Abhay Deol calls Anurag Kashyap 'gaslighter' after Dev.D director's 'painfully difficult' remark against actor

Abhay Deol is known for voicing his distinctive and varied opinions about his experience in the Hindi film industry. The actor made his debut in 2005 with Socha Na Tha and has chosen atypical roles in films throughout his journey of seventeen years in Bollywood. One of his most acclaimed performances came in Anurag Kashyap's Dev.D in 2009.

Now, in a recent interview with Bollywood Hungama, when the actor was asked to describe Anurag Kashyap with a single word in a rapid-fire round, he called him 'gaslighter'. Gaslighting refers to manipulating the other person by presenting a false narrative that can make the other person question their sanity, perception of reality, or memories.

This comes after the director had claimed that it was 'painfully difficult' to work with the actor in an interview with HuffPost India in 2020. In that interview, Anurag had said, "It was painfully difficult to work with him. I don’t really have great working memories with him. And haven’t talked to him much since I finished shooting. He wanted to do artistic movies 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, the reason a lot of his directors went away from him", added the acclaimed filmmaker known for making movies like Gangs of Wasseypur, Black Friday, Gulaal, and of course Dev.D.

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Talking about their collaboration in 2009, Dev.D was the modern-day take on the famous Bengali novel Devdas which has been adapted into several films in Bollywood including Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, and Madhuri Dixit starrer Devdas. The 2009 film featured Mahie Gill and Kalki Koechlin in the roles of Paro and Chandramukhi respectively.

Meanwhile, Abhay Deol will be seen next in Jungle Cry, a sporting drama based on the inspiring true story of twelve tribal boys from Odisha who ended up winning the U-14 Rugby World Cup in 2007. The actor plays their coach Rudra in the film that will begin streaming on Lionsgate Play from June 3.