Filmmaker Apurva Asrani extended his support to Priyanka Chopra Jonas after the actor revealed that she “left Bollywood” because of her “beef with some people in the industry”.

Now, in an exclusive interview with us, Asrani shares how some families in the industry have an edge in the business because they have been around for generations: “They have their favourites and have every right to work with the ones they like. The problem is when they gang up to oust an actor or a technician from not just their movie but from the entire ecosystem.”

The National Award-winning film editor goes on, “Then these egos call other egos and tell them not to work with this person. They then use the media to run campaigns to discredit this person. Blind articles are written with damaging accusations... All this can be very damaging to a hardworking talent, especially one who doesn’t have a father or uncle in the film business.”

But Asrani points out how “ones like (actor) Kartik Aaryan thrived in spite of the vicious campaigns against him, thanks to social media, which allows you to directly connect with the audiences”.

The Aligarh (2016) writer points out how a similar “campaign was run against Jonas in 2012”, and she was cornered. “She had given the world two big hits — Barfi! and Agneepath — in just one year, but the front page of a city newspaper carried a headline saying that no hero wanted to work with her. They weren’t giving her her due; she wasn’t able to grow as an actor and a star,” says Asrani, adding that’s the reason a win for Jonas is a “win for all of the people who aren’t giving up the fight against a largely corrupt system”. 

Before Jonas, according to Asrani, another actor who became the target of the influentials was late Sushant Singh Rajput: “Director Abhishek Kapoor has used a very apt term to describe what was done to Sushant: a systematic dismantling of a fragile mind. It’s where they use the entire system to slowly ignore and isolate you.”

He, however, believes there are several producers today who play fairly because they are not from dynasties and sincerely seek out talent over sycophancy.