New York July 16 (IANS) Filmmaker Karan Johar along with actors Saif Ali Khan and Varun Dhawan -- all of whom belong to film families -- didn t shy away from raking up the nepotism debate once again at the IIFA Awards event here on Sunday night.
Karan and Saif who were hosting the gala revisited the much-talked about issue which started in Bollywood when "Queen" star Kangana Ranaut branded Karan as a "flagbearer of nepotism" on his chat show.
When Varun joined the two actors on the stage at the Metlife Stadium to receive the Best Performance in a Comic Role for "Dishoom" Saif joked that the actor had made it big in the industry because of his father director David Dhawan.
"You are here because of your pappa " Saif quipped.
Varun said: "And you re here because of your mummy (veteran actress Sharmila Tagore)."
Karan then promptly added: "I am here because of my pappa (late filmmaker Yash Johar)."
They then said in unison: "Nepotism rocks".
Varun then didn t leave a chance to take a potshot at Karan saying: "There was a song in your film... Bole choodiyan bole kangana."
Karan with his quick wit then commented: "Kangana naa hi bole toh achha hai... Kangana bahut bolti hai. (It s better Kangana doesn t say anything she talks a lot."
At the IIFA Awards night actors Taapsee Pannu and "The Black Prince" actor Satinder Sartaaj didn t miss a chance to ask Karan if they could get a role in his films or feature on "Koffee With Karan" respectively.
"It is my dream to be on Koffee With Karan" sir. Ek baar zarur bulaana (Call me at least) " Sartaaj said.
(The writer s trip is at the invitation of IIFA organisers. Radhika Bhirani can be contacted at radhika.b@ians.in)
--IANS
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