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Beyond the shadow of Big Brother
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Bobby Deol may not have been able to win over the purists with his acting but that in no way detracts from his personal charm. ZIYA US SALAM has a freewheeling conversation with the man trying to keep cool outside even as he keeps the f ire burning in the week of the release of "Shaheed", his most challenging film to date... .
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DEVGAN OVER DEOL: Bobby Deol attempts to carve out a niche of his own with "Shaheed" even as Ajay Devgan's "The Legend of Bhagat Singh" threatens to play the spoilsport.
DARK BROWN hair, dreamy eyes, loose-limbed, easy mannerism, fetching smile and an air of unaffected candour. At his best he presents a Sunday afternoon persona about him. "Oh! I am so chilled out. I feel like just hitting the sack," he says without a hint of a stifled yawn. He has just finished a Press conference where for the large part he maintained a dignified silence. And a couple of interviews where, he whispers, "they - the media personnel - ask the same questions". Yet he has a smile on his face and in a clearly overloaded lift - more hangers-on than Press people - offers to step out! Little wonder then that a colleague coos: "He is so hot! Oh! So cool! He is actually so handsome! I cannot believe it." Don't invest these words with anything more than a fleeting fancy for they come from a young woman just lingering over the dew-fresh years of youth and passing through that age when it is easier to experience and express the joys of life, more difficult to appraise and analyse. But this is what Bobby Deol does to people. Not just young women.
And to think he is still growing, still finding his feet, still trying to keep a head over his shoulders! Very much the baby of the Deol brigade, he claims he is now, finally, coming into his own. As a person. "With the birth of my son in June last year I realised what it takes to be a father. When he fell ill with jaundice, I cried and called my brother over the phone to the hospital. It was then that I realised the pain and anguish I must have caused my parents and my brother through my early years." His almost casual demeanour can lull you into complacence and make you just stray from the hard-hitting queries you may have just stacked up in your mind. No great actor and a better dancer only if the comparison is with Big Brother Sunny Deol known throughout his career for nurturing two left feet with the care becoming a pedicure professional. In the near future he is unlikely to queue up at the National Awards function - ask the cinegoers who have found a consistency in his performances which gives no signs of any latent versatility. Be it a romantic guy or an action hero he has played them all with the same placidity. Yet, it is difficult not to like him. Almost rude not to reciprocate his infectious smiles. He, after all, manages to smile at himself and the world even in the face of the sternest test of his budding career. He has just essayed the most challenging role of his life which has seen easier days and may just survive even a debacle at the box office. Welcome then to the world of Bobby Deol, now poised to emerge as a man in his own right after `Shaheed", yet reluctant to step beyond the soothing shadow of Sunny. And quite clearly in awe of Dharmendra. For him, what Dad says cannot be wrong. And what brother says is more likely to be correct. Yet he himself is not wrong. That is if he believes that people will probably look at him from another perspective post-"Shaheed". That he has done his best and that the audience will hopefully accept him as a freedom fighter.
"I am not much of a reader. The few books I have read have been thrillers. I do not even know the name of Bhagat Singh's village but then that is not important for enacting a character. You must understand the spirit that made him so great. However, as a child I used to hear the older people at home talk of him. The writers around tell you about the great personality. That gives you an idea. But, I believe, the main reason to make a film is to entertain. That is why there are songs in "Shaheed". At the same time, such a popular approach creates awareness about the character. The mannerism and the details may not be the same but my character over all is what Bhagat Singh the freedom fighter was."
Though a self-confessed "not much of a reader", Bobby Deol read the letters Bhagat Singh wrote to his parents from his prison. And tells you energetically, that "Bhagat Singh was influenced by the Russian Revolution". Though the film has been shot on the sets, Bobby Deol tells you that it is unlikely to detract from its message and confesses: "We did not have the time to go to Lahore or even to locations in Punjab for shooting. But we are not courting a controversy. We need people to understand what Bhagat Singh stood for. After all, it is a film about loving your motherland."
"It is definitely the most important character I have done in my film career. I have worked hard at it. No matter what its fate at the box office, I would still be proud of it. This film has changed me as a person. It has made me more sensitive, more positive towards life. After doing this role, I have realised that people who give up are the losers. I have learnt never to give up."
Well, learning from experience Bobby Deol surely is. He has just burnt his fingers with "Kranti", his only release this year before "Shaheed" hit the theatres this past week. "Don't even talk of that film. It was a big mistake to do that film. But sometimes, I do films for emotions. I want to forget `Kranti' and move on."
And moving on to doing films with Abbas-Mustan and Davi Dhawan. "I am comfortable with Abbas-Mustan. I am doing `Humraaz' with them where I play a tycoon. Then I am doing a film with David Dhawan. Working with him in `Chor Machaye Shor' has been an exhilarating experience. David is a great director and expects that you are good at what you do."
As we prepare to bid him adieu, he asks: "Paani shani lo ji. Kuch chai, shai." The famous Punjabi hospitality comes to the fore. The actor has taken leave. The professional has gone on a vacation. It is the man himself. No pancakes. No retakes. Just the original.
Photo: Anu Pushkarna.
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