Shreyas Talpade opens up about being ‘back-stabbed’ by Bollywood friends, says some actors don’t want to work with him

Talking about ‘fragile’ egos in the film industry, actor Shreyas Talpade has said that he has often been ‘back-stabbed’ by people he thought were his friends. Shreyas said, in an interview, that there have been times that certain actors have refused to work with him because they are ‘insecure’.

Shreyas, whose breakout Bollywood film Iqbal was a critical and commercial success, said that by his approximation, only 10% of the people are genuine. Speaking to a leading daily, the actor said that he lacks the skill to market himself, believing that his work should do the talking.

Asked to elaborate, he said, “I found out that there are certain actors who are insecure about sharing screen space with me and don’t want me in a film. I have done certain films for friends only keeping their interests in mind but then I have been back-stabbed by the same friends. Then there are friends who go ahead and make films without including me, which makes one question if they are even friends at all. Actually, in the industry, 90% of the people are just acquaintances, there are only 10% who actually feel happy when you do well. The egos are so fragile here.”

Also read: Shreyas Talpade was told to cancel his wedding because ‘Iqbal couldn’t be married’, had to keep it ‘under wraps’

In a recent interview with Hindustan Times, Shreyas had welcomed the ‘correction’ that took place in the industry because of the pandemic, as he felt that for ‘a long time’, things had been getting ‘pretty one-sided’ and unfair. “So this correction was necessary. From here on we pretty much have an equal playing field all of us. Things are looking bright, amazing and exciting,” he said.