On Saturday, Bollywood actor Abhay Deol said that Film Director Anurag Kashyap is a liar and a toxic person who spread lies about him in the media. The duo had worked together in the 2009 hit film ‘Dev D’.
The actor who has been promoting his web series ‘Trial By Fire,’ said in an interview with Mid-Day that Anurag Kashyap told many lies about him to the media, one of which was that the actor had demanded a room in a 5-star hotel during the shooting of the film Dev D. Deol added that it was Kashyap who asked him not stay with the film’s unit since he is a ‘Deol’.
“Anurag went in public and told a lot of lies about me. One lie was that I demanded a five-star hotel room during the shoot of Dev D. He had actually come up to me and said, ‘Listen you can’t stay with us, you are a Deol. So, I want to put you up in a hotel room.’ He literally told me that. What he told the media was that I demanded it,” Deol said.
Notably, Anurag Kashyap in a 2020 interview with Huffpost had claimed that Abhay Deol wanted to do artistic films but also wanted to enjoy mainstream benefits, specifically the benefit of being a ‘Deol’.
“Abhay wanted to do artistic films 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, a reason why many of his directors went away from him,” Kashyap had said.
Abhay Deol further said, ”I had my heart on my sleeve, and all that is great — but you get taken advantage of, and then you get reactive. So, he (Kashyap) was a good lesson. Because I don’t need toxic people in my life, I simply avoided him after that. Life is too short, and there is still so much to explore. But Kashyap is definitely a liar and a toxic person. I would also warn others about him.
Notably, Anurag Kashyap has been more in news for his controversial statements rather than his films. The director recently claimed that PM Modi’s advice to BJP leaders to avoid making controversial comments about Bollywood movies will have no impact as the ‘mob’ has gone out of control now.
“It would have mattered if he had said this four years ago. Now, I don’t believe it will make a difference. It was about controlling their own people. Things have gone out of hand now. At the trailer launch event for his upcoming film “Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat,” Kashyap said, “I don’t think anybody will listen to anyone.”
Kashyap who has also been the subject of multiple tax evasion and sexual harassment investigations went on to address the audience as a ‘mob’ saying that it went out of control. “When you stay silent, you empower prejudice and you empower hatred. It has now got so much empowered that it is a power in itself. The mob is out of control now,” Kashyap asserted.
Reacting to this, The Kashmir Files director Vivek Agnihotri questioned if the audiences for Anurag Kashyap have become ‘mob’.
“Audience is ‘mob’ now? Wow! Wow! Wow!,” Agnihotri tweeted.
Audience is ‘mob’ now?
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) January 20, 2023
Wow! Wow! Wow! pic.twitter.com/M1MF3FjegC
It is notable that Anurag Kashyap had last year remarked that he hopes The Kashmir Files, a film about the ethnic cleansing of Hindus from the Kashmir valley by Islamists, should not be nominated for the Oscars.
During the interview, the controversial filmmaker had said, “India might actually have a nomination in the final five if RRR is the film that we pick. I don’t know what film anybody is going to pick. I hope not Kashmir Files.”
