Bobby Deol is the dreamboat who sailed into the scene with Barsaat and stolemillions of hearts worldwide. He was proclaimed Adonis and the 'Italian looking god' by many filmmakers and fans clambered to catch a glimpse of the Junior Deol who's smile evokes screams and whose dreamy eyes could make any girl smile.

When I meet Bobby he's dressed casually in a cap covering his cropped locks and gives me a handshake from above as the towering giant looks down at me with a smile. Soon we're seated comfortably and he looks tired. We chat casually to begin with before I brief him on what I'm planning to cover in our interview and he removes his cap, ploughs his fingers through his hair and says "Ok, but these are similar to the questions everyone's asking me right now." I freeze for a second. Have I fallen into the mould of a typical journalist reformulating the usual questions? Noticing my questions end rather abruptly he asks if I have more and I tell him I've a few in my mind I didn't put down because I like to see where the conversation takes us and go with the flow. He smiles the Deol smile, knowing he's not going to get a standard interview from me and we begin.

To start, I ask if the journey from Barsaat to Ajnabee has been a bumpy ride as it hasn't been one that's smooth sailing from day one, he takes a deep breath and takes me on that journey.
"Has it been a bumpy ride? People say that because Barsaat was my first film and it was really hyped. It didn't meet the expectations that the people had but it did well. Because it was the most expensive film sold at that point people expected it to do phenomenal business but it didn't. It was a hit and did enough business to be called a hit but not the scale of success people were looking for. So it did well and I was happy," he says before ordering tea for both of us.

"Then Gupt came and did well, then Aur Pyar Ho Gaya came which was a bad film and didn't do well. Then Kareeb came which was a nice film but the second half didn't have what it required, something was missing. My image was of a stronger person than the character and it was a very realistic film so these things worked against it. The audience doesn't want to see reality, they want to see dreams which is basically why it didn't do well. Soldier came and it was a big hit and people thought it was all planned by me to do an action film after Kareeb, but that wasn't so because I signed them both at the same time and to be honest, I try and do different films of all kinds. And it's just my bad luck that I didn't succeed in the romantic ones or the comedy ones and I was more accepted in the thriller and action ones, which was sad because in our industry everybody needs an image. It's not like Hollywood or British cinema where you can do all sorts of roles.
So that was really it, after that I did Dillagi which really upset me as it was a film very close to my heart and definitely among my best work and the best film I was a part of, maybe I'm biased because it was my brother's film, but I enjoyed that film thoroughly. It's failure upset me. Then I had Badal which did well in Northern India and the interior sectors, but if it doesn't do well in a city the industry doesn't call it a hit. If you see the business of that film in the areas of UP, Delhi or Punjab or Nizam, it's done better business than the biggest hits of the year of that period, but then I guess that's just how the media works: they see what's in front of the house and believe in that. If it's a little far away they read about it and forget about it."

I'm surprised at how well he knows the business of each of his films with such per-territory accuracy, and we continue.
"It did well and after that I had Hum To Mohabbat Karega which was a bad film and didn't do well, then Bichoo which I really enjoyed doing. The only thing was I died in the end and people didn't like that so it didn't work as well as it should have, but again did well in the interiors. So it's been nice and a smooth ride, as long as people appreciate my work I'm happy. It's the truth that people like to watch me and I have fans, so it's been nice. I haven't had instant success or the media really hyping me to the skies which is ok, because it's kept me more level headed having these ups and downs and I understand how important it is to work hard, and that life isn't always easy. Because every actor hasn't had his every film do well so I'm pretty cool with my first film not doing so bad and the rest following."

As he reminds me of every one of his films, I remember after Barsaat my own disappointment was that he seemed to be moving towards an action mould, which does not have a strong market overseas. In the UK the films that do the best business are either love stories or family entertainers and if anything, action flicks get the worst beating at the box office as they simply can't compete with the action films we're being offered abroad. I ask why he did so many action films and whether the image or tag of being an action hero was there and if so, bothered him.
"See I've always tried to do a variety of roles and not get stuck with an image. I haven't succeeded in the romantic films and so the distributors and producers come to you with more action roles that are safer. But I have some people who want to make different films with me but I'm waiting for a film to touch my heart because I don't want to risk failing in this area again. I really want to do something in a romantic or family mould but the director you work with has to be someone who can make a kind of a film like that. It's a combination of both the director and the subject," he reasons.

