When Abhay Deol addressed his ‘demotion’ in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, called Raanjhana ‘regressive’

Actor Abhay Deol has often gotten himself in trouble for trash-talking about his own films. He criticised his film Aisha, which led to a war of words with Anil Kapoor, and also called Raanjhana regressive. He also candidly spoke about being given step-motherly treatment in the industry.
In 2020, Abhay opened up about his ‘demotion’ at award shows when his film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara was receiving acclaim. He shared a post on Instagram about the film and mentioned how unfairly he was treated during the awards season. The film starred Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar and Abhay as three friends who go on a road trip through Spain. However, when it came to the awards, Hrithik was presented as the lead actor while Farhan and Abhay’s names were in the supporting actor category.

In his note on Instagram, Abha had written: “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’. Hrithik and Katrina were nominated as ‘actors in a leading role’. So the industry’s own logic, this was a film about a man and a woman falling in love, with the man supported his friends for whatever decisions he takes,” he wrote.
Speaking to Zoom about his post, Abhay had said, “Why should we put Farhan and Abhay in the same category as Hrithik and Katrina? Because they are bigger stars. It doesn’t make sense. The plot of the film is about three friends on a journey and they would so shamelessly go out there and do it. I didn’t say anything at the time, kept quiet. I was like forget it, whatever, I just won’t go. Even Zindagi, that was my 10th movie. I had done and said so much already that I felt like I am going to be the only one screaming and will look bitter or cynical. So forget it,” he said.
In the same year, Abhay called out the film Raanjhana for its regressive message. The film starred Dhanush as an obsessed lover, desperately trying to make Sonam Kapoor’s character fall in love with him. After a social media user pointed this out, Abhay agreed and wrote, “Hory will not look kindly at this film for its regressive message. It’s been a theme in Bollywood for decades, where a boy can (and should), pursue a girl until she relents. Only in cinema does she do that willfully. In reality we have seen time and again that it leads to sexual violence of some sort. Glorifying it on screen only leads to blaming the victim.”
In 2020, Anurag Kashyap expressed his annoyance with the actor.  He said that it was ‘a painful experience’ to work with Abhay. He told HuffPost, “I don’t really have great working memories with him. And haven’t talked to him much since I finished shooting.”
Kashyap added, “He wanted to do artic movies but also wanted the mainstream benefits. The benefits and luxuries of being a Deol. He would stay in a five-star hotel while the entire crew stayed in Paharganj for a film that was made on a very tight budget. Also the reason a lot of his directors went away from him.” Kashyap’s Dev D was a psychedelic take on Devdas. Abhay played the role of Dev, while Mahie Gill and Kalki Koechlin played Paro and Chandramukhi.
Abhay had also courted controversy when he criticised elements of his own films such as Aisha and Raanjhana, both co-starring Sonam Kapoor.

Abhay’s last outing was the 2021 crime comedy film Velle alongside Anya Singh and Mouni Roy, and his nephew Karan Deol. He is gearing up for Jungle Cry, which is based on the lives of 12 underprivileged and orphan children from the Kalinga Institute in Odisha, and their journey to victory at International Junior Rug Tournament held in the UK in 2007. Directed Sagar Ballary, the film stars Steve Aldis, Rhys Ap William, Sherry Baines, Richard Elfyn, Julian Lewis Jones and Ross O’Hennessy.