Abhay Deol addresses the north v/s south films debate, calls Anurag Kashyap, a ‘gaslighter’

The language debate that has sparked several controversies saw the recent participation from the actor Abhay Deol. The Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara actor claimed that Bollywood movies are a "part" of Indian cinema, just as Bengali, Tamil, or any other language is.

In an interview with Bollywood Hungama, the actor spoke about the the north v/s south cinema debate. According to indianexpress.com, he said that all films industries have always been co-existing. “The South Indian film industry has always existed and have always had their audience. It’s just that if you’re from the North, and watching news related to that—you’re just not watching news related to outside it. You’re ignorant of that existence, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist,” he said, adding similarly, if someone from the south might not watch Hindi cinema and could be ignorant of the Hindi stars. And that Bollywood could be considered ‘regional’ as it appeals to Hindi belt.

Abhay has earlier worked in the Tamil film, Hero. He played the role of a villain in the film, which stars Sivakarthikeyan, Arjun Sarja, Ivana and Kalyani Priyadarshan.

The actor also expresses his disliking towards the filmmaker Anurag Kashyap. He has collaborated with him in the film Dev D, which was a turning point in his career. During the rapid fire round, he described Anurag Kashyap, as a "gaslighter".

Anurag had also spoke about Abhay in an interview with The Huffington Post. He had said the actor was "painfully difficult to work with". He also stated that he does not have fond memories of Abhay and has not spoken with him much since the completion of their film.

Anurag further stated that the actor was looking to explore art films but also wanted benefits of a commercial movie. "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,” he had said.

Abhay Deol was last seen in the international co-production, Jungle Cry. The sports drama film will be available to stream on Lionsgate Play from June 3.