Posted On Tuesday, August 10, 2010 at 03:23:29 AM
Days after Katrina chose to walk out of the film, Bobby Deol has joined the cast of Abbas Mustan’s The Italian Job. As of now, the cast includes Abhishek Bachchan, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Omi Vaidya.

Incidentally, this will be Bobby’s fifth film with Abbas-Mustan after Soldier, Ajnabee, Humraaz and Naqaab.

When contacted, Mustan of Abbas-Mustan said, “Yes Bobby plays one of the most integral parts. In the film, Abhishek plays Charlie who forms a team of five people and Bobby is one of the lead characters.

He plays an illusionist and that’s why Abhishek’s character is keen to have him in his team.” Apparently, Abbas-Mustan’s Bollywood remake is very different from the 2003 original. Mustan adds, “We don’t want to reveal much but this film is one of the most challenging scripts for us as well as for Bobby.”

Bobby, do you agree?

August 12, 2010 : Well, this film wasn't 'in the news'' while it's making, but now, at least, is creating some buzz with its 'eerie' promos. But will that Help? Our in house expert and celebrity astro numerologist Bhavikk Sangghvi finds whether Help will get some 'help' (read collections) from the paying public this week?

"The title Help adds up to Number 21 - which is symbolized by the picture of 'the Universe' and it is also called 'the Crown of the Magi'. It is a number of advancement, honors, elevation in life and general success. It means victory after a long fight, for 'the Crown of the Magi' is only gained after long initiation and tests of determination. It is a fortunate number of promises if it appears in any connection with future events. However, one must be prepared for the long fight", explains Bhavikk.

"Literally going by the meaning, it seems the film would somewhat be a 'watchable' experience and may be a good joint effort by its entire team......but alas!" he continues.

"The lead actor Bobby Deol (January 27, 1967) is running in his 44th year and it indicates struggle and hardships. He is the 'face' of the film and when the 'luck' of the lead hero is not that supporting, others may not be able to 'Help' (pun unintended) much", predicts Bhavikk.

"Although for some damage control, the year 2010 which adds up to number 3

(Jupiter) has proven mostly good for numbers 3, 6, 8, and 9 persons, and luckily both Bobby and Mugdha Godse (July 26) fall under this bracket", adds Bhavikk.

"But unfortunately, that may not be enough to suffice for the much needed 'Help'!" concludes Bhavikk firmly on a strong note.

August 16, 2010 : Never mind whether the film is a hit or a dud at the box office, BOBBY DEOL tells Jyothi Venkatesh that it was like a big picnic working on a horror film like Help in Mauritius.

Tell me what your film Help is about.

Basically it is a horror film. It has been directed by Rajiv Virani, who had earlier made films like My Bollywood Bride and The Whisperers. It is for the first time in my career that I have acted in a horror film. I play Vik, the role of a maker of a horror film. Though Vikram Bhatt has been making horror films of late, I swear that the character that I play in the film has got nothing to do with Vikram Bhatt. It is about how a husband and wife have some misunderstanding, because she presumes that her husband is having an affair with his heroine on location. How we go to Mauritius when we come to know that my wife's father is not well and things get sorted out eventually is what the film is all about.

What appealed to you about the film? What I like about the film is that the whole package looks scary. The film is about how paranormal forces unleash scare. It was quite a difficult task to relate to the role because I have not seen such forces in my real life. During my college days I had heard about stove talking. I think it is all rubbish.

Didn't you think it's downmarket to do a horror film?

You have to make your own choices and work in life. I like horror films. Gone are the days when we used to make tacky horror films and people in the industry used to look down at them. Times have changed drastically. It is like a big picnic watching a horror film now. Raaz was the beginning of a good horror film era. Ram Gopal Varma has done quite a few and they have done well. Earlier we did not know Indian horror films have a big market abroad. If you make a good horror film, you definitely have something.

Do you like horror films?

Yes. I do make it a point to watch horror films, though I do not let my kid watch them. In recent times, I liked the film Others. It was an emotional film about a mother and a child. I also saw Inception, though that's not exactly a horror film. I think it is a great concept and it has been made well. Every film has an audience, if it is well made. If people like a scary horror film, others also will go and see.

You are working with Mughda Godse for the first time!

Yes, yes... I am working with Mughda Godse for the first time. She is a hard working model turned actress. Today every model is turning into an actress. Everyone who is acting in the film, except Mughda and I, is working for the first time. It is like you are walking into a big house where you know no one. You can call me a senior. The generation younger than us is changing drastically. The new generation thinks that it is a new song but we call it a remix.

