Muzammil Ibrahim says he deserved best debut award over Ranbir Kapoor in Saawariya: ‘Even Shah Rukh Khan said so’

Muzammil Ibrahim shared that he was not even invited to attend the award ceremony where he was nominated for his work in Dhokha.

Muzammil Ibrahim made his acting debut with Dhokha in 2007, the same year when Ranbir Kapoor debuted with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya. Ranbir went on to win all the best debut awards that year, which Muzammil says was totally undeserving. In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, Muzammil shared how award shows are all scripted and he felt really bad when he won nothing even after giving a brilliant performance. (Also read: Pooja Bhatt was ‘abusive’ on the set of Dhokha, Muzammil Ibrahim says he was mistreated: ‘I used to have nightmares’)

What Muzammil said

Ranbir Kapoor did not deserve debut award for Sawaariya, claims Muzammil Ibrahim.

During the interaction, Muzammil said, “I think Ranbir had debuted that year with Saawariya, and Neil Nitin Mukesh had come with Johnny Gaddar. Nana Patekar said that I deserved all the awards, but would not get because Ranbir would win. Even I thought I deserved an award for Dhokha, I 100% deserved the best debut award. I feel I was better than Ranbir in Saawariya. I love Ranbir as an actor now, but if you compare him in Saawariya and me in Dhokha, I was better. Irrfan Khan had told Mahesh Bhatt that very few could have pulled off that part in Dhokha.”

Award shows are pre-decided

Muzammil admitted that he was not even invited to the award shows where he was nominated alongside Neil Nitin Mukesh and Ranbir Kapoor. He added, “I felt that awards shows were supposed to be like a ballot, like we see in Oscars. But here everyone knows who is winning! Only Ranbir is sitting there, so he will win. It is pre-decided. I felt so bad when Shah Rukh Khan sir called my name and even said that he thought that I deserved the award more on stage. As outsiders, we cannot even complain about these. We are not even invited, how will you feel? I felt like crying, I felt so bad. I had so many expectations. I had suffered a lot while shooting the film, and still gave a brilliant performance. I am a big champion of outside talent, the struggle we go through is immense. The industry should learn not to put down outsiders.”