The Deol brothers, Sunny and Bobby, are back in their comfort zone, says Angela Paljor
Brothers Sunny and Bobby Deol do not feel they have restricted themselves by focussing only on home projects while staying away from outside films offered to them by the fraternity. Sunny doesn’t think he is absent from his space at all. He just chooses to reclaim it when he wants to. “I enjoy working with Bob and dad even though it’s difficult to find a subject to work on together. When we do it, it’s the best time to work and have fun,” shares Sunny, who was last seen on the big screen in Ghayal Once Again in 2016, a sequel to his 1990 blockbuster Ghayal.
The new comedy film, Poster Boys, which marks the directorial debut of actor Shreyas Talpade, has portrayed the two brothers in a comic avatar. The world turns upside down for three men, Vinay Sharma (Bobby Deol), Arjun Singh (Shreyas Talpade) and Jaagavar Chaudhary (Sunny Deol),when they find their pictures on a poster promoting nasbandi (vasectomy). Then, starts their journey of getting humiliated by their families and society; rebelling against the system which landed them in this confusing mess in the first place.
Though Sunny prefers to work on serious characters, he always welcomes a change in the routine. Talking about how he feels about being typecast as a serious, conflicted, angry, action-oriented actor, he says, “I think it was a little different during my father’s time, during the 60s and the 70s. Then on, things have been pretty much the same – actors always get typecast. It’s just that I don’t let it bother me because nothing is going to stop me from doing the things I really want to.” Sunny is currently working on launching his son Karan in a film titled Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas which is borrowed from Dharmendra’s film Blackmail.
However, the actor-cum-filmmaker feels that the real essence of film-making has been lost in the process of corporatisation. “Cinema has turned out to be a result of generating events, unlike the earlier eras when it was all about addressing the cine-goer and finding out if he/she had suitably savoured the aftertaste. Also, today’s generation is looking up to newer options. They won’t watch a film that was released a day or two ago, leave alone months and years. Even for this film, there will not be many viewers. But what will make us happy is that the few who watch it can enjoy it.”
Sunny has never read a script in his life. “For me it is the idea that strikes, which is followed by the narration of the film. Narration is essential as the person who has either written it or is going to direct it gives you the proper picture of it and you go along with his/her imagination. Then, you just go along with it,” shares Sunny who was attracted by the very concept of Poster Boys. However, in this case, he listened to the narration about five times and even suggested a few changes.
Bobby was last seen on screen, making a cameo in Singh Saab the Great in 2013, and is both excited and nervous. Unlike his other films, his character in Poster Boys is of a teacher in a far off rural area who only speaks shudh Hindi. “Diction is very important. For this film workshops were really essential. We would read out the dialogues, chant Gayatri Mantra ten minutes at a stretch and then go for a session of tongue-twisters,” shares Bobby, who has made a comeback after four years.
Bobby deeply feels that the script is always a bigger element in a film. Though he regrets making wrong choices in his career as an actor, he is optimistic about the future.
Photo: Pankaj Kumar