Diljit Dosanjh on Harshvardhan Kapoor’s 'why is he a debutant’ barb
Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; January 26, 2017)

Last week, Harshvardhan Kapoor stirred up controversy by questioning Udta Punjab actor Diljit Dosanjh’s win in the Best Debutant (Male) category at a popular film awards show. “I think a debutant award is meant for someone working on his first film. It shouldn’t go to an actor who has worked in several films in another industry or language,” Harsh, who debuted in Rakeysh Ompraksh Mehra’s Mirzya, had told hitlist.

But Diljit, on his part, remains unfazed. “I wasn’t affected by what Harshvardhan said. In fact, I am a huge fan of Anil Kapoor sir. I have no issues with him [Harshvardhan]. Being Anil Kapoor’s son makes him a star son and not a star, right? “He will also become a big star some day. I have no hard feelings towards him,” he says.

Having said that, the Punjabi singer-actor then goes on to counter Harsh’s argument. “As far as my knowledge goes, Dhanush sir, who has worked in so many films down South, also won a debutant award (Raanjhanaa, 2013) and Fawad Khan, who has done TV and films in Pakistan, also received the same honour (Khoobsurat, 2014) . So, I was surely not nominated in the wrong category, but I did not expect to win.”