‘At 40, Bobby Deol was told he should learn acting’: Anurag Kashyap says actor improvised for the first time in his 30 year career

Anurag Kashyap praised Bobby Deol’s commitment to his film Bandar and said that even though Bobby was surrounded by great actors, he never felt insecure.

By: Entertainment Desk

Mumbai | September 20, 2025 12:02 PM IST

3 min read

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

Anurag Kashyap has joined hands with Bobby Deol for their upcoming film Bandar

Bobby Deol, who was recently seen in Aryan Khan’s The Ba***ds of Bollywood, will also be seen next in Anurag Kashyap’s Bandar, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month. In a recent interview, Anurag revealed how Bobby told him that at the age of 40, someone told him that he should, perhaps, learn acting. Bobby is the son of veteran actor Dharmendra, and the younger brother of actor Sunny Deol.

Speaking to The Lallantop, Anurag said, “Bobby told me something that really struck me. He said, ‘When I turned 40, someone told me, Bobby, you need to learn how to act. No one ever told me that in my childhood.’ And he took that to heart. That’s why, when he did Aashram or Love Hostel, he played characters completely unlike who he is in real life. He once told me, ‘I’m doing roles that can make you hate yourself.’ But I’ve seen how deeply he wants to inhabit these characters, and that gives me a lot of satisfaction.”

He also added that in Bandar, Bobby shared the stage with more than 100 theatre-trained actors who have also won National awards, but did not feel insecure. “Bobby wasn’t insecure for even a second, and that’s why his performance rose above everything. He never once lost his confidence, and because of that, he even started improvising for the first time. I didn’t even have to say ‘cut’ — he would deliver entire scenes in a single take. He did things in this film that he’d never done in his life, things he didn’t even know he was capable of. But he had so much trust in me, and I made sure never to break that trust,” he said.

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While speaking about Bobby Deol, Anurag also weighed in on why he always avoids working with big stars, saying that stardom can become a trap. Fan expectations often force actors to repeat the same image, turning them into caricatures of their past selves. He gave the example of Dev Anand, who stayed stuck in his youthful image from his older films like Guide, Jewel Thief. Over time, even his fans began to mock him, which he said, also happened with Rajesh Khanna, who was one of the biggest stars of his era.

In an earlier conversation with Sudhir Srinivasan, Anurag had revealed that Bobby joined Bandar at a time when he was flooded with big film offers. Still, he chose a smaller, more emotionally demanding role. “A complete surrender from someone who’s been a star for the longest time, seen a total lull, and is now getting offers from the biggest films, but picks Bandar and says, ‘I want to do it.’ Because he’s thinking, ‘I’ve never been asked to just be vulnerable.’ He’s so vulnerable in the film — so emotionally naked,” he said.

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