diya tabhi toh aisa ho raha hai. You were also watching that star’s film, and not a newcomer’s film. So, it is business at the end of the day and I get it,” he explains.

About his own journey, Gulati considers himself rather “fortunate” that he got a chance to work with directors such as Anubhav Sinha (Thappad) , Zoya Akhtar (web series Made In Heaven) and Anurag KashyapYudh (in Yudh TV series), who according to him love talent and promote it, too.

“They’re happy for me to succeed. But all these things happened because I was working hard and not complaining about it. I’ve been struggling for 12 years. But even then I kept myself busy because an idle mind can bring negative thoughts and I didn’t want to succumb to that. I don’t believe in blaming anyone else for my failure,” he says.

Admitting that his struggle taught him a lot and though they were tough times, he never went asking for work or recommendations.

“I was working constantly. I made my relationships on the way because of my work. I never approached Karan Johar (with whom he worked in web film, Ghost Stories) or Anurag Kashyap or Anubhav Sinha. At a party, I never said, ‘Hi sir I am an actor.’ They saw my work, loved it work and that’s how it happened,” he concludes.

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