New Delhi: Unlike his other family members, Abhay Deol has always tread the unknown path. From the kind of films he chooses to be a part of to the causes he stands by, this Deol is definitely hatke. So when he took upon 'music giant' T-Series on an issue of royalty and spoke up for singers and musicians in the film industry, not too many were surprised and were in fact relieved that someone was speaking up against the unfair practice.
"I didn't want to fight. I let Shankar Ehsaan Loy and T Series handle the issue on their own initially. But it was 14 January (The day the actor sent a legal notice to T-Series) and my film releases on the 31 January and they had not released the music of the film and that's when I realized that enough is enough," said Abhay Deol in an interview with IBNLive.com.
The actor sported a black eye on the red carpet of Screen Awards to mark his protest towards the music label who had not promoted his new film 'One By Two' and neither had they released the music. Wasn't it a bit dramatic? "Yes, it was," agrees Abhay and said, " But that worked. People came and supported me. I was in fact overwhelmed by their response. They made an extra effort promote my film."
Abhay's film, 'One By Two' directed by Devika Bhagat is Deol first production. The film features him and his real life girlfriend Preeti Desai in the lead and is a situational comedy based in Mumbai. But more than the film, Abhay's battle with T-Series has become a talking point in the industry with most musicians coming forward to support the actor and his film.
So does Abhay feel that a star was needed to give an impetus to the struggle that the musicians have been fighting for? " I am not star!" says the modest actor. " But yes, I guess I was able to give the cause a push. Other people need to come on board for this. I think music companies and musicians need to sit across each other and come to consensus on the issue. A film is a team effort, if you take away songs, the item numbers, no matter who the star is, the film is not going to work. A star alone does not make a film hit, a film runs because of the team effort."
The first time producer also seem to want to speak out for the technicians who work on the sets of a film. " We keep throwing numbers (referring to Rs 100 crore club ) but the technicians,the spot boys they don't benefit much from the films. If a film works, it should benefit everyone involved with the film, not just the actors."
Deol, who has been associated with Indies and crossover films mostly in his career is open to producing all kinds of films. " As a producer am flexible. I am ok to take up a 'Chennai Express as well as a 'Dev D'. I don't think I can act in a film like 'Chennai Express' but as a producer I am happy to take up formula films," said Deol.
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