Zoya Akhtar reveals her advice to The Archies kids amid nepotism debate: ‘Be a Jedi’

Filmmaker Zoya Akhtar realises the criticism that the cast of her film The Archies is facing. Ever since the film was announced, it has been subjected to massive trolling from those against ‘nepotism’ in Bollywood. It star Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter Suhana Khan, Sridevi’s daughter Khushi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson Agastya Nanda. (Also read: The Archies: Why nepotism arguments against Suhana Khan, Khushi Kapoor, and Agastya Nanda are futile)

In a new interview, Zoya said that she told the kids to ‘be a Jedi’ and focus on their work. She added that it’s natural that any child would choose their parents’ career and no one should ‘dictate’ what one can or cannot do.

Speaking to Film Companion about her advice to her starcast, she said, “I mean you have grown up. At the end of the day we all grow up wanting to follow our dreams. When you grow up in a house and you have parents you get on with or parents that you admire, you just end up doing things they do and it is as simple as that. Who is anyone to say you can’t do this or you can’t do that. You don’t (have any training), you have to roll with the punches. You have to get out there. you have to keep your head down and work hard. That’s it.”

She added, “At the end of the day if you do your job well you will be unstoppable. Do your job, that is it. Everything else, I just bubble myself. I just focus on what I have to do and if I will do it well or if I do it honestly, it will find its audience. That’s it, you can’t control anything but yourself. You can’t control what people say, you can’t control what people think, you can’t control if they like you, can’t control if they don’t like you. You can just control what you put out and so that is what you should do. Just focus, be a Jedi.”

Created by Zoya Akhtar, The Archies is coming soon on Netflix and is an Indian adaptation of the famous comic book. However, the release date is not revealed yet. Zoya recently unveiled the film’s teaser that reveals that the film is set in 1964 in Riverdale.