Zoya Akhtar slammed for saying media is responsible for nepotism, netizens say 'she is gaslighting the audience'

Marking the debuts of Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan's daughter Suhana Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan's grandson Agastya Nanda, and Boney Kapoor and late Sridevi's daughter Khushi Kapoor, The Archies has been one of the most talked about films since its announcement.

The film has been trolled for 'celebrating nepotism' and now, its director Zoya Akhtar has called out media for paying more attention to the three star kids, with respect to the four other actors who are a part of The Archies gang. These include Mihir Ahuja, Vedang Raina, Aditi 'Dot' Saigal and Yuvraj Menda.

In her recent interview with Film Companion, Zoya was asked about the casting of Suhana, Agastya, and Khushi in the film. The director said, "This is my fifth film, this is not my first rodeo. You’ve seen my work, and I cast to what I think will work for the film, and will work for when you’re doing a theatrical for your budget. You have to balance it out. This was a Netflix film, I had no pressure. I could’ve cast anybody, and honestly, I didn’t need to do anything for once."

Blaming the media for nepotism, she further continued, "What I find fascinating is this, there were seven kids on that poster. Netflix and Tiger Baby put seven kids on that poster, and the media only spoke about three, and then turns around and tells us about nepotism. Actually, you’re the one not giving the other four attention. You robbed their moment, that’s just heartbreaking to see. You took away their moment, I’m sorry, it’s your problem."

Zoya's statement was shared on the subreddit BollyBlindsNGossip, and the Redditors are slamming the director for her whole take on the nepotism issue. A netizen wrote, "Zoya Akhtar is weirdly gaslighting the audience with this statement. Archie, Betty & Veronica are the primary characters of the Archies series and only star kids are playing the main roles. She's really jumping through hoops to avoid coming to terms with the criticism."

"She is telling the three in the centre got attention. Why didn't she have the guts to place them in the back?", asked a Reddit user. Another netizen wrote, "The blame game is insane. Cause people always talk about leads more and you gave all the leads to nepos but if you see the trailer non-nepos can act, these three can't."

Zoya Akhtar & Reema Kagti about casting archies
byu/skyfullofstars19 inBollyBlindsNGossip

The Archies, which will release on Netflix on December 7, is the fifth full-length feature film by Zoya Akhtar after making box office hits and critically appreciated movies: Luck By Chance, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Dil Dhadakne Do, and Gully Boy. She has also directed shorts in Bombay Talkies, Lust Stories, and Ghost Stories.

Alia Bhatt poses with The Archies team at Netflix event, netizens troll them: 'Senior nepo and junior nepo'