Nephew of screen legend Dharmendra and cousin to Sunny and Bobby, Abhay Deol might hail from the film fraternity, but that does not mean you will catch this Deol running around the trees or playing the action hero. With acclaimed performances in Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! and Dev D, which has just bagged a clutch of Filmfare awards, taking the road less traveled has made all the difference for the poster boy of offbeat film. Steven Baker caught up with frontrunner of the independent Indian cinema movement as he prepares for his eighth release Road, Movie.
You have Dev Benegal’s Road, Movie releasing 5th March. If the promotional material is anything to go by it looks to be a very stylish film, what is it about?
In a really short pitch, it’s about a guy driving a truck through the desert which he discovers is actually a moving cinema. In one line that would be the story. Of course there are many layers to the film. It is an adventurous story about a protagonist maturing, who has not really been out there much. He takes upon the responsibility of driving this truck, and we see what happens to him on the way, the kind of people he meets, how they influence him, and what he discovers about himself.
What were your experiences of the shoot?
I remember we shot for two months then we had to take a break because we lost the location in Gujarat because of the rain. So you can say about two and a half months.
It was beautifully shot, and I don't know how many Indo-American productions have been made, but we had people from America, people from France, and of course many of the team were Indians, so a nice joint effort of people coming from around the globe.
Coming from a film family did you have an insight before entering the industry?
The job is not glamorous. When you are working, I’ve seen the way my uncle and my cousins work hours and hours in a day to make a movie. So I won't be dying to be on magazine covers or giving interviews and all. It is part of the job--it wasn’t part of the attraction. You do have a personal insiders view. But in the beginning it was still difficult to get work.
|
