Meena Iyer (DNA; January 18, 2019)

Bobby Deol is glowing (literally!) after his evening session at the gymnasium. Looking all flushed post his exercise regimen, the actor is seated in his garden, sipping on an iced drink without sugar. While his pretty wife Tanya takes a few rounds in the bungalow compound, Bobby tells us how he finds it hard to believe that he will turn 50 on January 27. “I’m still the baby in the family,” he smiles. “Dad (Dharmendra) and bhaiyya (Sunny Deol) have pampered me so much that I feel like a child,” he jokes, admitting in the very next sentence that he loves watching his sons, Aryaman (17) and Dharam Jr (14), grow up to be fine boys.

“How time has flown,” he sighs. And looking around the walls of his Juhu bungalow with a certain amount of deep affection, the Bollywood superstar remarks, “I was born here and my childhood was spent in this home. I’m glad that my 50th birthday will also be brought in here.”

A CLOSE-KNIT AFFAIR
Quiz him jokingly whether there will be balloons and confetti and the actor laughs and replies, “No way. My mother is organising a havan (which is a ritual for all our birthdays). I have requested her to conduct the puja a little later in the day instead of the wee hours because I don’t like waking up too early. But in the end, I will do exactly as she says.”

Bobby’s entire khandaan, which includes his two sisters who stay in the US and Delhi respectively, will also fly in for this momentous occasion, which is going to be marked by a lot of Deolgiri. “It will be a close-knit affair with my entire family present, but it will also be boisterous and fun because all of us are going to be together,” says the Housefull 4 actor.

‘I FEEL MOTIVATED TO GET IN BETTER SHAPE’
If there is one thing he wants to do in the next week leading up to his birthday, it is to exercise twice every single day. “I’ve become such a gym-junkie; if I miss a workout session, I feel low,” he confesses. “All these years, my father and my brother urged me to take good care of myself and keep fit. And, I was a little lazy. However, I must thank Salman Khan for pushing me to hit the gym and getting myself fitter at 50 than I was at 40. All the ‘fabulous at 50’ compliments sit well with me. I feel motivated to get myself in better shape each day. Guess that is my own birthday present to myself.”