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Ibrahim Ali Khan, son of Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh, is set to make his acting debut in Karan Johar’s upcoming movie Nadaaniyan alongside Khushi Kapoor. The movie will be released on Netflix.

Nadaaniyan will be Khan’s introduction as an actor, while Kapoor has starred in a few projects, including The Archies and Loveyapa.

However, audiences are disappointed by the choice to cast Kapoor in Khan’s first film because of her acting capabilities or lack thereof.

The nepotism of it all

Others criticised Bollywood’s nepotistic nature for casting celebrities’ children despite their lack of skills and the availability of far better actors. Both of Khan’s parents are actors, while Kapoor’s mother is the late star Sridevi and her father is producer Boney Kapoor.

An X (formerly Twitter) user questioned how Kapoor got so many acting roles despiting having “no screen presence” and “bad reviews”.

“And people say nepo privilege doesn’t exist now,” they added.

Another netizen highlighted that “nepotism was real”, and quoted actor Kriti Sanon who allegedly said celebrities’ children get their second and third film deals before the first movie is even released.

An X user said, “Where there is nepotism, there is Karan Johar.” Johar, who was once referred to as “the flag-bearer of nepotism” by actor Kangana Ranaut, is known for launching stars’ children into the film industry. He debuted Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Ananya Panday, and Jhanvi Kapoor.

On Instagram, someone questioned if the actors could even act. “What’s the important criteria to get into a movie? Acting? Oh, that’s not important.”

Dump it on Netflix

Other social media users said that an OTT media service release for the movie (which means it will release on Netflix and not in theatres) was a cop-out on Johar’s part so he didn’t lose any money.

An Instagram user said that if Johar had faith in his actors, director and movie then he should release the film in theatres, adding that an “OTT release itself shows your confidence in the movies and actors.”

They added that Laapata Ladies featured new actors and released in theatres because the movie had “substance and the makers had that confidence”.

While Nadaaniyan doesn’t have a release date yet, it’s apparent that viewers have conflicting feelings about the movie. However, we must say we’re quite excited to see Khan in his first-ever film. Let’s hope he’s a little better at acting than his co-star.