Besides his acting prowess, Bollywood actor Abhay Deol has quite a bit of a reputation for speaking his mind (in a righteous way, of course). The DevD star has never shied away from drawing attention to topics which are otherwise considered hush-hush by most Bollywood stars. From calling out "woke Indian celebrities," to questioning their decisions of endorsing fairness products, Abhay Deol has spoken up and out. In his latest Instagram entry, the 44-year-old actor reveals that he and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara co-star Farhan Akhtar were "demoted" from lead to supporting actor status at award shows, where Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif were treated as the 2011 Zoya Akhtar-directed film's only leads.
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, an ensemble film, was the story of three friends reuniting on the vacation of a lifetime, embarking not just on a trip around Spain but also on a journey of self-discovery. Award season, however, refused to see it as such, Abhay Deol reveals. "So by the industry's own logic, this was a film about a man and a woman falling in love, with the man supported by his friends for whatever decisions he takes," he writes. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara stars Katrina Kaif and Kalki Koechlin as the love interests of Hrithik Roshan and Abhay Deol respectively; however, the essence of the film deals with the theme of friendship rather than romance.
Abhay Deol ended up skipping award season entirely, although Farhan Akhtar didn't. "There are many covert and overt ways in which people in the industry lobby against you. In this case it was shamelessly overt," he writes, "I of course boycotted the awards but Farhan was ok with it.
Read Abhay Deol's post here:
Abhay Deol's post is the latest of many similar outpourings from film fraternity members; some, like Dabangg director Abhinav Kashyap and Style actor Sahil Khan, have accused powerful industry stars of squeezing them out of Bollywood while others, among them Raveena Tandon and Vivek Oberoi, have charged the industry with "mean girl" behaviour. Singer Sonu Nigam said recently that the music industry is controlled by two "mafias." The posts were prompted by the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput whom, reports suggest, top production houses boycotted despite the success of his 2019 film Chhichhore and others. Mr Rajput died by suicide, police say.
Sushant Singh Rajput made his film debut in 2013's Kai Po Che! He featured in films like Kedarnath, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Raabta, Chhichhore and Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! Mr Rajput was last seen in 2019's Drive.
(If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist.) Helplines: AASRA: 91-22-27546669 (24 hours) Sneha Foundation: 91-44-24640050 (24 hours) Vandrevala Foundation for Mental Health: 1860-2662-345 and 1800-2333-330 (24 hours) iCall: 022-25521111 (Available from Monday to Saturday: 8:00am to 10:00pm) Connecting NGO: 18002094353 (Available from 12 pm - 8 pm)
