MUMBAI MIRROR (January 29, 2019)

Bobby Deol brought in his 50th birthday with a quiet celebration with family and close friends at his Juhu residence. The day started with a traditional havan, followed by a family lunch with papa Dharmendra, bhaiyya Sunny and other members of the family. Later in the evening, wife Tanya had organised a party and among the first guests were the men in white, Abbas and Mastan Burmawalla who had directed Bobby in Soldier, Ajnabee, Humraaz, Naqaab, and Players. The trio got into an animated discussion with Race producer Ramesh Taurani.

Bobby’s former neighbour and childhood buddy, Ajay Devgn, arrived around 11 pm and got into a huddle with both the Deols. Among the other guests were cricketer Zaheer Khan, filmmaker Nikhil Dwivedi with wife Gowri along with Bobby’s Race 3 co-stars Saqib Saleem and Daisy Shah. Arbaaz Khan turned up with girlfriend Georgia Andriani; Sohail Khan was joined by son Nirvaan.

Salman Khan arrived after most of the guests had left. Incidentally, Dharam was the first to retire, a little before midnight. Salman arrived around 2.30 am, straight from the Bharat shoot. He was accompanied by brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri and sister Alvira and stayed on till the early hours.

With Bhai’s entry, the DJ switched to his chartbusters and everyone hit the dance floor again. One of the high points was Bobby and Tanya grooving to Socha Na Tha’s “Na Sahi”, one of their all-time favourites.

Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; June 3, 2018)

A four-year break behind him, Bobby returned to acting with Poster Boys in 2017, and has not looked back ever since. Ahead of the release of Race 3, he reflects on what transpired in the interim

Before the release of Poster Boys last year, you took a four0year break. Why did you do so?
Although, it was made to look like that, the long break wasn’t planned. People said things like, “He’s happy, or he has a lot of money, so, why would he need to work? He’s lazy.” But, that’s not true. I realised [late] that work would not come to me at home, as it used to. I now needed to go out to get it. I stopped looking after myself. As actors, we have to maintain our body. Slowly, I started to hit a low, and suddenly, I was losing everything. I started pitying myself and drank every day. Alcohol is nice, but you shouldn’t overdo it. It takes away your pain for the moment, but, the next day, you wake up with a headache, and the pain is still there [laughs]. But, thankfully, all that is behind me. I have started believing in myself, and I am an actor who is raring to go. I don’t want to sit at home for even a single day.

When did you decide you wanted to come out of that phase?
My family is chiefly responsible for that. My wife [Tanya] would often tell me, ‘Look at how you’re looking. You need to look after yourself.’ My kids were growing up; I was worried they might think that their father was not doing any work, and sitting home all the time. I didn’t want their friends to question them about me, and wanted to be the best role model for them, just like my father [Dharmendra] has been to me. Then Shreyas Talpade came to me with Poster Boys. It may have not done well at the box-office, but I was appreciated. That instilled confidence.

What kind of changes did you introduce in your approach to your career?
I started to think positively. After Poster Boys, we were going to start work on Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir Se. I took to physical training and started eating mindfully. I haven’t consumed sugar in two years, except when I occasionally indulge in chocolates. I have been off wheat too. I had interacted with Salman [Khan] casually at a celebrity cricket league. We’d been in touch thereafter. Once he told me, “Dekh, jab mera career nahi chal raha tha to main, Sanjay Dutt, aur tere bhai [Sunny] ke peeth pay chadh gaya.” So, I casually said, “Mamu, mujhe tere peeth par chadhnay de.” And, one day, he called and said, ‘Shirt utarega?’ I said, “Mamu, main kuch bhi karunga.” And that’s how Race 3 happened. Shooting for the film was great. Despite being a superstar, Salman is selfless. So, inevitably, everybody on the set became like that. He set the precedent. I am sad that the shoot got over because I enjoyed being part of it. Once, I had a vertigo attack on set, and I could see that everyone was concerned. Anil [Kapoor] too is such an inspiration.

It’s very rare for an established actor like you not to get work.
Work was always there. But the films I was offered weren’t the kind I wanted to do. Also, it’s not that I didn’t approach people for work. But most of them said, “Dekhte hain, kuch karenge.” I met Sajid Nadiadwala around 18 months ago, and that’s how I am part of Housefull 4.

Your nephew, Karan, is making his debut. That must feel great?
Sunny bhaiya has taken it upon himself to direct the film, so that’s a tough job. He got the best out of me in Dillagi [1999, Bobby-starrer directed by Sunny]. I am sure he will get the best out of his son.