Father Saif never lobbied for me, Sara Ali Khan tells Filmfare

Amid the debate over nepotism in Bollywood, actress Sara Ali Khan has clarified her position. She admitted that being the child of a star family gave her some advantages at the start of her career. But she said her father Saif Ali Khan never lobbied producers to give her film roles, and never even negotiated her contracts.

In a recent interview with Filmfare, Sara said there is no reason to deny that being a star family's child opened some doors for her. In her words, “I am not so naive or so unaware of reality that I would not admit this identity opened many doors for me. It gave me opportunities. It brought me recognition and fame, perhaps even before I became an actress.”

This year Sara acted in Mudassar Aziz's romantic comedy 'Pati Patni Aur Woh Do' and Akash Kaushik's spy comedy 'Urta Teer'. Ayushmann Khurrana was her co-star in both films. Even after eight years in acting, the daughter of Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh still faces criticism over the advantages of nepotism.

Alongside the advantages, Sara also raised the issue of excessive criticism. She said, “Even so, sometimes I feel the level of expectation from us is much higher. For people, nepotism has now become only a negative word. What I do not like is that it overshadows a person's own hard work.”

Sara also spoke in defence of contemporary actresses Janhvi Kapoor and Ananya Panday, who face the same kind of criticism. Janhvi is the daughter of the late actress Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor, while Ananya's father is actor Chunky Panday. Sara said, “Janhvi, Ananya or I — none of us chose which family we would be born into. We were just fortunate. I do not think it is fair for us to be punished for something that is not our fault.”

Sara added, “Do we get extra advantages? Yes, of course we do. We were given a debut opportunity that many people aspire to. But if, even after eight years of my career, I still have to keep explaining this, I do not think the responsibility for that should rest only on me.”

Sara was quite popular on social media even before her film debut. She joined Instagram less than four months before the release of Abhishek Kapoor's 'Kedarnath'. Within just 24 hours, her follower count crossed 246,000. She made her Bollywood debut with 'Kedarnath' in 2018.

The actress also raised her family situation. Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh separated in 2004, when Sara was only nine years old. She then grew up mainly with her mother Amrita Singh. Sara said, “I live with a single mother. I did not have a father who went to different offices negotiating my contracts or requesting people to cast me in their films. When there was a problem with 'Kedarnath', I was handling it myself. No one was with me. It affects both ways. Because I had no godfather in the industry.”

During the making of 'Kedarnath', a delay in shooting led Sara to sign another film. Over the incident, the makers of 'Kedarnath' filed a compensation case of five crore rupees against her. The matter was later settled out of court. Director Rohit Shetty gave Sara time out from his police action film 'Simba' so that she could finish shooting 'Kedarnath'.

Against reports that her father Saif Ali Khan had a role in resolving that dispute, Sara clarified that she handled the matter herself. Her claim is that although her star family identity brought her advantages at the start of her career, she did not receive her father's help in every situation.