'Maar kha ke aa raha hun': When Abhay Deol attended award show with bruised eye, revealed being smacked by...

Red carpet events usually showcase stars at their best, but in 2014, Abhay Deol surprised everyone by showing up with a black eye. This happened just before the release of his film One by Two. A video from that day recently made rounds on Reddit, showing Abhay calmly facing the cameras despite the bruised look.

When reporters questioned Abhay about the black eye, he calmly replied that it wasn’t a real injury, but something caused by a music company. He explained that it was his way of showing how badly things had gone with the release of his film’s music.

The actor shared, "Main music company se maar kha ke aa raha hoon. My film is releasing January 31. My music has not yet released because the music company wants me to get the composers Shankar-Ehsaan- Loy to sign a clause which is illegal."

Abhay later shared that the music label involved was T-Series. When asked how things could be sorted out, he made it clear that he wasn’t ready to agree to anything that went against the law. When someone asked if the black eye was real, he explained that it was just a symbol to show how badly the situation had affected him. Not long after, the clip of him at the event started trending online.

Later, Abhay revealed on his social media that the black eye wasn’t real. It was a bold move to highlight the struggles he faced during the promotion of his film. He claimed that T-Series had caused major delays in releasing the film’s music, which badly affected the film's marketing. At the time, only two weeks were left for the release, but the songs still hadn’t been made public. His look at the event was meant to represent how his film had been “beaten up” by the lack of support.

Abhay shared a post on Facebook along with a few photos of himself sporting the black eye. In his caption, he mentioned that the bruise was created with makeup, which had started to wear off over time. However, he added that the issue he was highlighting through it still hadn’t been addressed. He wrote, "So last night I went to the Screen awards sporting a black eye. It was my way of saying visually (and symbolically) that my film's marketing has taken a hit. The make up was faded by the time I took these pictures. But my resolve has not. I got so many messages from the music fraternity thanking me.”

Back in 2019, Abhay Deol posted a throwback photo on Instagram where he had recreated his symbolic black eye. Along with the picture, he wrote a powerful message explaining the reason behind the makeup and the unresolved situation surrounding it.

In his caption, Abhay reflected on the events that led to the controversy and encouraged his followers to question authority instead of blindly accepting what’s passed down by older generations.

He said, "That time when I painted my eye black to bring attention to musicians and producers rights, and showed up on the red carpet of an awards show! For a brief moment I brought the entire music industry together. It felt as though change was in the air, our strength came from our unity. Of course everyone moved on and the status remained the same, with everyone (barring only a handful of musicians) striking their own individual deals. Our tradition dictates that we follow in the footsteps of our elders and never question their motives. I say question everyone and everything. Don’t just accept what is told to you by anyone.”