Anurag Kashyap and Abhay Deol collaborated for the 2009 film Dev.D, which was the modern-day take on the famous Bengali novel Devdas. The actor and the filmmaker haven't worked together as Kashyap claimed that it was 'painfully difficult' to work with Deol in an interview with HuffPost India in 2020.
"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", the director talked about the actor in his interview three years back. Later, Anurag apologised to Deol.
In a recent interview, Abhay Deol rejected these claims made by the filmmaker as he told Mid-Day, "Anurag went in public and told a lot of lies about me. One lie was that I demanded a (five-star) hotel room during the shoot of Dev D. He had actually come up to me and said, ‘Listen you can’t stay with us, you are a Deol. So, I want to put you up in a hotel room.’ He literally told me that. What he told the press was that I demanded it. He is definitely a liar and a toxic person. And I would warn people about him."
Now, Kashyap has said that he is 'ready to apologise again' to Abhay as he told Mid-Day, "It is okay if that is how he feels. Everyone has his own version of the truth. Maybe he felt attacked about what I had spoken about him earlier. I have personally apologised to him for hurting his feelings. What I said was what he was (like) in the past."
Appreciating Abhay's act in his recent web series Trial By Fire, which is based on the 1997 Uphaar cinema tragedy, the director added, "We all evolve with time. He has done a great job in (Trial by Fire). I think it is time to celebrate his strong performance rather than playing ping-pong of who said what."
Also starring Rajshri Deshpande, the Netflix series Trail By Fire has received tremendous reviews from critics and is already being hailed among the best streaming shows in India. On the other hand, Kashyap's next film is a musical romantic drama Almost Pyaar With DJ Mohabbat starring Alaya F and debutant Karan Mehta and will release in theaters on February 3.
READ | Trial by Fire review: Rajshri Deshpande, Abhay Deol show is riveting, heartbreaking masterclass in how to depict tragedy
