Abhay Deol shared this image. (courtesy abhaydeol)

New Delhi:

Bollywood actor Abhay Deol, who has quite a bit of a reputation for speaking his mind on social media, recently talked about nepotism in his latest Instagram entry. The Dev D actor, on Saturday, shared a collage on Instagram, which featured a picture of himself, juxtaposed with a photograph of his uncle and Bollywood veteran Dharmendra. Abhay Deol, who stepped into Bollywood with Socha Na Tha, produced by Dharmendra’s banner Vijayta Films, wrote in his post, “Nepotism is prevalent everywhere in our culture.” The actor added that he was he was well-aware of existence of nepotism and that it “pushed him to take chances” with newcomers in Bollywood. “I was well aware of it and it pushed me to take chances with new directors and producers throughout my career. That is how I was able to make movies that were considered out of the box. I’m glad some of those artists and films went on to have tremendous success,” read an excerpt from Abhay Deol’s post.

Abhay, whose debut film was backed by his uncle Dharmendra, wrote in his post, “Nepotism is just the tip of the iceberg.” He added that he has only made 1 film with his family and is “grateful” to have that “privilege,” adding, “I’ve only ever made one film with my family, my 1st, and I’m grateful to be blessed and have that privilege. I’ve gone that extra mile in my career to make my own path, something that dad always encouraged. For me he was the inspiration.”

He stated in his post that his uncle Dharmendra (who he lovingly addresses as “dad”) was an outsider, who made it big in Bollywood and that he has always been his source of inspiration. “My uncle, whom I affectionately call dad, was an outsider who made it big in the film industry. I’m glad there is an active debate on the practices behind the scenes,” wrote Abhay Deol.

The DevD star, who has never shied away from drawing attention to topics which are otherwise considered hush-hush by most Bollywood stars, added, “As we have learnt over the past few weeks, there are several ways in which an artist is either uplifted to success, or beaten down to failure. I’m glad more actors are coming out today and speaking of their experiences. I’ve been vocal about mine for years now, but as a lone voice I could only do so much.”

Abhay Deol, who, in one of his previous Instagram posts revealed that he and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara co-star Farhan Akhtar were “demoted” from lead to supporting actor status at award show, signed off the post saying, “It’s easy to smear one artist for speaking out, and I have been at the receiving end from time to time. But as a group, a collective, that becomes difficult. Maybe now is our watershed moment.”

Read Abhay Deol’s post here:

My uncle, whom I affectionately call dad, was an outsider who made it big in the film industry. I’m glad there is an active debate on the practices behind the scenes. Nepotism is just the tip of the iceberg. I’ve only ever made one film with my family, my 1st, and I’m grateful to be blessed and have that privileged. I’ve gone that extra mile in my career to make my own path, something that dad always encouraged. For me he was the inspiration. Nepotism is prevalent everywhere in our culture, be it in politics, business, or film. I was well aware of it and it pushed me to take chances with new directors and producers throughout my career. That is how I was able to make movies that were considered “out of the box.” I’m glad some of those artists and films went on to have tremendous success. While it plays a part in every country, nepotism has taken on another dimension here in India. I suspect caste plays a major role in it being more pronounced here than in other parts of the world. After all, it is “jati” that dictates that a son carry on the work of his father, while the daughter is expected to marry and be a housewife. If we are serious about making changes for the better, then focusing on only one aspect, one industry, while ignoring the many others, will be incomplete and possibly counter productive. We need a cultural evolution. After all, where do our filmmakers, politicians and businessmen come from? They are people just like everyone. They grow up within the same system as everybody else. They are a reflection of their culture. Talent everywhere deserves a chance to shine in his or her medium. As we have learnt over the past few weeks, there are several ways in which an artist is either uplifted to success, or beaten down to failure. I’m glad more actors are coming out today and speaking of their experiences. I’ve been vocal about mine for years now, but as a lone voice I could only do so much. It’s easy to smear one artist for speaking out, and I have been at the receiving end from time to time. But as a group, a collective, that becomes difficult. Maybe now is our watershed moment. #change #equalopportunity #nepotism #caste #jati #nuance #dialogue

A post shared by Abhay Deol (@abhaydeol) on Jul 10, 2020 at 9:34pm PDT

From calling out “woke Indian celebrities,” to questioning their decisions of endorsing fairness products, Abhay Deol has spoken up and out. In terms of work, the actor was last seen in What Are The Odds, which was also produced by him.