ABHAY DEOL

I was inherently slightly more bitter or cynical and that kept me from going to the commercial formulaic crowd. Also, I went to an art college and I did my foundation in art.

I believe there are two kinds of journalists. One who sells a story by being creative, and one who sells a story by being sensationalist.

I was termed 'choosy' because when an actor decides to go against the wind and takes on only non-formula films, he is not left with much choice.

With my humor, I end up offending everybody!

I don't think there's anything like love at first sight. What happens is actually lust at first sight.

I am over that phase where any kind of story would bother me, be it personal or professional. I just laugh it off and forget about it.

I have family in America and I lived with them for a while. Every few years, I feel the need to disassociate myself from what I do. It really helps the actor within me.

A decade down the line, I don't want to sit back and think that I didn't do anything to stop disasters like the extinction of certain species.

I was always looking for relatability, because I am not someone cut out for larger than life roles.

If we are not affected by our environment, then we have somewhere become insensitive. It might be good in a way because you might not be affected by anything and be calm always.

After 'Socha Na Tha' flopped, nobody wanted to work with me. I became very bitter and angry. So now when the industry and the audience accept me, I feel more empowered.

If I did an item song, it would be something to watch out for.

We have 5000-year-old history which is now almost a part of our DNA. How do you break that? America, for example, doesn't have that history behind it. It romanticizes rebellion. We look down upon rebellion. It's an insult. To think out-of-the-box is looked down upon here.

It harms me when people say I am 'non-mainstream' or 'non-commercial' actor. I try to fight off such labels.

I grew a very early distaste for fame and glamour because I saw what the spotlight and attention can do to you as a family, so to speak.

I always wanted my work to speak for itself but I realized you have to show people a little bit of yourself and interact with them, especially before your film releases.

After being an actor, producing 'One By Two' was a natural progression.

I feel my advantage of coming from a film family is - having seen fame up close, having seen the industry so close and how it works, I was not enamored by fame.

Being a Deol for me is to be honest; walking with my head held high and never having to bow in front of injustice.

I have cheated. But I don't regret it because we were not serious. I wouldn't have ever done it if I were serious about the girl.

The kind of work I do and the films I believe in, I had to take charge of making that kind of cinema.

The only sense marriage makes is to share property, your children inherit the name and all that... it is all legal reasons to get married and no reason for love.

Tamil for me is my cousin Esha. I even told her that I was preparing to play a Tamilian and asked her if she could teach me the language.

As long as it excites me, I am game for it.

We all have to find a cause we believe in and pursue it. Sometimes it may cost you your job, your personal life, your love life, etc.