Abhay Deol takes a dig at Bollywood’s award shows

As Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s ashes got immersed in a holy Indian river on June 18 by his family members as per Hindu rituals, a lot of drama is happening in other parts of Bollywood.

Rajput’s death has re-ignited debates on nepotism, the importance of mental health among public figures, and the brutality in Bollywood towards aspiring actors. Rajput’s unexpected death at 34 is yet to be processed by his adoring fans, who are desperately seeking closure.

After Ranvir Shorey, actor Abhay Deol has now come out to explain how “shamelessly” award shows work in Bollywood.

Sharing his own personal experience, Deol spoke about how he, along with co-actor Farhan Akhtar, got “demoted” at several award functions for their work in the hit film ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’.

“‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’, released in 2011. I need to chant this title to myself every day nowadays! Also, a great watch when anxious or stressed.

Directed by Zoya Akhtar, ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ revolves around three friends, Arjun (Hrithik Roshan), Kabir (Deol) and Imraan (Akhtar), who discover themselves and aspects of their relationship after they go on a road trip to Spain

“I would like to mention that almost all the award functions demoted me and Farhan from main leads, and nominated us as ‘supporting actors’. 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,” Deol wrote.

Such impartial behavior eventually led Deol to boycott the awards even though his co-star and brother of Zoya Akthar went along with 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,” he added.

 He called the Film Fare Awards as ‘Family fare awards.

Deol recently also called out Bollywood celebrities for not voicing problems in their own country and coming out to support the enraged Black Lives Matter movement in the US.

Sushant Singh Rajput, who was found dead at his home in Mumbai on June 14, left behind an army of grieving fans and galvanized a movement of sorts to address the dark secrets of Bollywood.