"The journey is complete as far as shooting the film is concerned,” says Abhay Deol when I ask him about the journey of 1:40 Ki Last Local, for which he’s shooting a promotional video at Kamalistan Studios.
The two-film young Deol is biding his time in his trailer for the shoot to begin. “The music has been composed by Call, a band from Pakistan, which has also penned the lyrics of this track."
"It’s a very situational track keeping that Neha’s and my characters happen to meet at the railway station,” he informs while director Sanjay Khanduri and choreographer Ganesh Acharya are finishing the nitty-gritties of the shoot.
“It’s the character, the scope it has for me to perform as an actor, the role it plays in the storyline” that this Deol considers before doing a film. “Then comes the director, his conviction in the subject, his perspective of the plot,” adding as an afterthought, “ I don’t want to do something where I have to dance a lot.”
I wonder if it’s a Deol trait, though Bobby seems to be the best with a good sense of rhythm. “I have a sense of rhythm too, but somehow I’m not too comfortable dancing,” he asserts, maintaining, “It’s got nothing with being a Deol.”
{{/usCountry}}I wonder if it’s a Deol trait, though Bobby seems to be the best with a good sense of rhythm. “I have a sense of rhythm too, but somehow I’m not too comfortable dancing,” he asserts, maintaining, “It’s got nothing with being a Deol.”
{{/usCountry}}With Sunny having settled in the action mould and Bobby as a romantic, which slot does Abhay see for himself ? “It’s still too early for me to think about where I see myself fitting in, but my strength lies in being focused.”
Apart from Imtiaz Ali and Shivam Nair, the directors of his first two films so far, Deol’s other films too are directed by debutants like Khanduri, Reema Kagti (Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd) and Venod Mitra (Meridian). “It’s exciting to work with a new director,” he enthuses. “Since both of us are new and inexperienced, we’ll be adventurous and explore unchartered territory."
"We’re not scared of trying something new and unattempted, so the fear of failure is not holding us back from venturing into the unknown. On the other hand an experienced person who has seen and done it all will probably be too cautious to try something new and play safe within a boundary, which can be stagnating for an actor, both newcomer and established.”
But isn’t it a risk, being guided by another inexperienced person? “Since there’s no guarantee of success, every film is a risk, even if you’re an experienced filmmaker having seen and done it all. So I’d rather try and fail and learn from my mistakes rather than not try at all and never learn anything new.”