India, May 24 -- Nepotism may be the buzzword in Bollywood over the last few years, but there was a time not too long ago when actors from the film industry did not face that much scrutiny from the audience. However, even the old-timers say that the scrutiny from a section of the media existed even two decades back. In a no-holds-barred chat with HT, Tusshar Kapoor recalls his first year in films and how people tried to pull him down.

Tusshar, the son of 70s' star Jeetendra, made his acting debut with Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai in 2001. The actor agrees that the discourse around nepotism was not as prevalent when he began, but it was starting. "It had started in my time, too," he recalls, adding, "Especially if you were from a film background,...