What do you call a Bollywood star who opts out of a big banner project for an offbeat feature directed by a first-timer with no starry connections? Then who continues to take the less travelled path away from the commercial glitz and glamour with every successive feature?

Well, you call him Abhay Deol.

The 33-year-old, whose performances have won him critical acclaim and appreciative audiences, was in Toronto recently after making an appearance at the Venice Film Festival in 
Italy, where a screening of his new film, Dev D, won him a standing ovation.

He then travelled to the maple leaf country for the premiere of his latest film, Road, Movie, at the Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Dev Benegal — who spearheaded the Indo-Anglian wave of movie-making in India, with English August and then Split Wide Open — the film follows the journey of a small town boy named Vishnu (played by Deol) who yearns to flee his monotonous existence as the prospective heir of a failing hair oil business. Deliverance comes in the 
form of a friend’s battered truck that has to be delivered to a distant museum.

The story of love, life and hope unravels during the road trip. Deol won accolades for his performance, highlighting him as one of the most promising young actors from Indian shores.

As anyone familiar with Deol’s body of work will know, Road, Movie, his eighth film, is further proof of this young actor’s penchant for playing diverse roles on screen. He describes his character Vishnu as “very simple, semi-urban and non-verbal. It was a journey through life for him — comic, dramatic, coming of age, growing up and discovering freedom. He doesn’t have an idea of what he wants to do; all he knows is that he doesn’t want to be in this town because he doesn’t see a future for himself. He fears he’ll end up like his father.”

One man who’s pleased with Deol’s portrayal of Vishnu is the film’s director, Benegal. “The camera just loves him,” he says. “He really understood what I was getting at. The movie had little dialogue and he was just performing with his eyes. You could see Vishnu coming alive. He was absolutely perfect.”

For the city-bred Deol, playing Vishnu’s character was just a small cog in the wheel of challenges. For starters, the film was shot in the scorching desert heat and for the most part he was behind the wheel of an ancient 1943 Chevy. Though a new engine had been placed into the old truck, Deol says, “The windshield was too low so I had to slouch and drive, and the rear view mirrors looked up at the back of the truck so I couldn’t see the traffic behind me, but over time I got used to it.”

He adds, “Though hectic, it was a lot of fun.”

Born into a family entrenched in movies, it was almost a given that producer Ajit Deol’s son and Dharmendra’s nephew would court the camera like his cousins — Sunny and Bobby — though an overwhelmed and shy Deol wondered, “Why should I grow up to be an actor? I could become anything I want, maybe a doctor.”

But it wasn’t long before the handsome Jat concluded “it was just (my) ego that was rebelling” against expectations and “deep down” acting is what he “always wanted to do.”

So, when he returned to Mumbai after wrapping up a course in Theatre and Fine Arts in Los Angeles, the family was happy that this Deol was ready to carry the torch forward into film.

That was, however, until they heard the kind of movies he wanted to do.

Regular Bollywood fare held no interest for him. It was stories about regular guys that engaged Deol — not those of gym-honed icons who flex their muscles, groove to choreographed dance routines and woo their heroines. The family was justifiably concerned when he chose to debut with Socha Na Tha, to be directed by another newcomer, Imtiaz Ali.

They were not alone. The flick’s producer also backed out, unwilling to work with the new director/actor team. But Deol stuck to his guns, showing a stubborn streak that was evident again when he chose to move into his own bachelor pad instead of staying with his parents in their sprawling Mumbai bungalow.

Last year, while Dev D was garnering accolades, the actor moved to New York. “It was very important for me to get away and do things other than acting. Yes, acting is my primary passion, but there’s so much more to do in life.”

He signed up for a welding and metal work course because it was “therapeutic”.

He chose the Big Apple as his second home because “it’s a city that has always fascinated me. It’s such a hub of activity. The creative possibilities here are unlimited. I want to grow, not just as an actor, but also as a human being.”

To get back to his debut film, Deol’s cousin Sunny also came onboard to produce Socha Na Tha in 2005. Thus began a journey that continues to explore unchartered terrain.

Tucking neatly into his breakfast of salmon with a generous helping of salad in a Toronto hotel, Deol says he steered clear of typical Bollywood fare, “Because I do not have it in me — the muscular guy who dances like a dream and gets the girl in the end. I just can’t think like that and do not have the confidence.”

What appeals to him are stories, “where the hero may not be very dynamic and the odds are stacked against him, but he survives anyway and emerges as a winner at the end. I find that more attractive and pursue films that have that quality. I pursue films that are more real.”

