Bollywood actor Abhay Deol has never shied away from expressing his opinions, even if it meant ruffling a few feathers. Recently, the actor had called out the "woke" Indian celebrities who, while remaining silent about the "systemic problems" in their own country, expressed their stand against racism in America over the killing of George Floyd and lent support to the 'Black Lives Matter' movement.
Now, the actor has spoken up against lobbying in the industry, citing an experience that he had post the release of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, which had an ensemble cast—Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif, and Kalki Koechlin and himself.
Noting that Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is a “great watch when anxious or stressed”, he said he and fellow-actor Farhan Akhtar were “demoted” at all award functions and were nominated as “supporting actors” while Hrithik and Katrina were nominated as “actors in a leading role”
“Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara”, released in 2011. Need to chant this title to myself everyday nowadays! Also a great watch when anxious or stressed. I would like to mention that almost all the award functions demoted me and Farhan from main leads, and nominated us as “supporting actors,” he wrote in an Instagram post.
He said according to Bollywood logic, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara was about a man and woman falling in love. In fact, the film was more about friendship and self-discovery than love.
"Hrithik and Katrina were nominated as “actors in a leading role”. 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."
Further, he said this was a "shamelessly overt" instance of lobbying and added that because of this, he boycotted the awards.
"There are many covert and overt ways in which people in the industry lobby against you. In this case it was shamelessly overt. I of course boycotted the awards but Farhan was ok with it."
