Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan appears to be in no mood for naysayers. On Wednesday, when an X (formerly Twitter) user accused him of buying awards and using PR to stay in the news, he hit back. This came on the heels of his recent win of a Filmfare award for Best Actor for his performance in I Want to Talk.
Abhishek Bachchan sets the record straight on awards, PR
A journalist posted a picture of Abhishek from Filmfare awards and wrote, “As much as he’s an affable guy, I hate to say that professionally #AbhishekBachchan is the prime example of how buying awards and aggressive PR pushes can keep you relevant… even if you don’t have a single SOLO blockbuster in your career.” He also claimed that it’s ‘hilarious’ that Abhishek won an award for I Want To Talk, a film which ‘no one saw apart from paid reviewers’. He ended the note by claiming that there are ‘far better actors’ who deserve the recognition.
Abhishek replied to the post and stated that he has never bought an award nor has he indulged in PR. “Just to set the record straight. Never has any award been bought or aggressive PR been done by me . Just hard work, blood, sweat and tears. But, doubt you’ll believe anything I say or write,” he wrote, adding, “So…. Best way to shut you up is by working even harder so that you don’t ever doubt any achievement that will happen in the future, again. I will prove you wrong! With all due respect and “affability”.”
When the journo claimed that it was a ‘subjective opinion’ and he hoped to see Abhishek in more mainstream films, the actor replied, “Accusing and alleging that I “buy” awards and do “aggressive PR pushes, to stay relevant” seems pretty personal to me, sir.”
He added, “Not fair to so easily tarnish, and that too incorrectly and frivolously, someone’s hard work for over 25yrs. Expect a great degree of responsibility from an editor and journalist. Which I am sad to note, you haven’t displayed in this case. Thank you for your laudatory writings about my conduct and work on occasion. Will work towards making that a constant for you.”
Fans defend Abhishek Bachchan
“For a lot of folks, box-office collection is the main driver. But people who understand real art know that it is not the only parameter to judge an artist,” wrote one X user coming to Abhishek’s defence. Another commented, “Whoever saw that movie will have not even a pinch of hesitation or concern seeing you win that award.” Several other fans also commented, listing out their favourite performances of his.
This year, Abhishek starred in Be Happy, Housefull 5 and Kaalidhar Laapata on Zee5. He will soon star in Siddharth Anand’s film, King, alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Suhana Khan.