Dev D is a reflection of his desire to play characters that are ‘real’. His portrayal of Devdas (who is based on the eponymous Bengali classic by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay) — as an insecure and arrogant lover (at occasions on an illegal drug-induced high) who realises his follies and takes charge of his life — was a marked departure from the hitherto screen portrayals of a lover wallowing in self-pity and staggering towards self-destruction (see Dilip Kumar in the Bimal Roy version in 1955 and, more pointedly, Shahrukh Khan in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas in 2002). While conceptualising the title role for Dev D (if you noticed the credits, Deol is the one who fleshed out the character as it appears in Kashyap’s film), he readily admits that he drew a lot from his own experiences.

“Of course I have seen it, experienced it, and that is essentially the reason why I felt like doing the film. We could have shoved it under the rug, but that was not what I was going to do,” he says with specific reference to illegal drug use in the film.

Deol was confident that only Anurag Kashyap could deliver his Dev D to the big screen. Why? “Because I know him very well and he has a quirky sense of shooting and a style that matches mine.” The movie went on to become a commercial and critical success.

Deol relies largely on his instincts when it comes to selecting his roles, but then there are times, when a project may interest him simply because he likes the name of the director.

He says: “An example is Dibaker Banerjee. I said ‘It is a nice name. I should meet him.’ I had not seen his first film. Then I read his script to Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! and liked it. I look for honesty in a script.”

Deol attempts to translate that honesty on the screen, too. Currently, he is grooving to salsa in preparation of his role in Ayesha, an Indian adaptation of  the Jane Austen classic Emma, with Sonam Kapoor. Horse riding lessons come next. While creatively beholden to Ayesha, Deol is donning another hat, too, that of an entrepreneur with his production house, Forbidden Films.

The company, he deadpans, will make “hardcore commercial Bollywood films,” before stating the real intent after a hearty guffaw. “We will make entertaining films. Right now we have a romantic film and an action film. Both are mainstream. I also have some scripts that are adventurous and offbeat. I would like to do all kinds of films.”

Like all business ventures, the objective here is to make money, so the actor, who divides his time between Mumbai and New York, can “work for myself and also pay myself with the profits.”

wknd@khaleejtimes.com

The story so far

Deol’s biggest hits 

Socha Na Tho (2005)

Deol’s debut film, where he teamed up with another debutante — director Imtiaz Ali (Jab We Met, Love Aaj Kal). Co-starring Ayesha Takia, Socha Na Tha looked at the still-prevalent custom of arranged marriages in India, and what prospective brides-to-be (and groom-to-be) go through before they finally meet their matches. Aimed at the youth, the film tackled the sensitive subject in a fun — yet serious — manner, reaffirming that Bollywood’s song-and-dance commercial cinema can be socially relevant.

Manorama Six Feet Under (2007)

A thriller — complete with conspiracies, murders and vanishing acts — set in the interiors of India: a dusty and sleepy village in Rajasthan. Deol’s character tries his hand as a crime writer after he is suspended from work for taking a bribe. That’s when something sinister comes up in his life and he is caught in a web of intrigue and deceit. Manorama Six Feet Under is loosely based on Roman Polanski’s Chinatown.

Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd (2007)

Deol was only one among a 
pantheon of stars, and held his own against formidable performances by the likes of Boman Irani, Shabana Azmi and Kay Kay Menon. Cast as a young Parsi man on a bus celebrating a collection of honeymoons (Minissha Lamba plays his wife), his was probably the most unreal role: towards the end, he flits in and out of Superman outfit — but carries it off with aplomb.

Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008)

Similar to Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can: the story of Lucky Singh (Deol), a loveable thief (even the cops like him), who aspires to get the good things in life. Lucky’s journey from a lower middle class boy to a popular thief turns him into a flamboyant playboy who now wants more than just riches: he now needs respect and social status. Deol sparkled, and the movie was one of the surprise hits of the year.

Dev D (2009)

Director Anurag Kashyap’s take on a Bengali classic by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay was a total departure — in tonality — from the earlier cinematic adaptations: Bimal Roy’s 50s version starring Dilip Kumar, and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s over-the-top 2002 film starring Shah Rukh Khan. Deol, as Dev D, turned in a bravura performance as a drunkard, loser lover who is eclectic at the same time. While the earlier two Devs achieved tragic proportions (like in the novel), Dev D took the path less trodden, and ends up finally taking control of his life.