Sushmita Sen shared this image. (Image courtesy: sushmitasen47 )

New Delhi:

Actress Sushmita Sen, making the comeback of comebacks in web-series Aarya, was asked in a Twitter Q&A how she survived nepotism in Bollywood. Sushmita, 44, won the Miss Universe pageant in 1994 and made her film debut in Dastak two years later. She has been in films such as Sirf Tum, Filhaal, Main Hoon Na and Biwi No 1. In a Q& A titled #AskAarya, Sushmita Sen, who has no relatives in the film industry, was asked by a fan, “How did you survive nepotism in Bollywood?” Her response was typically measured – “By focusing on my audience.. you guys! I will continue to work as an actor as long as you want to see me.” Sushmita also added the hashtag #simpleenough to her tweet. Read her tweet here:

By focusing on my Audience…YOU GUYS!!!I will continue to work as an actor as long as YOU want to see me!! #simpleenough#AskAaryahttps://t.co/or0a3Myz8c

— sushmita sen (@thesushmitasen) June 21, 2020

The word nepotism is topmost on Twitter’s mind currently. The death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput on June 14 has triggered social media, which erupted in anger over, among other things, the nepotism and favouritism that the film industry has long been accused of. Filmmaker Karan Johar, foremost in the debate over nepotism, trended for several days after Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at home – by suicide, police say.

Karan Johar, who has cast ‘star kids’ such as Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Janhvi Kapoor and Ananya Panday in his films, was called “the flagbearer of nepotism” by actress Kangana Ranaut on his chat show Koffee With Karan. Later, he chanted “Nepotism Rocks” at an award show with actors Varun Dhawan and Saif Ali Khan.

Sushmita Sen’s previous outing was the 2015 Bengali film Nirbaak. In Aarya, she plays a woman forced into the drug trade after the death of her husband. Aarya also stars Manoj Bajpayee, Chandrachur Singh and Sikander Kher in pivotal roles.