Ranvir Shorey On Power Dynamics in Bollywood: I'm a Cynical Man Now, Nothing Really Changes

Actor Ranvir Shorey has been vocal about groupism and control over Bollywood's resources by a few powerful people. The actor was recently interviewed by his Kadvi Hawa director Nila Madhab Panda, where he talked about what glass ceiling in the film industry.

Talking to Times of India, he said that the debate raging online is about mainstream Bollywood and not Indian or Hindi film industries. He said that there are groups within a group, and the structure of power in Bollywood is like a pyramid, where to reach the top, one must have the approval of a select few people. If one does not have that approval, they have to keep working for smaller rewards.

He then gave the example of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput. He said that while Sushant was doing great on his own and had many blockbusters in his belt, he also sought the approval of these groups of people, as filmmaker Anurag Kashyap had said in an interview. He added that these people controlled distribution and exhibition of cinema and marketing budgets. Seeking validation from these people is what went wrong for Sushant, Ranvir said.

Ranvir said that even when people on social media are protesting against this form of power structure, nothing will change in the real world. He said, “The hoo-ha on social media with hashtags is not a reflection of what is happening in the real world. Once theatres open up, we might see a small difference in the disparity, the desperation and the despair that exists - that will be because of the presence of streaming platforms as a safety valve. But I have a feeling that the theatre game is going to go back to the same. I am cynical man now. I have see too much. Nothing really changes.”

Ranvir worked with Sushant in Sonchiriya. Sushant passed away on June 14, 2020 by suicide. He was 34.

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