BOBBY DEOL
Life on a roller-coaster!

Even his sternest critics aver he’s a vastly improved actor than when we caught our first glimpse of him, in Barsaat. But the ups and downs in his career seem to continue unabated. If, after the mega success of Soldier, his fans thought he was back in the hit league for good, home production, Dillagi came as a huge dampener. Fortunately, the subsequent Badal, though no runaway hit, has had the turnstiles ticking away quite merrily, thank you. Befittingly, then, SCREEN finds Deol the younger in an introspective mood...

He soldiered his way back into the hearts of his fans and into industry reckoning with the thumping success of Soldier. The critics applauded, as did the box-office pundits, for here at last, Bobby Deol seemed to have come to terms with the camera. Gone was much of the gawkiness in his gestures. And at long last, we had another moviecam-savvy hunk. What’s more, Deol the younger even seemed to have set his poor form at the box-office behind him, with the emphatic hit. The “jinx” is history, or so people thought...

But then came Dillagi, the much-awaited home production directed by big brother, Sunny bhaiyya, himself. And Bobby found himself back on square one at the box-office. The film failed to set the turnstiles on fire and the “jinx” was back to haunt the teenagers’ heart throb.

Yet, for Bobby, Dillagi wasn’t to be a losing proposition, entirely. He proved, yet again, he was getting better with each outing as a performer. He may have played a stubborn, spoilt younger brother with grey shades, but he still walked away with the audience’s sympathies in the end. And Bobby’s still stumped for an answer on why the film failed to set the turnstiles clicking.

“Don’t ask me what went wrong with Dillagi,” shrugs Bobby. “So far, all the people I’ve met have had only good things to say about it.

“Becoming number one isn’t on my agenda. My ambitions are rather modest. I want to be like Papa (Dharmendra). He was never number one, yet was always in the top bracket...”

Bhaiyya (Sunny) had worked very hard on it and come up with a fabulous job. And to date, no one’s extracted the kind of performance from me that he has. Dillagi’s still my favourite film by a mile.”

Bobby, like Sunny has the image of the consummate action hero, while Dillagi happened to be a romantic film. Does Bobby reckon their image stood in the way of the film’s success? After all, whenever Bobby’s worked in action-oriented films such as Gupt and Soldier, it’s gone down well with the masses. His romances, on the other hand, have failed to catch their fancy (remember Kareeb, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya or even his debut-effort, Barsaat?).

Bobby weighs the poser awhile before replying. “May be! It’s possible that as action heros our image has become so well-entrenched that people prefer us in those kinds of roles. Personally, I don’t quite relish these romantic films myself, because more often than not, they offer the same, cliched stories and performances. But that’s my personal preference. It doesn’t mean I’m keen on getting typecast as an action hunk. I’m all for trying out new roles. But sadly, very few of our stories are indeed different, or path-breaking. Or if they are, such roles aren’t coming my way. I’m willing to try out new roles, irrespecitve of my image. It’s possible that people have over-rated this image trap. For instance, people felt Aamir Khan would never be appreciated in action-oriented roles. But Aamir persisted with such roles and with Ghulam, he even proved his detractors wrong,” reasons Bobby.

Come to think of it, Bobby too has sprung his fair share of surprises on his detractors. Before Dillagi most people sniggered at his acting prowess. But with his powerful performance in the film, he seems to have stunned them into a shocked silence.

How does it feel, now that praise has begun to come his way as an actor, we ask Bobby. “I always knew I was a reasonably good actor. In fact, whenever people criticised me on my acting, it only helped to strengthen my resolve to prove them wrong. So it’s certainly nice to be appreciated for a change. Emoting well becomes easy if you’re workig with a good director. Fortunately, today I can indeed, claim to be working with all the good directors. But I don’t think you’ve seen the best of me yet, as an actor. I’m sure I can do much more, that I have a long, long way to go,” says Bobby modestly.

In the currently-showing Badal Bobby has a very intense role. Then in Bichchu, he appears again in an action-oriented role. In Kundan Shah’s Hum To Mohabbat Karega he has a light role with loads of emotions. And in Indra Kumar’s Aashiq he is back to playing the lover boy again.
Bobby admits he wants to achieve a lot as an actor. But he isn’t in the least interested in the number games. Becoming number one isn’t on his agenda. “My ambitions are rather modest,” he confesses. “I want to be like Papa (Dharmendra). He was never number one, yet was always in the top bracket,” says Bobby.

A CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION

Bobby Deol is a relaxed man today. Badal, his latest trip to the box-office has had a good start. It may not quite be blockbuster material, yet it’s done encouraging business at the small centres, particularly in North India.

“I always knew I was a reasonably good actor. In fact, whenever people criticised me on my acting, it only helped to strengthen my resolve to prove them wrong.”

“I’m elated by the news that Badal has had a good initial,” says Bobby, when we contact him over phone in Hyderabad, where he is shooting for Indra Kumar’s Aashiq. “It’s come as a big boost to my morale.”
But why hasn’t the film not become a universal hit, we ask him. “See, the film has been liked by the commonman, for whom it was meant. The romantic actioner has been appreciated by those at whom it was targetted. And the film hasn’t been a losing proposition at all. And that is all that matters.”

Once again, Bobby’s performance has come in for a fair bit of praise, a resounding slap in the face for all those soothsayers who wrote him off as an actor, a long time ago.

Says Bobby, “Like I said, I was always confident as an actor, and knew I could deliver the goods if I got the opportunity to work with a director who could tap my potential properly.”

But hasn’t Badal’s success confirmed the fact that the audience now wishes to see Bobby in action-oriented roles. “I think it has,” admits Bobby. “At the same time, I want to give them something new every time. Or I’d face the risk of becoming stale and predictable too soon,” he concludes.

Alok Mathur