It is no secret that Abhay Deol is one of the most underrated and talented stars in the Hindi film industry. He has carved a niche for himself in Bollywood with his impressive selection of roles and desire to experiment with his reel image.
The Dev D star, on Saturday (July 11), took to Instagram to comment on the burning issue of nepotism in Bollywood. He said that he has made one film with family members (the Deols) and accomplished everything on his merits. Talking about his uncle and Bollywood legend Dharmendra, he said that ‘Dharamji’ was an outsider and made it big despite having no connections. He also made it clear that he is proud to be associated with him.
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Abhay added that there is nothing wrong in discussing nepotism but things need to be viewed in a larger context.
Nopotism became a topic of discussion in the film circles in 2016 when Kangana Ranaut accused Karan Johar of favouring star kids while ignoring ‘outsiders’. The issue recently resurfaced when Sushant Singh Rajput died by suicide on June 14, much to the shock of movie buffs. Several fans claimed that Bollywood biggies had tried to sabotage his career. Some of them trolled the likes of Alia Bhatt, Sonam Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha for being ‘products of nepotism’.
Following the backlash, ‘Sona’ deactivated her Twitter account to avoid the ‘negativity’.
Manoj Bajpayee too commented on the controversy and acknowledged that ‘outsiders’ need to put in more effort when compared to those with industry connections. He also highlighted the need to make the system more democratic to ensure that everyone gets equal opportunities.
Coming back to Abhay, last year, he made his Kollywood bedut with Hero and added a new dimension to his career. The Sivakarthikeyan starrer, however, did not do as well as expected. He was also seen in What Are the Odds, which released on Netlix on March 20.