Bobby Deol

Keeeping a good man down for ever
Looking back on your career, what’s the first emotion that comes to mind?
(Ponders) A feeling of restlessness, I guess. Sometimes when I look back, I feel I’ve done so little, that there’s so much left to achieve. And at others, I get upset when I think of my films that haven’t done well, though I’ve had just four of those!
On second thoughts, it could have been better, but it could have been a great deal worse. I guess I have a lot of mixed emotions about my career right now.

Everyone enters a competitive field with a certain goal in mind. Some for financial reasons, some because of ambition. What did you set out with?

I came into films to be ‘there’ for my family, to support them. My father had a dream that I should be great in whatever I do. Since I chose films as a career, I wanted to be the best be a part of the best films. Of course I have ended with some wrong scripts (Laughs). I want to be a big name and yes, money is important. But my main intention was to make my father proud.

Bobby Deol is five years and eight films old in the film industry. His star son status and upbringing in filmdom may have guaranteed a red carpet welcome in the movies, but the journey hasn’t been exactly smooth. Despite the initial hype and his careful selection of films, there was a lull in his career. But as they say, it’s hard to keep a good man down for too long. The undying sincerity and earnestness, coupled with a cooperative nature that formed the backbone of his father’s three-decade career, has more than percolated into Bobby’s person. With Guddu Dhanoa’s Bichchoo ready for release and Abbas-Mustan’s Ajnabee on the verge of completion, 2000 may yet be Bobby Deol’s year. Excerpts from a chat with Deol Jr...

And to what extent have you fulfilled that ambition?
I haven’t, yet. I’m just five years and eight films old. Like I said, there’s a lot left to achieve.

Your debut was surrounded by a great deal of hype, but your career’s hardly gone the way it ought to have. What do you think went wrong?
I don’t know. Perhaps my choice of movies was to blame. They say luck also plays an important role in the success or failure of a star. I guess I was lucky to be born in the family I did, and get the advantages of being a star son but I don’t think luck favoured me too much in my profession. I guess you can’t have everything! Also, as you said, the media hyped me up a lot and the expectations were too high. I guess it was a combination of all these factors!

A look at your career shows you’re stuck with the same filmmakers your brother’s comfortable with, like Guddu Dhanoa or Raj Kanwar. Doesn’t that stifle you?
I don’t agree with your observation at all. I agree that I have worked a lot with Guddu Dhanoa and Raj Kanwar but there have been Abbas-Mustan, Vinod Chopra, Kundan Shah and now Indra Kumar. My brother hasn’t worked with any of these filmmakers. Besides, it’s not a planned strategy to work with any one set of filmmakers. Since Guddu knows me through my brother, it was a foregone conclusion that he would work with me.

Don’t you miss working with the biggies like a Yash Chopra, Subhash Ghai or even Aditya Chopra and Sooraj Barjatya? Why do you think they haven’t approached you?
Of course I miss working with them and I really don’t know why they haven’t approached me. I believe that a filmmaker approaches you when he has something suitable for you and needs you. You can’t force him to take you.

But if you knew there was a good role going, would you approach a filmmaker for it?
I don’t know. Coming from the family I do, I guess it would be very awkward and difficult for me to do that.

You say you wanted to be a hero since childhood. Do you remember the exact moment when you made the decision?
I really can’t remember. I think it was an understood thing. It was a family business, so to speak. My father loved the profession and gave it his all. And just as all fathers like their sons to continue in the same profession, my father too dreamt that I would be an actor. My ambition somewhere stemmed from that.

But coming from a film family and being pampered the way you have been, was it difficult adjusting to the rigours of being an actor?
Not really. After being in a film family and seeing my father and brother working for so many years, I knew exactly what a film career demanded. It wasn’t just the glamorous side I was exposed to. My brother went to so many remote places for shooting like Ladakh, where there was no electricity. I was aware of the hardships — both physical and emotional — that came with a film career. When I went for Kareeb to Rivalser in Himachal Pradesh, we were all put up in a guesthouse that had minimal facilities. But it was fun because the spirit of the unit helps you cope with all the stress...

Your films in the recent past, like Badal and the ones in future, like Bichchoo, portray you as an action hero. This is in contrast to the image of a romantic that you began with. Has the switch been deliberate?
(Irked) Firstly, why does everyone speak of action films as if it’s a comedown? I think a film has different genres and somehow in our country people associate certain stars with a certain image. Most of my romantic films did not do well because of bad scripts and so I’m doing certain other kinds of movies. That’s all there is to it, there is no strategy behind all this.

If you had to choose a career today for yourself, after all that you have gone through, would it still be films?
Definitely. Even if I wasn’t a star son and had to choose a career, it would still be films (laughs).

Shah Rukh is known for his energy, Aamir for his precision and Salman Khan for his sex-appeal. What would you say is Bobby Deol’s trademark?
(Uncomfortable) I don’t know. I can’t analyze myself, it’s awkward. You have to ask the audience that. Next question (laughs).
How does your father react to your movies? Is he a doting father who can see nothing wrong or a critic who tells you what’s wrong?
He tells me whenever he sees something I need to change. He loved me in Soldier and I felt really great because I had done him proud.

Creatively, one never stops growing but every actor sets a goal for him to wade through an ambitious profession. What is your goal?
My goal has been to have a career like my father’s, balanced and long. Of course, at the risk of sounding fatalistic, I must say that one never knows what is in store for us, tomorrow. Especially in a career like films where every Friday there’s a new star and a new hero.

Talking about new stars, what do you feel when you see a Hrithik Roshan or an Abhishek Bachchan? Since they are star children like you and are probably going through the same emotions that you did when you were launched, do you feel indulgent? Or do you look upon them as competition?
How many films can one actor do anyway? You definitely need more people around. I have been here for five years and have done only eight films. There’s a lot more to do. Of course when I see Abhishek or Hrithik, I can imagine what they must be going through, their anxieties and their nervousness. It’s the name of the game. Hype, expectations and then the pressure to live up to those expectations.

A film star’s career is full of ups and downs and the people most affected by these jolts are often the nearest ones. How does Tanya, your wife, react to these ups and downs?
(Smiles) She gives me a lot of strength when I’m low. She’s the best thing to have happened to me. At times even she feels low when my films don’t do well, and those are the moments when I give her solace. I think it’s a great relationship because we are each other’s strengths and not weaknesses.

Niranjan Iyengar

THE SPIRIT OF DHARAM
RANI MUKERJI--ADEPT AT PLAYING LOVE
BICHHOO-- LOVE SOOTHES, LOVE CAN ALSO STING
BOBBY DEOL--Life on a roller-coaster!
SUNNY DEOL & BOBY DEOL No place to hide!
BADAL -- He’s out to wipe out every dark cloud