Marriage is unnatural: Abhay Deol

In contrast to his character in ZNMD, Abhay Deol in real life is very clear about his take on marriage and kids. He feels he can live-in with someone and have kids, but marriage is a no-no. He finally speaks up about his girlfriend...

Kabir in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara wasn’t ready for marriage, but was reluctant to call off the nuptials as that would break his girlfriend’s heart. But in real life, Abhay Deol — who played the character in the Zoya Akhtar film — is very clear about his take on marriage and kids.

“Marriage is a cultural phenomenon, not a natural one. And it’s my absolute personal view,” says Abhay. “For me, I don’t need to sign a piece of paper to be with someone and have children; I think that’s just outdated.”

The Dev.D (2009) actor, though, has nothing against the concept of marriage. “A lot of people have a very romantic and traditional image of wedlock, and fair enough, it works fine for them, but it’s a very personal thing,” he says.

Abhay feels that one “should be allowed to marry and have kids in a traditional manner”. He adds, “At the same time, one should also be accepted the other way around, wherein one doesn’t want to get married, but desires to settle with someone and have kids. That’s my view.”

So does that mean no marriage for the Deol lad? “I just answered your question. If you don’t get my response from it, I’m not going to get into details,” laughs Abhay, who has seemingly opened up about the presence of girlfriend Preeti Desai in his life.

“But I’ve never hidden it. We have made public appearances in the past. I just don’t want to go about denying or announcing anything. It’s all about striking a fine balance,” he explains.

The 35-year-old further adds, “If you ask me now, ‘Are you seeing Preeti, I will say, ‘Yes, of course, I am.’ But if you ask me further questions like, ‘How did you meet?’, ‘Where do you go?’ or ‘What do you do?’, I won’t answer.”

Lastly, ask Abhay if he watched Preeti in her debut film, Shor In The City and he says, “She was fantastic in it. She was very natural and that’s the best thing about her.”

New item boy in town!
For his upcoming zom-com, to be directed by Navdeep Singh of Manorama Six Feet Under (2007) fame, Abhay is set to put on his dancing shoes. “It’s got horror, humour, dance and music. I am keen to do an item number in the film. And Navdeep is totally happy with it. He is like, ‘Chalo, let’s do it. Why not?’ Since he is traveling to do a recce for the film, I hope what I said has dawned on him,” he laughs. “For the moment, he has given a go-ahead. It’s one film you can go all out with.” The shooting for the film, which also stars Genelia D’Souza, is likely to kickstart in two months. “We will also do a 10-day workshop before shooting,” says Abhay.

HT Image