Vikram Ravichandran on nepotism: You get only one chance to prove yourself; that’s why…

It’s been nearly three years since Vikram Ravichandran, the younger son of Crazy Star V Ravichandran made his film debut with Trivikrama, directed by Sahana S Murthy. The film, which paired Vikram with Akanksha Sharma was a colossal failure and did not give the actor the launch he’d hoped for, even though, he got to dance, fight and emote in the tragic love story.

In the time since, Vikram has officially announced only one other project – Mudhol – which, as it turns out is a home production. Vikram is producing his sophomore project, a turn of events because of the reception to his debut film. “You get only one chance to prove yourself; that’s why I’ve had to turn producer for my next,” said Vikram on the Just Curious podcast, when he was asked about nepotism and the advantage that star kids get in the industry, at least as far as that initial boost goes.

Vikram Ravichandran on what it takes to click in the industry

Vikram, in fact, is not a fan of the whole nepotism discourse, which, he believes, has been pushed into the Kannada film market. “When you say a star kids gets a privileged road, see, my first film was produced by a newbie. It was directed y Sahana Murthy, who’d done Rose with Krishna Ajai Rao and Mass Leader with Shivarajkumar sir. Music was by Arjun Janya, DOP was Santhosh Rai Pathaje, action was Ravi Varma - the crème de la crème of technicians. With my second film, I am the producer. Nepo kids get only one opportunity to prove themselves,” he said.

Vikram points out that there are many examples of nepotism having failed, but that is never spoken about. In fact, he believes that there are only a handful of cases in which nepotism has actually worked out. “Nepotism is not as it is being portrayed in the market. If you act well and have an X factor; if you are doing good, both onscreen and off it and are able to connect with your audience, only then do you become a star. If I don’t have any of these qualities, I cannot become a hero. If everything hinges on the surname, then my first film should have been a hit and got digital rights. It doesn’t work that way,” he adds.

Trivikrama did not land on any OTT platform and was eventually released for free on YouTube.