Vivek Agnihotri, a filmmaker, has revealed a Bollywood “inside story.” He claimed that it was both a “cemetery” and a “hub” of talent. He discussed how individuals who don’t achieve the required degree of success become trapped in the showbiz industry’s vicious cycle without any means of support and are driven to fake it.
The filmmaker wrote, “What you see is not Bollywood. Real Bollywood is found in its dark alleys. Its underbelly is so dark that it’s impossible for a common man to fathom. In these dark alleys, you can find shattered dreams, trampled dreams, and buried dreams. If Bollywood is a museum of talent, then it’s also a cemetery of talent. It’s not about rejection. Anyone who comes here knows that rejection is part of the deal. It’s the humiliation and exploitation that shatters tender dreams, hopes, and belief in any kind of humanity. One can survive without food, but to live without respect, self-worth, and hope is impossible. No middle-class youngster grows up ever imagining being in that situation.”
He added, “It hits so hard that instead of putting up a fight, one gives up. Lucky are those who go back home. Those who stay on, break apart. Those who find some success but not the real one, get into drugs, alcohol, and all kinds of life-damaging stuff. Now they need money. So, they get introduced to all kinds of fun money. Some success is the most dangerous one. You are in showbiz without any income and power. You have to look like a star, party like a star, PR like a star, but you aren’t a star. Imagine yourself in a gangsta ghetto where you have to behave like a gangster without a gun or knife. This is where you are open to humiliation and exploitation. Instagram is not free. It demands money to shoot, look good, and sound busy.”
Taking to writter, he talked about the inside story.
He said, “The hollow race of validation” brings them back to where they started from—”the dark hole, which keeps getting deeper and deeper with each race.” He added, “You show off, nobody sees. You scream, no one hears. You cry, no one cares. All you find is surrounded by people laughing at you. You bury your dreams. Quietly. But then you find people dancing on the grave of your dreams. Your failure becomes their celebration. You are a dead man walking. Irony is nobody can see you are dead except for you. One day, you literally die. And then the world sees you.”