Preity Zinta's take on nepotism: Natural for parents to help their children

With nepotism being a heated debate across the Indian cinematic universe, Bollywood actor Preity Zinta has come forward acknowledging it and calling it natural for parents to help their kids.

In an interview with PTI, the 43-year-old star asserted that while nepotism is deep-rooted in the industry, that does not come in the way of success for others.

"It is an age old thing that parents will help their children. Nepotism does exist. But then there are stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and others who are not from industry and are superstars," she added.

The Veer Zara starlet went on to state: "There will always be nepotism and you can't change that but one should never under estimate those who have hunger to prove themselves in the industry."

Furthermore, the Bollywood diva shed light on her own experiences recounting how she had always yearned for financial independence: “My dad passed away when I was young. There was a strong desire within me to be financially independent. I was doing criminal psychology, I wanted to crack crimes. I am a great investigator; I can find out anything. I used that part of me in developing characters.”

"I never thought I would become a big actor or star, I didn't even think it was possible. Then I was sure I would work till I am excited. After I did Veer Zaara and Salaam Namaste, I reached a point where nobody let me experiment. I felt I should try something different. I went and met all the producers and directors with whom I had worked and said, 'Please don't offer me any films as I am getting into sports'. They thought I was crazy and part of me was. It was new and so I was excited and nervous,” she added.