The Deol who turned 41 on Wednesday, has started a new film and one day would wish to make a movie based on one of his ideas
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 16, 2017)

Abhay Deol turned 41 on Wednesday with a working birthday. He spent the day shooting. “On my last birthday I finished the shoot of Happy Bhaag Jayegi. This birthday I’m starting a new movie. I couldn’t have asked for better birthday gifts, two years in a row,” smiles the actor who was hoping to wrap up by 8 pm as his friends had something planned. “I told them I could only tell them at 4 pm if I’d show up at my own party. I don’t want to rush things because it’s my birthday.”

He’s unwilling to divulge too many details about the film which is a crime-drama set in Delhi. “It has an interesting cast but we want to announce it at the right time. We started the shoot in Mumbai, after which we’d move to Delhi. Once I’m done with this film, I start shooting my next in July,” informs Abhay.

A sequel to his last release, Happy Bhag Jayegi, has been announced but the actor says it’s unlikely that he will be part of it. “It’ll probably be about Happy running away again and finding some dude in another country. I was the champu in Part One, they will find another champu for Part Two,” he laughs.

Mirror had earlier reported (November 23, 2016) that Abhay is foraying into distribution with shorts films, having already acquired three films, Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s Venice Film Festival and National Award-winning Labour Of Love, Payal Sethi’s Leeches, a UN Women Selection, and Brahmanand’s documentary on Jagjit Singh, Kaagaz Ki Kashti.

“The process of selling films on digital platforms is still on. I’ve acquired three films and I’m going to announce a new one that I’ve just picked up,” he informs. Prod him for more, and he clams up again, simply saying, “You need to search for these films, watch every one of them, before deciding if you want to acquire any. There’s an incredible amount of work involved, but since it’s about watching movies it doesn’t feel like work to me.”

What the actor does reveal is that after turning actor, producer and distributor he may direct a film soon. “To be honest I’ve never thought too deeply about direction in the past but I have been thinking about it lately. Being an actor, producer and distributor has now sparked off a desire in me to direct a film. For the first time I’m excited about venturing into direction at some point. Two years ago, I wouldn’t have but now when the time is right, why not? I’ve developed scripts in the past, I wrote the treatment for Dev D. I need to start writing again. Maybe I can direct the movie based on my next idea,” he muses.

The musing continues as he remembers past birthdays, admitting that he always planned on doing nothing on this day for the past 10 years. “But I have some good friends who made the day special. Last year I told Aanand L Rai that if he wanted me to work, I wanted to wrap up Happy Bhaag Jayegi on March 15. He was happy to oblige and we had a wrap party that doubled up as my birthday party. This year I have a different excuse to party,” he chuckles.

Although he has a busy schedule Abhay asserts it won’t eat into his ‘me time’, he says, “I’ve always lived my life by taking time off work.”