Abhay Deol weighs in on the nepotism debate, says 'talent everywhere deserves a chance to shine in their medium'

Bollywood actor Abhay Deol has agreed that nepotism is prevalent everywhere in our culture. Abhay, who comes from a family of established actors such as Dharmendra and Sunny Deol, said that he chose to walk down a different path and pushed his chances to act in “out of the box” films.

The actor, who was last seen in What are the Odds that released on Netflix, recently penned a long letter describing his feelings about the nepotism debate. He also talked about his uncle Dharmendra being an outsider in the Hindi movie industry who had to make a solid space for himself.

Taking to Instagram, the Dev D actor posted a collage of his picture with an old photo of Dharmendra. “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,” he wrote.

Read the post below

Abhay Deol said that he had worked with his family in only one movie, which was his first film. “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,” he added.

The Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara actor agreed that 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,” Deol added.

He then mentioned that as nepotism was prevalent in every field in the world, it is wrong to target a certain profession and any particular person.“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 counterproductive. We need a cultural evolution.”

He concluded the post by saying that we needed a collective and productive voice to eradicate our society of such evils. Abhay Deol said, “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.”