Farhan slams Abhay for take on 'ZNMD' and award shows
Recently, Abhay Deol expressed his disappointment with Bollywood award shows, revealing that he and co-star Farhan Akhtar were "demoted" to "Supporting Actors" for Zoya Akhtar's 2011 movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, a tale of three friends. Now, Farhan has reacted to the controversy, saying that such external validation does not matter to him. Here's more on what the actor said.
Firstly, what was 'ZNMD' all about?
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara brought to us the beloved story of three friends (played by Abhay, Farhan and Hrithik Roshan), who decide to reunite for a road trip, and end up fulfilling their long-pending dreams, fixing broken relationships, and discovering their selves along the way. The film saw Katrina Kaif playing Hrithik's love interest, while Kalki Koechlin played Abhay's possessive girlfriend.
Earlier this month, Abhay called out award functions
In an Instagram post, Abhay called out award functions for terming him and Farhan as "Supporting Actors", while Hrithik and Katrina were nominated as "Actors in a leading role". The actor revealed that while he boycotted the awards that year, Farhan was fine with the move. He also took a dig at the popular Filmfare awards, calling it "Familyfare awards" for alleged favoritism.
'There are many ways in which industry lobbies against you'
"So by the industry's own logic, this (ZNMD) was a film about a man and a woman falling in love, with the man supported by his friends for whatever decisions he takes," Abhay noted. "There are many covert and overt ways in which people in the industry lobby against you. In this case it was shamelessly overt," the actor further added.
Farhan said seeking validation would lead to disappointment
Now, speaking at the India Today e-Conclave, Farhan said that seeking an external validation would eventually lead to disappointment. He added that if an actor's larger interest is to be called a "star," they are in the wrong profession. "You are constantly hearing about some rat race and everybody is fighting each other to some kind of spot which does not exist," he noted.
'Have you come here to be a reality star?'
Farhan added that one should simply focus on their work. He said, "How many magazine covers you will do, whether you came on the front page of a magazine, or the front page of a newspaper... If that is your larger interest, I really feel that you are in the wrong profession." "Have you come here to be a reality star?" he asked.
Bollywood's infighting was triggered after SSR's demise
It is imperative to note that this controversy has come at a time when many celebrities are coming forward to criticize the industry's hypocrisy, nepotism and unfairness, in aftermath of actor Sushant Singh Rajput's tragic demise. Raveena Tandon recently said that "mean girl groups" and "camps" do exist in Bollywood, while director Abhinav Kashyap accused Salman Khan of bullying him and sabotaging his career.
