Ibrahim Ali Khan and Khushi Kapoor were subjected to a lot of ridicule and trolling on social media following the release of their Netflix film Nadaaniyan. Now, in a recent interview, director Hansal Mehta reacted to these criticisms and defended the star kids stating that the comments against them were “in terrible taste.”
"I do feel that people are being very harsh and unfair. What is sad is that, have we checked for the preparedness of these children before they have got their break? The kind of comments that people are passing are in terrible taste. I'm sure it must be traumatising for the young people,” he said.
Hansal added that people forget the parents of these star kids too at one point made awkward debuts. “It's just that they were just not so much in the public eye then, as people are now, due to social media."
The Shahid (2010) director also recalled how he had approached one of these children for a film, that was an unusual film for a newcomer. But their advisors felt that he/she should be doing something conventional, should be making a high-speed entry, and get the same 'mounting' that Kumar Gaurav or Sunny Deol or Hrithik Roshan or Tiger Shroff got.
He added, "They want to be launched by a big banner, irrespective of whether they have the big idea. They want that big banner, they want a big daddy to be advising them all the time. I feel sad when I see them being ridiculed by people. And my only plea to them is to keep their head down, focus on their work. The moment they perform well in something, no matter how well or badly done at the box office, they will be respected. Their first target should be to get respect with their work."
Nadaaniyan is currently streaming on Netflix. Hansal is awaiting the release of his upcoming series Gandhi.