For Deepak Dobriyal, the year 2022 calls for a double celebration. As India commemorates 75 years of independence, the actor completes 15 years in the Hindi film industry. “Bahut special hai mere liye yeh saal,” says Dobriyal, who had donned the uniform in his very first movie, 1971 (2007) — based on the Indo-Pak war of 1971.

Even though it won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi, the film didn’t find as many takers at the time. Referring to aggressive promotional strategies adopted by other players in the industry back then, the Angrezi Medium (2020) actor says, “Our film didn’t do all that. Toh uss samay logon ko pata nahin chala.”

However, things have changed today as good content is valued. “It’s a big thing that even if 15 years later, the film found an audience on YouTube. Good content will always find appreciation. If you have done something good and worked hard for it, it will never go to waste,” Dobriyal adds.

Looking back, the 46-year-old is grateful to all those associated with the film for making it what it is. “Manoj (Bajpayee) bhai, Piyush Mishra, Ravi Kishan and all other actors — the way we had to work in tough conditions, in temperature of minus 13 degrees Celsius, there was a lot of josh in all of us.”

While Dobriyal is glad with the way things have shaped up for the industry, there is still something he wants it to be free from — lazy writing. “We need to respect our writers more,” he signs off.