How would you look back at your journey as an actor till date?

It has been a fun journey. It has been a very exciting journey for me as an actor right from Barsaat till Help. I think I have grown tremendously. Today I am more mature. Life is an experience and you learn every day, whether you are an actor or for that matter just a normal human being. I do not mean to say that actors are not normal human beings (Laughs).

On what basis do you sign on the dotted lines for any film of yours?

First, I see whether the producer will be able to do justice to the film. If I am convinced that he can, the next thing that I see is whether the script holds my interest. After I ensure that the producer is right and the script is good, I insist on the right star cast, because casting is the most important aspect of any film. Though I have mostly acted in solo starrers including Help, I have no qualms about acting in multi-starrer films, because nowadays, it is the question of more the merrier and people prefer watching multi star casts.

Are you and Sunny playing real life roles as the sons of Dharmendra in your home production Yamla Pagla Deewana?

Yes. Papa is playing my reel life papa too in the film and Sunny bhaiyya is playing my brother. There is no other way that people will look at us. It is a fun packed action comedy with accent on emotion. It was nice working with papa after a long time.

Which other film are you doing now, besides Yamla Pagla Deewana?

I am doing Thank You with Akshay Kumar and Sonam. The film is an out and out zany comedy!

Can you name five best films of yours?

Dillagi was my best. Please do not restrict me to only five best films of mine.I will also name my films like Apne, Gupt, Soldier, Badal, Bichu, Humraaz and last but not the least Jhoom Barabar Jhoom too. I also did a film about a certain freedom fighter, which came at the wrong time when every other person made a film about the same freedom fighter (Laughs).

Who are your favorite co-stars?

All my co-stars are my favorite co-stars. Though Preity Zinta and I had a big fight, later on we made up and became good friends. The same was the case with Rani Mukerjee. Though we had a massive fight while we were shooting, we made up with each other and ended up becoming good friends. I think the best way to be a good friend is to fight with your co-stars. (Laughs). In recent times, Priyanka is a sweet heart.

Which are the directors with whom you would love to work?

Since I want to work with all good directors, I do not want to name any one particular director. People ask me why I do not send feelers to directors when I come to know that they are about to launch their films to take me on in their films. Mujhse hota nahin... That is why I have a secretary.

Stars these days are ready to appear on television. Do you have any such plans?

I am always being offered some show or the other but I keep on saying no, because I have my own reservations.

As it happens with all families split over fortunes and women, the conflict over top banker and actor Bobby Deol’s father-in-law Dev Ahuja’s legacy has intensified after his death. At stake is a Rs 300-crore property with several claimants — his 35-year-old son Vikram, daughter Tania and her husband Bobby, his other daughter Munisha, his estranged wife Marlene and his mistress, 20 years his junior.

On August 1, we brought you the story behind the very public and acrimonious fallout between Devendra Ahuja, promoter of Centurion Bank and MD of 20th Century Finance company, and his son Vikram.

Vikram had accused his 74-year-old father — who had moved out of his family home and moved in with his girlfriend in 1996 — of being biased towards his sister Tania and brother-in-law Bobby Deol. The flurry of complaints and counter-complaints over 14 long years saw father and son pitted in a no-holds barred battle. While Ahuja cut out Vikram from his home, business and life, Vikram accused Tania and Bobby of trying to influence his father into investing in Bobby’s flagging career.

The feud took an unexpected turn on Friday with Dev Ahuja’s sudden death. Vikram was told in no uncertain terms that he would not be permitted to perform the last rites of his dead father. Instead, Bobby was asked to step in and do the needful.

A friend of Vikram, who had access to the developments, comments, “Mr Ahuja’s close friend, Ravi Kiran Agarwal (Chairman, Orbit Communications) had taken complete charge of the funeral arrangements. Tania was constantly by his side. Vikram even hugged her and the two broke down, but that did not change the decision.”

“Dev was told by one of his uncles that Agarwal and Tania did not want him to perform the last rites of his father. This goes completely against the Hindu tradition,” added the friend.

A family friend claims that the news of Ahuja’s demise was conveyed to Vikram nearly 45 minutes after it happened. “Vikram was not told about his father’s cardiac arrest on August 20. And when he rushed to the hospital all formalities had been completed and the body was being taken to the morgue, where it was kept till yesterday morning for Bobby to return from his film shoot in Toronto.”

