Netflix’s new documentary series “The Romantics” has captivated South Asian movie lovers all over the world since its release this week. Packed with interviews with Hindi cinema stars ranging from icons of the 80s to global sensations of the 2000s and 2010s, the four-part series chronicles the history of Bollywood through its love stories.
While tracing the legacy of the Chopras, one of the biggest filmmaking families in India, director Smriti Mundhra also dissects some of the problems plaguing the industry in the modern day.
Nepotism is chief among them.
In the doc, some of Bollywood’s most famous names detail their startlingly similar paths into the industry.
“My mother was in movies in the ’60s and ’70s,” actor Saif Ali Khan told Mundhra.
“My mother, my grandmother, my aunt…” said actress Kajol.
“I grew up on film sets, both my parents were actors,” actor Abhishek Bachchan said.
Over the last few years, social media has put a name to this phenomenon, granting children of the rich and famous a new title: nepo babies.
“Nepotism,” sighed legendary director Aditya Chopra, who gave his first-ever on-camera interview in “The Romantics.” His father, director Yash Chopra, pioneered the genre of Hindi romance movies. “I think about 20, 25, 30 years back, the industry was definitely smaller, and because of that it was just very natural for a child to aspire to do the same business as the parent.”
Chopra admits that the leg up he got from his famous dad is undeniable, but said the introduction of post-2010 actors with no family film ties seems to suggest the industry changing.
The conversation around nepotism in the Indian film industry has exploded over the last few years. In a reckoning that has brought up questions of colorism, nationalism and a lack of South Indian inclusion, audiences in India and the diaspora have been questioning what exactly “Bollywood” means today.
It’s something Mundhra told NBC News she kept…
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