First D56, then Tagarupalya and now, Yuva01 spark nepotism debate in Kannada cinema

Last evening, news broke that Aishwarya Upendra, the daughter of Real Star Upendra and Priyanka, would be seen in a pivotal role in Yuva Rajkumar’s debut film to be directed by Santhosh Ananddram for Hombale Films. Initial reactions on social media ranged from Aishwarya being too young to be paired with Yuva, to pleas asking the makers to have ‘local’ talent and nepotism allegations. It later emerged that Aishwarya is likely to play Yuva’s sister in the as-yet-untitled film that is set to go on floors shortly.

Aishwarya is not new to films, having acted with her mother Priyanka in Devaki, but her collaboration with Yuva Rajkumar, who is the son of Raghavendra Rajkumar and grandson of late matinee idol Dr Rajkumar, sparked a nepotism debate. Her inclusion on the cast comes shortly after actor Nenapirali Prem’s daughter Amrutha was announced as the heroine of Daali Dhananjaya’s latest production Tagarupalya, which had Nagabhushana in the lead.

Earlier this year, it was Malashree who was in the line of fire, when her daughter Radhana Ram was announced as Challenging Star Darshan’s heroine in Tharun Sudhir’s untitled D56. Prem’s son Ekant has already made his debut with this year’s Guru Shishyaru.

Netizens have been saying that Sandalwood is falling into the nepotism trap that Bollywood has been struggling with. Although some of the current lead heroes have filmi backgrounds, they’ve all had their fair share of struggle in establishing themselves in the industry. New-age star kids, on the other hand, are being given easy road maps for a career in films. In Aishwarya’s case, netizens also believe that the young actress needs a better grasp of the Kannada language before doing more films.