From reimagining retro burlesque posters to painting Albert Einstein in water colour, farmer’s protest and more, Abhay Deol’s social media posts have given us enough reasons to appreciate his inclination towards art. The actor recently visited to Kolkata to be part of his friend, artiste Harshit Agarwal’s solo exhibition. The exhibition came to an end with a talk, The Arts They Are A-Changing, in which Abhay was one of the speakers. In a quick chat with us, the actor talks about his recent picture with friend Shilo Shiv Suleiman that went viral, his love for arts and more. Excerpts:

(Laughs out loud) Please don’t take me seriously is what I would say.

(Laughs) It is a hobby and I paint every now and then. Not as often as I would like to. I put it up on my Instagram. I am not a professional though.

Honestly speaking, art is a luxury. Of course, there is a reason why richer nations invest a lot more in art than poorer nations. You can only appreciate the beauty when you are not worried about putting food on your plate. That’s the truth. But yes, we have the middle class who are doing well. There are people who are doing well. It’s not like we don’t have business that runs successfully, not like there isn’t infrastructure. We have had a lot more success in the past couple of decades than before. That has led to people having money to spend. So, you do see a lot of art and appreciation for it today than before I think.

We are, as a family, not so ritualistic. From a very early age I’ve noticed that on Diwali days, we burst a lot of crackers that end up irritating in my throat and spreading a lot of smoke in the atmosphere. On Holi, a lot of colours have chemical ingredients harmful for the body. So, I have always questioned since my childhood that if it’s not good for the environment, is it really good for god? I am very objective with festivals. In Indian culture, gods and goddesses represent the elements. It is one rare culture that worships nature. I think that is a beautiful part. We worship elements and our gods and goddesses represent those elements. I hope to see festivals that celebrate a clean environment and community.

I haven’t participated in Durga Puja. But any festival that brings communities together, treats them equally, talks about harmony and peace between everyone is one that should be celebrated.