90’s kids will never forget Bobby Deol! He was the soldier everyone loved! While everyone wished to see more of him and his acting, it seems over the years we have seen much less of him. In an interview with a leading portal, the actor candidly spoke about his lost stardom. Here are some revelations he made.
When he confessed that he was very old school:
Yes, time changes, and so do the industry norms, and Bollywood was no different! With the coming age, Bobby Deol found it hard to keep up with the changing times of the industry and we guess, that’s where he slowly started fading away
“I guess I was too old-fashioned, couldn’t keep up with the quickly changing times. In my time, the 90s, everything was slow. People didn’t talk about themselves all the time. Your work did the talking. It was rare to see or access a star and that made being one very interesting”
When he spoke about how negative stories affected his career:
Bobby got candid about how the negative stories about him never being on the sets on time were largely responsible for how the industry viewed him. He blames these stories for the lasting damage they had.
“There were stories about my unprofessionalism. People thought I am a rich spoilt brat who was happy with life and who didn’t want to work. They thought I am extremely lazy. I don’t know why people thought that. I have never delayed a film in my life. Ask my producers, I was always on time.”
On being starved or work:
Despite having the tag of a ‘star-kid,’ the hero didn’t do well in the film industry. He went on to talk about how he wished the producers knew how open he is to work, not only as a lead but anything which goes well with his personality.
“Producers have this perception that I won’t come on time for their shoot. Why would I do that? I am trying very hard to change that perception now. When I travel, people come to me and tell me to do films and I feel helpless. There’s so much love that’s still there. I don’t want to lose out on that all over again.”
On depression:
Bobby Deol turned to the bottle when there was no work for him. His wife did support him in all the ways possible, but something just didn’t go well with him and his stardom.
“My wife, Tanya, who is the most beautiful person in the whole world, a source of constant support, told me, “What’re you doing? This isn’t going to help. Why are you being so self-destructive?” And I am like, I was looking after myself for so long, kya hua? Did the producers and directors chase me? No. And then there was an awakening. I was like, Fuck this shit. I am not going to sulk in self-pity. Not working makes you ill, sad, depressed. It ages you. I am going to bounce back no matter what.”
When he revealed all is not good between Imtiaz Ali and him:
Did you know Bobby Deol was the first choice to play Shahid’s character in Jab We Met? Well, Imtiaz switched his leads, and Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor became his last choice. It affected Bobby a lot and he was quite vocal about it.
“Days passed. And suddenly I read that Ashtavinayak has signed Imtiaz for Jab We Met and Kareena is doing the film! And she had gotten her then boyfriend, Shahid Kapoor to act opposite her. I was like, wow. Quite an industry. We were also to do Highway together but he again did his own thing. But I have no hard feelings against him. He is a great director and doing so well. We’re still friends. But I always tell him: ‘Imtiaz, I won’t watch any of your films until you make one with me. That’ll be your best film.”
After reading all of his candid confessions, here’s wishing the actor a very Happy Birthday and an incredibly successful 2017!
