Farhan Akhtar responds to Abhay Deol’s claim of being called supporting actor in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara : Bollywood News

Ever since the nepotism controversy erupted again, another issue that was majorly discussed is the lobbying that leads to grabbing awards. Actor Abhay Deol pointed it out that during Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, he and Farhan Akhtar were demoted to supporting cast during the award ceremonies whereas Hrithik Roshan was addressed as the lead actor.

Farhan Akhtar responds to Abhay Deol’s claim of being called supporting actor in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

In an Instagram post, he wrote, “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.”

“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.

Farhan Akhtar reacted to the post by stating that external validation doesn’t always satisfy anyone. At the India Today e-Conclave, the actor said, “You are constantly hearing about some rat race and everybody is fighting each other to some kind of spot which does not exist. I mean the fact is you have to believe in yourself, you have to work sincerely, work hard, 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. You’re not here for that. Have you come here to be an actor, director, singer, music composer, or have you come here to be a reality star? Have you come here to be just, I don’t know, a star?” he added.

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara starred Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol, Katrina Kaif, Kalki Koechlin and Naseeruddin Shah. It was directed by Zoya Akhtar.