Abhay Deol is one of those brilliant actors in the industry who are highly underrated. He didn’t get the success he deserved for a really long time, despite being an amazing actor, beloved by both fans and critics. 

Then what went wrong? Bollywood. 

© Instagram/Abhay Deol

However, he isn’t an outsider. In fact, he is related to one of the most popular families in Bollywood. 

He is the nephew of veteran actor Dharmendra and cousin of Sunny and Bobby. Seems like he has all the important ingredients for the directors to line up at his door with scripts. 

© Instagram/Abhay Deol

But nepotism doesn’t work that way. 

Abhay recently revealed in an interview what the film industry actually values and it’s much more than having ties in Bollywood or even talent. It’s about loyalty.  

He said he has thrived to do different roles but that’s not how it rolls.

© Instagram/Abhay Deol

He said, “Look, at the end of the day, we, as a culture, reward loyalty more than we reward innovation. We are just culturally built like that. So, it doesn’t matter if you’re an insider or an outsider, if you show loyalty you can get very far.”  

This certainly gives the whole nepotism debate a new take, which makes sense.

© Instagram/Abhay Deol

“It’s not that bad, it’s you as an individual if you choose to stay away from the crowd, then it doesn’t matter if you’re from the inside, you will be excluded from the crowd,” he further added. 

He also said that Bollywood is big on forming cliques and choosing one of their own from that clique whether or not they are star kids or have a godfather in the industry.  

“But if you want to be in the crowd, I mean Bollywood is very cliquish, we all know that. So, you can pick a clique and if someone takes a fancy to you and thinks, ‘okay I can do something with this person,’ then it doesn’t matter if you’re from a film family or not, you’ll get taken in,” he said.

© Instagram/Abhay Deol

This explains why genuinely good actors like Abhay Deol have to struggle for roles and get their due in the industry, despite belonging to the film background.  

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