Nepotism Exists Not Only In Our Industry: Suneil Shetty

Suniel Shetty is an Indian film actor, producer and entrepreneur who is predominantly active in Bollywood films. In a career spanning more than 25 years, he has acted in nearly 130 films. He is the owner of Film production house Popcorn Entertainment Private Limited and also runs FTC Talent and Media & Entertainment. While having an e-chat Dr. Annurag Batra, Chairman, BW Businessworld and E4M Group, he affirms nepotism exists in every industry and people should not confine it to Bollywood. 

Below are the edited excerpts:

How has the Covid taught you?
A lot of learnings. I always believed I was an honest man and have done everything right. Because I have paid my staff on time, kept them happy, and kept them for 35-40 years. But I have still realised that there is a lot of injustice that has been done to them. Because they don’t deserve so little. They deserve a lot more.  There has to be a lot more equality. I have also realised that whether they are driver, staff or service help or kids working for you in office are very important for you. As an entrepreneur, what I have realise is you need to bring on 5 more kids rather than removing 25 of them once the pandemic is over. So that is being focus and that is what I have been telling my kids ‘Work hard because I have been dependent on you. More so now I have realised because people who are not working or don’t have confidence or know their craft will be losing their jobs. Apart from them, I have realised that tech is the be all and end all of everything. But I have also realised that Tech, last mile human touch is what is finally going to work brilliantly.

Can you tell us what is this FTC talent democratizes entry at the base level. Where do you think FTC talent would be and what is your take on democratising talent into Bollywood?
I think it is always been that way. Like in all businesses, there are certain groups, certain businesses what they see is only talent. Personally, I had a tough time when I came in. Anybody asks me I say I have 272000 children from FTC in addition to Athiya and Ahaan. I am trying every day to give kids an opportunity. So who has to come forward and support me ? Recruiters have to come forward and say ‘Yes , we are casting’. For example, in my film Moti Choor Chakna Choor, 90% of the kids came from Bhopal. We gave kids from there an opportunity. So that’s what FTC talent is about- Opportunity, Opportunity, Opportunity. So let’s not talk that nepotism exists only in the industry. We are not as bad as it made out to be.

You have reinvented yourself by being an entrepreneur. What advise do you have for young entrepreneurs who look up to you?
Today it is a balance of tech and human. You have to think what the generation of today is thinking. Bring in youth and smart kids and listen to them.  When somebody makes a presentation, I would probably not say a word.  I would add only where I can add value to it. If you are making a mistake, doesn’t matter. I think combining the right people, definitely not keeping it top-heavy, believe in consistent hard working, believing, reading and, research are very important. Tech has taken us to an absolute different level. Downsizing should be done only in terms of unnecessary expenditure. As you already pointed out, working from home is more productive. The whole idea is being productive and believing in oneself. Si definitely getting in tech and youth into your organisations definitely give you that edge.

Did you have failures in businesses? If yes, what have you learnt from that?
Yes, why not? You dare to do something different. Probably you are before your time or absolutely different. I failed in a lot of businesses. But because now some of my businesses are successful, people talk about it and that is what they want to relate to. I have done things which were probably not meant for the long term and were fads. For those moments I made the money I wanted to. In that sense, they were not failures but didn’t last a lifetime they we had planned. For those who didn’t have that kind of luck, just learnt from it and make sure you have that drive to do more.  I realised that whenever I did anything on my own, it was never successful. But whenever I collaborated with someone, who were the master of what they did, it added my experience, goodwill, value, my knowhow about business through failure, it worked like magic and that is what I started doing.

You give your 100% in whatever you do. What is the role you enjoy most these days?
I think for me, my dream is FTC. Make the industry a marketspace where any kid from anywhere would get an opportunity to try and fulfil their dream, provided they have the talent, intention and don’t believe that glamour side of it is what I want.  There is a hell of a hardwork that goes into it. A Friday may be successful but you don’t know what it feels when it doesn’t work. I have done 130 films and have given opportunity to  75 new directors whereas I could have repeated those 75 blockbuster directors and played it safe. That is why when someone says nepotism, it hurts a lot. Even today, like I said, it is not the money that matters. It is the kids with whom I am working with. What am I taking away from them? That is about it. I want FTC to be one platform where the child comes in, he should not mentally, financially or physically harassed. That is what happens in this industry.

What is the business model of FTC? How does it make money?
Right now, content is something we are working on, brands is something we want to push. Recruiters who come in have to pay a one time fee. But it is about scaling up, getting more people onboard, giving more jobs and getting the industry to depend on you. I intend to talk to tourism board we don’t want producers scouting for your location, give us your location and logistics, come on board and be the one window clearance so that the world can come and shoot just by coming on FTC.