BOBBY DEOL
I Want To Be A Hero

His debut movie was delayed. But Bobby Deol whose Barsaat failed to rain green bucks, encashed from Gupt and Soldier. Flops like Aur Pyar Ho Gaya, Kareeb and Dillagi pulled him by a few steps. but Badal helped him regain some ground as the Deol got a good hit. His next film Bichhoo with Guddu Dhanoa opposite Rani Mukherjee was an also ran. But now Bobby has Ajnabi coming up for release soon. Obviously, Bobby is happy. He has managed to be known as himself despite having two successful people like papa Dharmendra and bade bhaiya Sunny Deol. Now the younger Deol wants to go further…

Did you always want to be an actor?
I still remember when I was in the third standard, the teacher had asked us what would we like to be when we grew up. While the other kids had ambitions of being astronauts, doctors, engineers, I had replied that I wanted to be a "hero." In the entire class, I was the only one who had ambitions of joining tinsel town. The reason was that I wanted to follow my dad's footsteps, my dad has been my role model for me. Also when I accompanied dad on his shoots, I saw that the people who met dad just adored him; I wanted to earn the same of amount of love from people.

Was it easy being an actor?
After I joined the industry, I have realised that the life of an actor is not easy one. There is tremendous amount of hard work and heartache. I am not complaining, in fact I am enjoying every moment of it. But life is hectic. But whoever said that the life of an actor was an easy one could not have been more wrong. But I don't think I would exchange this profession for anything else. The love of my fans gives me a high!

You are doing Ajnabi. How are Abbas and Mustan to work with. You have done Soldier with them before?
Abbasbhai and Mustanbhai are two of my favourite directors, they are the nicest people I have met. They treat me like their own and I love that. Since I am late on the sets today, I am feeling guilty, as everyone else from Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor are all there. I hate to be late and have people waiting for me. Anyway, there are no bad vibes, and things are cool. I try to get a hang of things but I am too tired. Generally in between shots we sit together and chill out but today there is no time for all that. I have too many people dropping in to meet me, there are producers wanting me to do their films. The problem with me is that I don't know how to say no, but I don't want to do films that I am not sure about.

You hurt your shoulder recently?
I am very prone to injuries. I have hurt my leg before. I have a plate inside it. It will remain for life. I have also hurt my shoulder and my shoulder is hurting and I have to take painkillers. Without them I cannot function. But I guess it is all a part of life.

You had a fight with a politician recently…
Yes. Manohar Verma who is the brother of politician Narendra Verma and producer cum fightmaster Pappu Verma has conned me. He asked me to say that 'students should vote in colleges' in front of the camera, and he assured me that it was only being used for educational purposes and it would be used locally. The next thing I know is that it is being aired on cable channels as my endorsements for Narendra Verma's political campaign.
Had I known that it was going to be used for political purposes I would have never done it. I have no knowledge about politics; I did it in good faith and look what it got me.

What does your wife do when you run away to your shoots?
Thankfully my wife Tanya accompanies me. So there is no boredom for her. The same goes for me. Since I have my wife by my side, I am not bored when at work during an outdoor shoot. These days, Tanya and I are hooked on computer games and have a great time.

Do you think of Hrithik Roshan's success and wake up all scared in the middle of the night?
Hrithik and I will be offered roles, which are similar to each other. We may even replace each other in some films. I am quite aware of this and that we also have strings attached to our names. But I am not competing on any level with anyone. I am just here to do my job.

Surely not insecure?
Why shouldn't I be? Everyone be it an actor or whatever goes through his share of insecurities in life. So every actor is insecure to a certain extent, because his fate depends on box-office collections. I have gone through a period of depression when I have had huge failures. But now, I also have had my share of success and I am getting down to relishing it to the core.

Everyone is interested in knowing what Bobby Deol feels was responsible for the failure of your brother's directorial venture Dillagi?
Let me be very honest with you. I do not think that I can answer your question. I am a mere actor. Hits and flops are not what an actor gives. He only gives a performance. In Dillagi, people said that the story wasn't good enough and that that obviously couldn't carry the film through even though the performances were good. There was another set of comments that people didn't want to see bhaiyya and me in non-action roles.

What happens when you are swarmed with fans?
I feel very uncomfortable when too many people crowd around me. Believe me, I am an introvert. I do not mix easily, and I am very coy. I admit that I am easy going, and I do not believe in ignoring my fans or being impolite to them at all. Not many actors understand this, but a star is what he is just because his fans love him. I am Bobby Deol, the star because my fans have made me so. They feel I am worth all the adulation that they are showering upon me. So I will do everything for them.