Although born in an influential family, Bollywood actor Abhay Deol wasn’t the ‘typical’ Hindi film hero. He always signed those films that were termed unconventional and didn’t go with the idea of a typical mainstream commercial movie. Deol who kick-started his career in Bollywood with Imtiaz Ali’s romantic comedy ‘Socha Na Tha’, says that he doesn’t have any regrets about his career.
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He said in an interview with HuffPost India, “I was too bullish on the success behind me. I deluded myself into thinking that now the big players would put their money on me and experiment.”
“Maybe the very expectation that they’d see things my way was my arrogance. I could have played the game better. And I could have secured myself in a bigger manner.”
“But I did not. And that was my choice. I don’t have any regrets.” Deol saw a breakthrough when he played the role of Dev in Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Dev.D’.
The success of this film made him a household name. However, according to filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, it was painfully difficult to work with him. Elaborating about his experience working with Abhay, Kashyap said:
“I don’t really have great working memories with him and haven’t talked to him much since I finished shooting.”
The director added that while shooting the film, Abhay was confused. “He wanted to do artistic movies but also wanted the mainstream benefits.”
“The benefits and luxuries of being a ‘Deol’. He would stay in a five-star hotel while the entire crew stayed in Paharganj for a film that was made on a very tight budget. Also the reason a lot of his directors went away from him.”
Kashyap further added that the ‘ZNMD’ actor dissed the film and crew a lot. “Right after we finished shooting ‘Dev D’ he escaped to the US because he was dissatisfied with work or perhaps himself. He wasn’t there to promote Dev D. He was gone a long time.”
“It was because of something he was grappling with emotionally and personally and never talked about. He also felt betrayed by me about which he has never spoken to me ever.”
Kashyap, however, also said that he is a ‘brilliant actor’ who ‘deserves more’, reported Hindustan Times. Filmmaker Zoya Akhtar, who also worked with Abhay said that she only has the most pleasant memories of him.
Abhay Deol is my favourite actor because he never fears to experiment in his movies. I loved his impactful performance in the movie ‘Manorama Six Feet Under’ and the comedy-drama ‘Chopsticks’.