Rajpal Yadav, who recently made headlines after surrendering at Tihar Jail in connection with a 2012 cheque-bounce case and later securing interim bail till March 18 to attend a family wedding, has now broken his silence on multiple fronts. At a press conference in Mumbai on Saturday, he addressed allegations of fraud against him. He also opened up about the support he has received from the film industry — and reacted strongly to a remark made by filmmaker Priyadarshan.
‘This is completely wrong. Priyanji doesn’t know me’
In an earlier interview with MidDay, Priyadarshan had spoken about Rajpal’s situation, saying he had asked the producers of his upcoming film to increase the actor’s remuneration “because of his situation” and that they “want to save him.” He also remarked that Rajpal “made a blunder because of his poor education,” while calling him “a good soul.”Reacting sharply, Rajpal told SCREEN, “This is completely wrong. Priyanji doesn’t know me. I am well educated guy, I have been working since the age of 11 to 55. Even the biggest of stalwarts land in trouble at some point, but that has nothing to do with their education. Had I been poorly educated, I wouldn’t have survived here for 25-30 years.”
‘Any judgments don’t hold value’
Despite his disagreement, the actor maintained respect for the filmmaker. “I respect three directors a lot, Mr. Ram Gopal Varma, David Dhawan, and Priyadarshan. I look up to them. I have done more than 50 films with just the three of them. Poor education doesn’t apply here because there is another intention. I am like Priyanji’s son. Whenever he asks, I would like to give an exam as an actor for a lifetime to him. But Priyanji or anyone from Bollywood doesn’t know the whole story, so any judgments from them don’t hold value,” he added.
