Relaxed, candid and witty, Abhay Deol is everything you’d want an interviewee to be. He doesn’t mince words, doesn’t pause for too long to think of adequately diplomatic things to say and laughs a lot. In a breezy, freewheeling conversation, he talks about doing good cinema, being surrounded by insecurity, not wanting to work by extremes and more.
COMEBACK CONUNDRUM
The word ‘comeback’ is a decidedly loaded term in Bollywood. It has several associations and a fair bit of subtext attached to its implications. Deol agrees with a grin. Ask him how comfortable he is with applying the term to his upcoming release, Happy Bhaag Jayegi and he muses, “Well, because it’s been two and a half years — the longest gap I’ve had in my work — I suppose you could call it that. It’s understandable for someone to say to me, ‘wow, it’s been a while, welcome back.’ That’s more how my mind works. I’m essentially selective about the work I do, and so am bound to take more time than most people will. But really, I don’t mind the analogy. I could think all sorts of things, of course — oh my God the pressure, or instead, wow they miss me! I tend to go with the latter.”
He pauses for a moment and then adds with a hearty guffaw, “At least they’re not saying, ‘why have you come back?!’”
STEPPING AWAY
This isn’t the first time the actor has taken a bit of a break from acting. Immediately after the release of Dev D, Deol had taken off to the US and signed up for a course in welding and metal work at the Arts Students League of New York. At the time, he had stated that it was important for him to step away from Bollywood and acting for a while. Now, after a second bout of some time off, he admits that the industry does have a way of sometimes overwhelming those who are a part of it. “See, everybody obviously works hard. It’s a competitive place, so there’s no other way to go about things. It’s not the amount of work but the nature of the business that can be overwhelming, as compared to any other profession. The Indian film industry is a far more insecure place where there are no guarantees, no secure salary and where sometimes a Friday can basically dictate your fate. These things can make it difficult and eventually begin to dictate how people respond to things — and people respond in various ways. Being a place where insecurity is high, people do act out of insecurity and that can get to you after a while. Especially if you’re a secure person yourself,” he shares.
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
Beginning with his first film itself — Imtiaz Ali’s Socha Na Tha — the actor has been known for taking up projects that tread unchartered territory. “I’ve always called it ‘middle of the road’ cinema. From Socha Na Tha to Dev D and even Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, the movies I’ve done are neither sell-out formula nor so indulgently articulate that they cannot be understood. I don’t like to be in either extreme,” he says and adds, “I’ve always made the effort to do work that has all the qualities a film requires to be entertaining, but not in a way that insults the audience’s intelligence. I never ever want people to leave their brains behind when they come to watch my film.”
