Saif Ali Khan defended his ‘nepotism rocks’ claims

• Saif Ali Khan has never denied being a member of a wealthy social class.
• When Saif shouted “nepotism rocks” at an awards ceremony in 2017, together with Karan Johar and Varun Dhawan, he stirred much uproar.
• Later, Saif discussed nepotism and its connection to eugenics and genetics in an open letter that he had written.

Saif Ali Khan has never denied being a member of a wealthy social class. The actor is the heir to the Pataudi family and the son of cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore. He was once questioned over remarks he made regarding the privileged and the importance of genes.

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When Saif shouted “nepotism rocks” at an awards ceremony in 2017, together with Karan Johar and Varun Dhawan, he stirred much uproar. Later, Saif discussed nepotism and its connection to eugenics and genetics in an open letter that he had written.

On being asked about the same during an interview, Saif had said, “People have to understand, most people don’t understand what I kind of said. Film producers would take a bet on star children, making some sort of bet that this kid will know what his dad knows. You think of Amitabh Bachchan’s son or Dharmendra’s son, maybe history will repeat itself. So they are making a genetic bet, that’s what I am thinking. Rather than making a bet on just talent, they assume the son will have the talent. Sometimes genes pass on, sometimes they don’t.”

Giving his own example, he added, “Tiger Pataudi’s father was an amazing cricketer, Tiger Pataudi was a better cricketer – genetic brilliance. Then I came along, I couldn’t play cricket like that. So I don’t know how you explain these things.”

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As the video from the 2018 interview was shared on Reddit, some disagreed while some agreed with Saif’s opinion. A user Reddit wrote in his support, “Genes play a critical role in work-related behaviours and therefore can play an important in our career choices.” Another said, “They actually do. And don’t abuse him when he didn’t mean any offence by what he said. At least he’s aware that nepotism exists and it isn’t working.”

A user who disagreed with Saif, wrote, “He’s wrong, the producers aren’t making a bet that the ‘acting’ genes are passed along rather they are capitalizing on the popularity of the star kids. Star kids are made popular as soon as they are born. And now with social media, all of them have some sort of fan following even before launch. So for a producer the choice between a no one and a star kid becomes pretty obvious since the star kid will guarantee extra publicity.