At his father’s apartment in NCPA building – where Tania’s name had recently been added to the nameplate alongside Ahuja’s – the presence of three armed guards at the door prompted Vikram to turn back.

On Saturday, Vikram managed to get into his father’s house, where a relative allegedly told him that keeping him in the dark about his father’s cardiac arrest and death was allegedly his sister’s and Agarwal’s decision.

On Sunday, at the Chandanwadi crematorium, Vikram was once again greeted by armed guards and cops, prompting him to leave without paying his last respects to his father.

When contacted, Vikram said, “Please leave me alone. I don’t want to talk about this.”

But when we probed further, he said, “I am devastated. I was told by one of my uncles that it was on Agarwal and my sister Tania’s insistence that I was not allowed to perform my father’s last rites. We may have had professional differences, but never personal. He was my father and I loved him dearly.”

When contacted, Agarwal said, “Who am I to decide whether Vikram should be allowed to perform the last rites of my friend Dev? Dev’s will clearly reads that Vikram should not touch his body when he is no more. Vikram is responsible for his father’s death. He tortured him mentally.”

Despite a text message, Tania remained unavailable for comment.

But in the case of Anees Bazmi's Thank You, where a long schedule in Toronto had to end suddenly because of Bobby Deol's father-in-law's illness and death, the loss runs into not just the production on-hand (Thank You) but also Boney Kapoor's sequel to No Entry entitled Be Positive.

While Boney has declared his next production would be the sequel to No Entry, Anees shocks by declaring that the script is not even close to being ready.

Says Anees, "While I've an idea for the Hera Pheri sequel which I am working on for producer Feroz Nadiadwala I've absolutely no idea which way the sequel to No Entry would go. The comedy is the hardest genre to write. And I can't plunge into a funny film until I've the script ready. I've just had no time to think about an idea for No Entry Part 2."

With the Thank You schedule going haywire after Bobby's abrupt departure from Toronto, Anees is now organizing a schedule in Mumbai to synchronize with the unfinished schedule in Toronto.

Says Anees, "When Bobby had to leave from Toronto we still had one big song to be shot. And some scenes."

It was meant to be a big chorus song featuring Irrfan Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Rimmi Sen, Sunil Shetty and Bobby. Organizing the dates of all these actors would be problematic.

Plus there's the problem of getting the choreographer. One of South Indian cinema's biggest names was hired to do the song.

Says Anees, "Raju Sundaram was supposed to do the song. Now I don't know if he still can. He's busy. I also have to wrap up my schedule before I leave for Bangkok to shoot the second schedule of Ready with Salman Khan."

Sighs Anees, "This is the first time I'm doing two films together. Setbacks are bound to happen. Chalta Hai. We've to take it in our stride."

One hopes Boney Kapoor too will Be Positive about Bobby Deol's disrupted schedule.

There’s one aspect of Bobby Deol that his supporters do not know – the actor is very gullible. He often ends up becoming the victim of many a prank because of his trusting nature. Recently, while shooting for Abbas Mustan’s Players, Bobby Deol was targeted by the pranksters on the sets. Says a source, “These days Bobby is having a difficult time on the sets because every day somebody or the other plays pranks on him – particularly Abhishek Bachchan.” But it seems, Bobby has finally learnt to fend for himself. “Bobby has now started paying pranks on others.
However, he hasn’t yet succeeded in a pulling off a single prank. He tried a small one on one of the crew members and he failed. Abhishek Bachchan is now on his hit list,” adds the source. Bobby will be sharing screen space with Abhishek in the movie and we hope he succeeds in fooling the former at least once on set.

"Cinema is not art anymore. It has become mainsteam now which is good. There are different kinds of films being made with different topics and that's nice," he told IANS.

Meanwhile, the actor is gearing up for the release of his new film "Yamla Pagla Deewana", which reunites him with his father Dharmendra and brother Sunny Deol once again after "Apne".

The comic caper is releasing Jan 14.

January 27, 2011 : Bollywood actor Bobby Deol, who is celebrating his 44th birthday today (Jan 27th), has not been as lucky in the industry as his legendary father Dharmendra and elder brother Sunny Deol. He got a grand debut with the 1995 movie Barsaat opposite Twinkle Khanna but since then he has not been very successful as a solo hero.

Bobby was then seen in the thriller movie Gupt, which had renowned actors like Om Puri, Kajol and Manisha Koirala. But then he was noticed again in the movie Soldier in 1998. Then, Sunny directed a movie called Dillagi, which united the Deol brothers onscreen for the first time. By this time, he gathered quite a good number of fans and made a niche for himself.

