'I am Bobby Deol, please give me work': Actor recalls pleading with directors for roles during low phase

Bobby Deol has spoken about a low phase in his career when he had no work and took it upon himself to ask directors for roles.

Actor Bobby Deol has seen a renaissance in his career. The veteran actor’s second innings began with Aashram on streaming and then carried over to the big screen with Animal. Now, with The Ba***ds of Bollywood, the one-time heartthrob is in the mainstream again. However, this has come after a long period of struggle, where Bobby admits he was sitting at home and would go to directors asking for work.

Bobby Deol was most recently seen in Aryan Khan's The Ba***ds of Bollywood.

Bobby Deol would ask for work

In the 2010s, Bobby had few films and even fewer hits. This phase saw him sitting at home for extended periods of time. The actor recalled that a stray comment from his son led him to get out of his stupor and look for work. On Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast, Bobby revealed that he would go and visit directors and producers’ offices, looking for work, saying, “I am Bobby Deol. Please give me work.” Bobby said, “There is nothing wrong with that. At least they will remember that Bobby Deol came to meet me.”

Talking about how the low phase affected him, Bobby added, “I had given up in life once. I went through a phase. But when nothing is in your hands, then something makes you realise that you had something which is why you had such a great start. A voice tells you that you still have it and if you don’t get that again, you won’t move forward.”

Bobby Deol's career

Bobby had a very successful debut in Bollywood with Barsaat in 1995, and followed it up with hits like Soldier, Badal, Bichoo, and Ajnabee. This followed a spate of flops in 2000s and 2010s that led to fewer work opportunities. It was Prakash Jha’s Aashram that began his glorious comeback, which was capped by the antagonist’s role in Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s blockbuster Animal in 2023.