Patriarchy: The losers' war cry

What has been known as a tradition, and is practiced all over the world, be it a trader, industrialist or a professional, is that the next of generation is expected to follow. Then, why is it suddenly looked down upon when it comes to the film industry?


A son or a daughter wanting to follow in the footsteps of the parents into their profession has been a way of life for centuries. In fact, there are phrases in English as well as Hindi like 'Following in father's footsteps' or 'Ma-baap ke nakshe kadam par chalna'.

A lawyer's son or a doctor's son or daughter may aspire to become a lawyer or a doctor. Similarly, an industrialist or a trader's son is expected to take over from father when ready and that is considered the norm. Why the son? Because, he is the one expected to stick with the family but it is not as if a daughter cannot or is discouraged.

But, when it comes to the film industry, if an actor's son wants to become an actor, why is it called patriarchy? Strange, but nobody accuses a producer's son or a director's son of patriarchy, just actors!

In the last couple of years, this patriarchy gang had carried out a huge campaign against star sons. So, what would they call actors who followed in the footsteps of their actor mother and entered films?! But then, the thriving social media is used by many losers and film rejects to vent their frustrations. They never aspire to emulate someone's success, instead they hate it.

Having observed the social media and this hate brigade create a patriarchy bogey, it is not that these people who dislike another's success were deprived of a break. They got their opportunities but failed. Of course, one more thing that matters and counts much in the entertainment industry is attitude. That helps one not only get work but also survive longer. Negativism does not help and, if you follow them on social media, such people are full of negativity. Also, a lot of failed actors become self-styled film critics. Every Friday, when a new film releases in cinema halls, they rarely find a good thing to say about the film or its performers!

Is it enough to be a star son to make it big in the film industry? It is not as simple as taking over a family shop or industry? More than anything, the goodwill works and that has been earned by the family. It worked for a few in 1970s and '80s. Sunny Deol and Anil Kapoor were accepted, but so was Jackie Shroff, a rank outsider. The industry has always been open to all.

The film industry has never been identified with patriarchy. From the time I started observing, the films had Shammi Kapoor, Dev Anand, Dharmendra, Rajendra Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Manoj Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, Feroze Khan, Sanjay Khan, Biswajeet, Rajkumar, Dilip Kumar -- all of whom made it in films on their own with no film family background.

Thereafter, we had Rajesh Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, Mithun Chakraborty, Vinod Khanna, Jeetendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Farooq Shaikh, Amol Plekar, Anupam Kher, Amitabh Bachchan, Danny among others. All who made it on merit.