After taking a break in 2003, the actor returned with Priyanka Chopra starrer film Kismat in 2004. The film did not bring much luck to Bobby but he continued to get film offers in the form of Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo, Jurm and Tango Charlie. None of these could do much well at the Box Office.

In 2007, the Deol family was first time seen together in the film Apne and Dharmendra played their onscreen father. Despite of having a good story, the film was an average success at the Box office. However, they were not disheartened by the result and united again in 2011 with Yamla Pagla Deewana. It was received well by the viewers as well as by the critics and has been considered as 'paisa wasool' entertainer. Bobby is now ready to say 'Thank You' to his fans with his next film with the same title. After the success of Yamla Pagla Deewana, he is a little relieved man and is enjoying holiday with family and friends.

We hope his Thank You is welcomed by the audience the same way they did his last film. We wish the actor a very happy birthday and hope the coming year comes with success and joy in his life.

January 26, 2011 : Bobby Deol is finally taking a break after the success of his latest venture Yamla Pagla Deewana.Bobby plans to unwind by taking a break in Goa with his close friends and family. Bobby Deol's wife Tanya has decided to throw a bash for the actor's birthday on January 27. Bobby added that they will go for a holiday to Goa with his two sons Dharam and Aryaman. Its been year since Bobby went out for a vacation with his family and he plans to stay at boutique hotel in South Goa. Bobby remarked that it feels good to get rave reviews for Yamla Pagla Deewana and it is the best birthday gift that he could have ever asked for.

Bobby is also keeping his fingers crossed for the sequel of Yamla Pagla Deewana. Bobby commented that his elder brother Sunny is planning for a sequel after Yamla Pagla Deewana'success at the box office. Bobby added that they are working on a script with the writer of Yamla Pagla Deewana which will try to bring forth the chemistry between the three stars.

After several box office failures, Bobby has finally tasted success with their home production Yamla Pagla Dewana and he has reason enough to celebrate in Goa. Bobby's father Dharmendra and mother Prakash are busy with their work and cannot join Bobby to Goa. However Bobby's pals from school and Tanya's friends from Bollywood will make their presence at the bash.

After the success of Yamla Pagla Deewana Bobby Deol has hit it with the filmmakers. Now the actor has an equal footing with Akshay Kumar in Anees Bazmee’s Thank You

Posted On Saturday, March 05, 2011 at 07:12:11 AM

It is the industry norm. After every successful film, the market status of its stars is capitalised on in the next projects that they do.

Post the box-office success of Yamla Pagla Deewana, Bobby Deol is one person whose market demand has been most benefited from by the producers of his forth coming films. In turn, he too seems to have gained the most out of the biggest hit of the year as yet.

The actor who was one of the leads in Thank You has now been put at par with Akshay Kumar in all the promotions and publicity materials.

Explaining how the producers were forced to change their marketing strategies after Yamla Pagla Deewana a source said, “The combination of Anees Bazmee and Akshay is amazing and all the films that they have done in the past have been huge hits.

Their last film Singh Is Kingg was a blockbuster. So, keeping that in mind it was clear that the film would be promoted as an Akshay Kumar film. However, with the success of Yamla Pagla Deewana, Bobby now finds himself everywhere in the promotions.

Even the promotional interviews of the cast will now kick off with Bobby Deol in the next couple of days and the rest of the cast will follow. Since, Akshay is in Chandigarh shooting for Joker, he will join later.”

Bobby, who has always been reticent when it comes to promoting his films, has also learnt his lesson from the success of Yamla Pagla Deewana which also starred his father and legendary actor, Dharmendra and his brother Sunny paaji.

Another source from Thank You said, “Bobby himself felt that he should actively promote the film. An otherwise shy Bobby went all out to promote his film Yamla Pagla Deewana and he has realised the importance of promoting a film.

Akshay Kumar and Bobby Deol have same territories that they are popular in like Punjab, London and Canada. While, even the trailer of the movie was initially cut with Akshay more prominently featured than the other, they reworked the promo a bit to satisfy Bobby’s sudden uplift in the market status.”

Director Anees Bazmee confirmed the change in the marketing scheme of Thank You and said, “Bobby’s market status has multiplied after the super success of Yamla Pagla Deewana.

It is a marketing strategy by the producers to promote Bobby as much as they promote Akshay. Bobby is normally very shy but we are pushing him to go all out for Thank You.”