Bobby Deol says younger fans had 'forgotten' him, he had to do a Salman Khan film to remind people 'Bobby bhi koi hai'

Salman Khan's Race 3 was instrumental in reviving Bobby Deol's acting career, followed by success with Aashram and Animal.

Actor Bobby Deol started his career in the 90s as a new sensation. After hits like Barsaat and Soldier very early in his career, Bobby was seen as the next big thing. And while he made films that later became cult classics, box-office success eluded him for the next few years. It took films like Race 3 and the web series Aashram for him to script a comeback in the late 2010s. In a chat with Shekhar Suman on his show, Bobby revealed how he felt the younger generation had forgotten him, prompting him to play a supporting role in Race 3 opposite Salman Khan.

Bobby Deol with Salman Khan in Race 3.

Bobby Deol on Race 3

Released in 2018, Race 3 changed the franchise's cast, bringing in Salman Khan instead of Saif Ali Khan. Bobby Deol appeared as a supporting character in the film, which also starred Anil Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Daisy Shah, and Saqib Saleem. Speaking with Shekhar Suman on Shekhar Tonite, Bobby recalled, “Salman was so sweet. Kuch saalo baad usne mujhe phone kiya aur kaha, 'Shirt utarega maamu' (Will you take off your shirt). I said, 'Main kuch bhi karunga' (I will do anything). Then he said come on, listen to the story and that is how I got Race 3.

Race 3 was a box-office success, earning over ₹300 crore worldwide, though it did not match the standards set by some of Salman’s other hits at the time. Yet it did give Bobby’s flagging career a boost, further revived by Prakash Jha’s Aashram, which aired in 2020. Talking about Race 3, Bobby added, “Millions of people are going to go watch a Salman Khan film. Jo young generation thi woh Bobby Deol ko bhool gayi thi (The young generation had forgotten Bobby Deol). So I felt ki main iss film me aaunga toh log pehchanenge ki koi Bobby Deol bhi hai (If I do this film, people will realise I exist).”

Bobby Deol 2.0

After the success of Race 3 and Aashram, Bobby’s career truly turned around after he played the brief but memorable role of the antagonist in Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal. The film starred Ranbir Kapoor in the lead role, but many fans and critics felt that Bobby held his own against the younger star. He has since appeared in the web series The Ba***ds of Bollywood, as well as box-office hits like Hari Hara Veera Mallu. Bobby’s next release is slated to be Anurag Kashyap’s Bandar. He also has Jana Nayagan, Vijay’s final film, stuck with the CBFC for months.