Actor returns after a two-year hiatus with new genres, international collaborations and a Tamil film in which he plays King Vikramaditya
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 30, 2018)

In the past, every time you’ve disappeared from the screen, you have come back having honed your talent or learnt a new skill. So, what have you been up to in the two years since Happy Bhaag Jayegi?
This time my energies were focused essentially on work. Acting, producing, developing scripts and setting up a distribution space take time. Just finishing five–six movies took about a year. Now, Nanu Ki Jaanu is up for release, The Field is into post production and almost complete and JL-50 has just around six days of work left.

You’re returning after a two-year hiatus with a horror-comedy?
It was a bit of a challenge because the two genres don’t mix since you can’t laugh and be scared at the same time. But at the end of the day, it’s a pure entertainer, an extremely funny and family-friendly film which is sure to connect with a large audience. For me, it was an enjoyable and inclusive process because it reunited me with Manu Rishi Chadha who is a really talented actor-writer and the director, Faraz Haider, was the first AD on my 2008 National Award-wining black comedy, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! He was the guy in the paan-beedi shop in the last scene who tells me I look familiar and I respond saying, “TV par dekha hoga.”

Have you ever had a supernatural encounter?
Never, but I live my life knowing there are things I don’t know of and that leaves me open to every possibility. There are those who claim to have seen ghosts. Who am I to say if they are lying or are delusional? Maybe some are, maybe some aren’t.

We have been reading that you’re in the Happy sequel but unsure whether it’s an extended cameo or a full-fledged role?
I’m equally confused because I’ve been reading this too but the makers haven’t been in touch with me so I know as much as you do. If they came to me, I’d be happy to be a part of it. I like director Mudassar’s (Aziz) work and Aanand (producer Aanand L Rai) is a friend and a fab director. I’m doing a cameo in his Zero. I didn’t have too many days of shoot but it was nice working with Shah Rukh (Khan), a thorough professional, and Katrina (Kaif) whom I’ve known since the Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara days.

Every time we meet Aanand, he says he needs to give you a full-fledged role that will do complete justice to your talent. When is that happening?
Ask Aanand. After hearing him say this for two years, I’ve told him to stop else I won’t take him seriously. That upset him a bit but I assured him that I will always love him with or without a great role.

Playing a CBI officer in a sci-fi, another unexplored genre for Hindi cinema, must be interesting?
JL-50 is not a big-budget, superhero- with-weapons-drawn drama but a hi-content sci-fi. The makers are Indian by birth but settled in Canada. You don’t get to be a part of too many films that originate in one country but are shot in another country in another language. The makers of this one speak Hindi and understand our culture but, as Canadians, they can make movies we Indians can’t and get a lot of support in terms of subsidies, distribution network and suchlike.

The Field is also an international production…
That’s a bi-lingual American production, 70 percent Hindi and 30 percent English, on Indian issues, and filmed in India.

How different was it shooting for American, Canadian and Indian productions?
No real difference because actors and filmmakers across the world are similar as they are dealing with similar issues and working in the same space towards the same goal. Different cultures but professionally alike.

And how different was it working in a Tamil film, Idhu Vedhalam Sollum Kadhai (IVSK) after playing a Tam-Brahm in Dibakar Banerjee’s Shanghai?
I repeat, filmmakers are filmmakers across the border, only their style, approach to work and the kind of movies they want to make differ. IVSK is an action-adventure, graphic novelesque pulp fiction that debutant director Rathindran Prasad has written himself. It’s wonderful to be a part of someone’s passion project and bring his vision to the screen. Yes, I had to speak Tamil — ancient Tamil — but Rati would laugh, that for me any Tamil was Greek and Latin.

Was playing King Vikramaditya a departure from your cool onscreen yuppies?
I know, often when you’re dealing with an ancient scenario, the writing is over-the-top but this one is very contemporary in its treatment so I didn’t have to deliver my lines dramatically. This film was in my space and I could play it real.

For someone who knows the craft so well, why don’t you dabble in writing and direction?
After Dev D, I am developing another script but I’m not sure if I will direct it. Just because I understand the craft, can act and am involved in other aspects of filmmaking doesn’t mean that I can direct too. I must feel the desire to do so. It all comes down to, ‘Is there a story to tell?’ If there is, I’ll jump into it. For now, I’m happy acquiring films and documentaries and trying to create an audience for them. When I was making Dev D, Ek Chalis Ki Last Local, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! multiplexes were mushrooming and suddenly there was space for other cinema. But then the expansion stopped and in an industry which is more oriented towards business rather than creativity, I felt the lack of support and space, and with the advent of digital platforms, decided to encourage talented makers to take chances.

When do you start distributing mainstream films?
That’s too big a space for me. There are far too many people there already. As an actor, I do mainstream and indie films already. (Smiles) You should know your aces and weaknesses.

Indians love playing the matchmaker and there are many out there wondering about your shaadi…
(Laughs) Maybe not in real life but you will see me in a lot of shaadi-type movies. Three such scripts have come my way already. As long as I’m not married, I guess I’ll continue to get such ‘Will he? Won’t he?’ projects.

The actor’s mafia agent turn in his upcoming black comedy is ‘quite a change’ from all the roles he has portrayed in the recent past
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 15, 2018)

Abhay Deol, who has been spending a lot of time in the US developing scripts, recently wrapped up his upcoming film, the black comedy Nanu Ki Jaanu, which features Patralekhaa as his love interest. Now, Mirror has learnt that the actor plays a grey character in the film. Shot at real locations in Delhi and Noida, it marks his reunion with director Faraz Haider, who has earlier worked with him on Dibakar Banerjee’s Oye Lucky Lucky Oye as an assistant director.

A source reveals, “Abhay plays an agent for the Delhi land mafia and people in the construction business, while Manu Rishi Chadha (who has also written the film) plays his friend and accomplice. The film chronicles life-altering situations in the protagonist’s life, including the arrival of a ghost. Abhay will also be seen shaking a leg on several songs, including a number with Sapna Chaudhary of Bigg Boss 11 fame.”

Haider, when contacted, told Mirror, “Yes, Abhay’s character and his gang deal with the land mafia in Delhi and they come up with an interesting way to go about their business. His bad boy avatar is quite a change from the roles the audience has seen him portray in the recent past.”

Meanwhile, Mirror had recently reported (January 4) about the 41-yearold actor’s prolonged trip to the US where he has been working on developing scripts. He is expected to return to Mumbai towards February-end or early- March and will immediately kick off promotions for Nanu Ki Jaanu with Patralekhaa. Meanwhile, Abhay has also been working on the upcoming scifi film, JL-50.

Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 30, 2015)