Konkona Sen Sharma, an actor-filmmaker, recently admitted to feeling terrible about being a “nepo-baby.” Konkana is the daughter of legendary Bengali director and performer Aparna Sen, who has made an impact in Bengali cinema as well as in Hindi films.
When asked why she believes she isn’t being called out in the “shrill” discussions over nepotism in Bollywood, Konkona replied in an interview with Anupama Chopra of Film Companion that it may be because her mother isn’t a huge star in the Hindi film business.
She averred, “I feel guilty on my own, a little bit, sometimes.” She continued, “I think I didn’t get called out because she was not a part of Bombay mainstream, my mum had done… Aparna Sen has done some Hindi films but not too many. She was so well known in the Bengali film industry as an actor not as a director, she was a big commercial star…”
“So I feel I am a ‘nepo-baby’ in the best sense because I have been around film sets since I was a kid, and I have not just been around film sets but also watched my mum editing, dubbing, mixing, doing budgets, having pre-production meetings and all. So it was a very familiar world. But it was not like she had any networks or connections like that in Bombay as such. It is always lovely to be extended the respect that was accorded to her, that’s just I am lucky.” Konkana mentioned.
When questioned if her talent has anything to do with why people don’t drag her into the nepotism argument, Konkona replied, “It could be, but it is very subjective. There are all kinds of talents and some people like this and some people like that and it is so nice to have a wide variety of things happening so people can also pick and choose and we are not stuck with one kind of thing.”
Konkona Sen Sharma has just directed a section in Lust Stories 2. Her piece in Netflix’s anthology was well received. Her next acting ventures include The Rapist, directed by her mother Aparna Sen, and Anurag Basu’s Metro… In Dino.
