Aditya Chopra talks about nepotism in Hindi cinema, says they couldn't make Uday Chopra 'a star': 'Only an audience...'

The streaming giant Netflix released the docu-series The Romantics, which celebrates the legacy of Yash Chopra and YRF on Tuesday, February 14. The four-episodic show has been trending online since its release as it features Aditya Chopra, the chairman and managing director of Yash Raj Films, in his first-ever on-screen interview.

Talking about nepotism in Hindi cinema citing his own brother Uday Chopra's example, Aditya said, "One of the things that people tend to ignore, is that every person who comes from a privileged background–everyone is not successful. I can articulate it without mentioning other people. I can just articulate it mentioning my own family. My brother is an actor, and he’s not a very successful actor. Here is the son of one of the biggest filmmakers. He’s the brother of a very big filmmaker."

"Imagine a company like YRF who has launched so many newcomers, we could not make him a star. Why could we not do it for our own? The bottom line is, only an audience will decide 'I like this person, I want to see this person'. No one else. Yes, if you are born into a film family, there’s no doubt that there could be an easier into getting an audition or a break. But it stops there", he further added. 

Uday Chopra made his acting debut in 2000 in the romantic drama Mohabbatein, directed by his brother Aditya Chopra and produced by his father Yash Chopra. The actor was later seen in a few films such as Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, Mujhse Dosti Karoge!, and the Dhoom franchise in which he earned acclaim for playing the 'tapori' Ali.

In The Romantics, even Uday talked about his unsuccessful stint as he said, "When I started acting, I was very naïve. I thought everyone would like me. I didn’t imagine that people might not like me". The actor shared that when he was called a 'child of nepotism', it affected him a lot. He concluded that he would now only get back to acting as a hobby, and not think about it as a career. Uday was last seen on the big screen in Dhoom 3 in 2013.

READ | The Romantics: Karan Johar says his 'best friend' Aditya Chopra has 'a face', asks him if he can share their photos