The conversation around nepotism, one of the industry’s most polarising debates, has once again found its way into the Bigg Boss 19 house. This time, it was Amaal Mallik at the centre of the storm. The composer, who comes from the Malik musical family, found himself defending his idea of “struggle” after a sharp exchange with contestant Gaurav Khanna.
Fight between Amaal and Gaurav
The friction began when Amaal accused Gaurav of “playing a character” on the show. Gaurav immediately hit back, saying, “You are playing your character; everybody is playing a character. He thinks everyone is playing a character, just like we all think he himself is playing a solo musician character talking about his struggle.” He added, “If he thinks he is a musician, and music is on his mind 24×7, I am not going to tell him that he is playing a character.”
Amaal stood his ground, responding, “That is your opinion if you think I am trying to exaggerate my struggle,” and reminded Gaurav of a previous moment where his New Zealand trip to visit his aunt was mocked. “When I just said that my aunt is in New Zealand, he said that we cannot even reach where your struggle begins.”
Gaurav, however, pointed to the inherent advantages of Amaal’s background. “Earlier, he said his brother waited for eight hours to meet Salman Khan, so I just said that after eight hours, he had the ability to meet him. Even if we stand for 20 years, we might not get the chance.”
Amaal acknowledges his privilege
Amaal acknowledged the privilege but disagreed with Gaurav’s interpretation. “Correct. I have always said I had a ‘foot in the door’ moment. But, just like a common person waits outside a studio, my mom and brother waited too; there was no difference.” When Gaurav argued that Salman Khan met them only because he knew the family, Amaal retorted, “He would have met an unknown person also, he is Salman Khan.”
He further defended his family’s journey: “My brother got a ‘foot in the door’ moment not because of anyone, but because he waited there. Nobody knew my brother… Despite being from a musical family, he entered a reality show and wasn’t treated differently… In fact, he was removed from the show with the explanation that, ‘You are from a musical family; you will get more chances in the future.’… All four of us as a family used to live in a rented house, and we didn’t even have money to pay the rent.”
This isn’t the first time Amaal has been pulled into a privilege-versus-struggle argument this season. Earlier, Pranit More had mocked him, saying, “Life of the rich. We used to go to Shirdi,” while Gaurav remarked, “I am comparing it with my journey. If I have to visit my aunt, she lives in Kanpur.”
