Farhan on Abhay’s claim of being demoted in ZNMD

After Abhay Deol expressed his disgruntlement with the fact that he and Farhan Akhtar were demoted to ‘supporting actors’ in ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ by awards shows, Farhan said that such validation did not matter to him. Earlier, Abhay had said that Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif were considered to be the ‘actors in a leading role’, while he and Farhan were snubbed.

Farhan said that he was not in the film industry to be featured on magazine covers or be treated like a ‘reality star’.

“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,” he said.

“If that is your larger interest, I really feel that you are in the wrong profession. You are 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 a star?” he added.

Farhan said that seeking external validation might lead to momentary satisfaction but would only cause disappointment eventually.

Earlier this month, Abhay called out awards shows as well as Bollywood for ‘lobby(ing) against’ certain people. In an ‘Instagram’ post, he wrote, “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.”

Abhay had earlier made remarks on awards shows and lobbying in Bollywood