There’s nepotism in the industry, no two ways about it: Tamannaah Bhatia

For actor Tamannaah Bhatia, lockdown has been a “chance to be at home for so long in the last 15 years”. However, she says that it was all good in the first month. “There was a time in the middle where certain days were great, and some were just okay. The third month is like I miss work I want to go to work,” she laughs.

In the last two weeks, some of the filmmakers have opened their offices and are functional with 10% staff as per government guidelines. So, is she looking forward to shoots to begin in the coming months? “I think it will take a couple months more for things to get back to regular shooting. Especially in the bigger films where you need a lot of people in the background. I don’t see anything starting off immediately,” says Bhatia. 

Talking about what she has been doing during this lockdown, she says, “I have been mostly doing a lot of household work, which I am really glad to have got a chance to do. I used to live like a paying guest in my own house because I used to come home for like two days and then pack and leave for another shoot. Now I have the had the time to declutter my house. Besides, I have tried my hands at cooking, and I discovered that I really enjoy cooking.” 

Bhatia has always expressed her opinion in public about any issue. Ask her about nepotism in the industry, and she says, “Nepotism is there in the industry and there are no two things about it. But it is there in every profession. I am not from the film industry, and I had no godfather when I started. I should be honest; I didn’t know anything about the south Indian film industry when I started. For me, what stood out was just merit and talent. This cannot be the reason for not doing well in life. A lot of the recent crop of actors like Kartik Aaryan and Ayushmann Khurrana have had their own journey. They are shining are because people like them. Everyone might have a different journey, but then if their work is good, people will like them.”