Taking a dig at the numerous Bollywood awards, actor Abhay Deol said Saturday that most awards are either rigged or actors attend them because they are paid for their presence.

"Talk to any actor off record and he will tell you, you either go because you are winning an award or you go because you are getting paid. Otherwise, you don't go," Abhay said during an interactive session at the 43rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here.

"In that case, pay me and I'll perform. If you tell me you are awarding talent, then no. It is just an exercise in appeasing those you have worked with or appeasing those you want to work with," he said candidly.

He recalled an instance from 2009 when his movie "Dev D", a radical take on the iconic "Devdas" film, rocked the theatres, and despite an electrifying and a well-appreciated performance, Abhay was not nominated for any awards.

"I was promoting 'Road, Movie' at the time the Filmfare Awards were happening, and no one wanted to talk to me about 'Road...'. The entire press wanted to know why I wasn't selected for an award. And I said, 'It was a family fare. If you are part of the family, then you will get it.' And I stick by that," Abhay said.

"The validation that I might be doing something right is the fact that I didn't get the award," he joked.