Kangana Ranaut breaks down nepotism for Saif and KJo in her own open letter

Nepotism is the latest buzzword in Bollywood yet so few seem to understand its significance.

Just yesterday, Saif Ali Khan insisted that the Indian film industry isn't nepotistic — it's just that some pretty famous moms and dads have been producing some pretty famous babies. It's a matter of good genes, not family favouritism, he says, and there's nothing wrong about a producer making a "genetic investment".

Kangana, like the rest of us, found his ideas "disturbing", and so she decided to write an open letter too, where she gives her own breakdown of what nepotism means:

She says that nepotism may be good for business but the boys are missing the main point...

"Nepotism is a practice where people tend to act upon temperamental human emotions, rather than intellectual tendencies. Businesses that are run by human emotions and not by great value-systems, might gain superficial profits. However, they cannot be truly productive and tap into the true potential of a nation of more than 1.3 billion people."

...because nepotism goes against basic human values.

"Nepotism, on many levels, fails the test of objectivity and rationale. I have acquired these values from the ones who have found great success and discovered a higher truth, much before me. These values are in the public domain, and no one has a copyright on them.

"Today, I can afford to have the willpower to stand for these values, but tomorrow, I might fail, and help my own children realise their dreams of stardom. In that case, I believe that I would have failed as an individual. But the values will never fail. They will continue to stand tall and strong, long after we are gone.

So, we owe an explanation to everyone who either owns, or wants to own these values. Like I said, we are the ones who will shape the future of the coming generations.

Naturally, Saif's whole race horse mating analogy was lost on her.

"In another part of your letter, you talked about the relationship between genetics and star kids, where you emphasised on nepotism being an investment on tried and tested genes. I have spent a significant part of my life studying genetics. But, I fail to understand how you can compare genetically hybrid racehorses to artistes!

"Are you implying that artistic skills, hard-work, experience, concentration spans, enthusiasm, eagerness, discipline and love, can be inherited through family genes? If your point was true, I would be a farmer back home. I wonder which gene from my gene-pool gave me the keenness to observe my environment, and the dedication to interpret and pursue my interests.

She also quietly corrected Saif's definition of eugenics.

"You also spoke of eugenics -- which means controlled breeding of the human race. So far, I believe that the human race hasn't found the DNA that can pass on greatness and excellence. If it had, we would've loved to repeat the greatness of Einstein, Da Vinci, Shakespeare, Vivekananda, Stephen Hawking, Terence Tao, Daniel Day-Lewis, or Gerhard Richter.

In a nutshell, she sees no end to nepotism, just wants to encourage "outsiders" to find ways around it

"In fact, the subtext of all my talk on this subject has been to encourage outsiders to take the path less travelled. Bullying, jealousy, nepotism and territorial human tendencies are all part of the entertainment industry, much like any other. If you don't find acceptance in the mainstream, go off beat -- there are so many ways of doing the same thing.

I think the privileged are the least to be blamed in this debate, since they are part of the system, which is set around chain reactions. Change can only be caused by those who want it. It is the prerogative of the dreamer who learns to take his or her due, and not ask for it."

Read Kangana's full letter here.