My competition was never the stars' kids: Manoj Bajpayee

New Delhi: Actor Manoj Bajpayee says that he has never considered star kids as his competition -- and there's a valid reason for this.

"The kind of films I wanted to do from the very beginning, stars' sons or daughters would never do that. There was never a competition for me in the kinds of films I chose. My competition was never the stars' kids, but always people like Nawazuddin (Siddiqui) and Irrfan (Khan)," said the actor when asked about his take on nepotism, at the first edition of News18 India Chaupal here on Friday, read a statement.

"This industry looks to me like ‘sarrafabazaar'. Whoever is on the throne, passes that to their kids -- who either learn and grow with time or sink the business," he added.

The discussion on nepotism was sparked off after actress Kangana Ranaut tagged filmmaker Karan Johar a 'flagbearer of nepotism'.

Manoj says he is happy that Kangana spoke about it.

"I'm happy that Kangana spoke about it (nepotism). It's very important that there should be a healthy debate on this topic," he said.

The actor will be next seen in "Naam Shabana", directed by Neeraj Pandey. The film also stars Taapsee Pannu, Anupam Kher and Akshay Kumar and is set to hit the theatres on March 31.

Manoj Bajpai Pictures