I go on to ask him about how being a Deol has made him a ready-made target for certain sections of the press and how they initially hype him saying that no one like him has been born before and then they try to bring him down (as is now becoming standard practice with the Indian film press), and how it can affect a newcomer.
"Yeah but that's what happens. Because you're someone's brother or son, they expect so much more from you and it's unfair because they (the audience and critics) expect the world out of us. They expect us to be perfect from the word go and it's difficult. So when Hrithik and Abhishek were coming I knew Hrithik would be the underdog because his father wasn't as popular as an actor and Amitabh Bachchan, well the whole world knows about him. But if you see, Hrithik really worked hard on himself and it has helped him. Even when he was being launched, it was a film no one expected anything out of and it was the underdog's film and ultimately it did well. Abhishek Bachchan is Amitabh's son and he even looks like his father. I mean he's a good actor but it's just that the first film he did wasn't a showcase piece on him and was more realistic film that was pretty long and pretty slow, which went against him. If the film had done well, equations would be different. At this moment he's not had that much luck with films, but I think he's great and I know him personally as well and I'm sure he's got a long way to go."

Our tea arrives and we get more comfortable as I munch on a biscuit before asking why the Indian media insist on dissecting an image they themselves have created and have little positive criticism to offer in their work.
"Yeah, but that's what they do over here. When I came out they hyped me so much and made me out to be this huge Casanova and a star and created an image that was not me. This hype really reaches a peak and they want to watch you fall down, and it's not just with me they do it with every actor. They do this until there comes a point when the audience loves you and so they can't do anything and so eventually they write in a way that starts well but ends on a bad note."

So what can we, as international media do to apply pressure on the home-grown maligners?
"You should give them a real view of what's happening in our industry and an inside view, rather than what's being written by these gossip magazines."
At this point Bobby stares at me as I make some funny faces at him. Not because there's anything particularly funny about what he said but because I have to some tea-skin on my tongue which I despise and so I make faces reflecting my distress much to his enjoyment.
"Malai nahin achi lagti hai?" he asks, before laughing.

He continues:
"There's not much you can do because not everyone wants to write the truth, they'd rather write something with more masala and born out of fiction so it sells and people want to read about it. That's why mags that write more gossip do well, so I guess ultimately there's little you can do about it, but keep trying."

In 2000 Bobby joined Salman Khan, Saif, Raveena Tandon and a few others on what was the Millennium Masti tour. The shows were well acclaimed and it was Bobby's first world tour. The fans loved him and it truly was an unforgettable experience. What were they like?

Bobby leans forward, putting down his tea for a moment and looks at me widening his eyes a little:
"I was terrified and I'm very scared of doing shows, because I get nervous but once you're up there you realise you get a moment to share with your fans on a face-to-face level even though you're the one on a platform. There is an interaction and you want to do your best and give them your everything and it's an amazing high. I'm still scared to do shows, I really worked hard and everywhere we went it was really encouraging to get the response wherever we went. Now I have to better last time which is scary and when I started I never thought live shows was part of being an actor, but it is a part of an industry and if it's the star dancing to the song they've seen on screen it entertains them more than the singer and it works, which is great."

Did he enjoy the UK leg of the world tour?
"Wembley was great! My father in law came to the show and saw my entrance and the loud cheers and the thumping and he couldn't handle it. So he saw my first item and then left. Wembley was like the icing on the cake and it was the last show and really went out with a bang. It gave me a huge high. I always love going to London as well and to see that response from there was similar to the one I get in Punjab which was fantastic. So it was good fun and Toronto was great too, I think all of them were," he says smiling, picking up his tea again.

Life on the road of a star tour is an experience that cannot simply be put into words, although I've tried many times. I ask him to lend me a helping hand and describe his experience of life on the tour.
"It was like a big holiday! Your week-days become your weekends and your weekends become your week days! You have long weekends and you travel a lot and it's very hectic. I remember I hurt my shoulder while shooting for Bichoo and it caused problems because I would shoot for the film then go rehearse. Throughout the shows I was in a little pain, I lost weight on the shows, came back and the doctor said no more workouts so I had to stop that, put on weight and had to give my shoulder about three months to begin to heal again. But I'm a lazy guy so when I say workout I didn't do aerobics or anything and all I did was just to keep my weight in check. But I'm getting into shape now!
It's difficult to work out because of the shooting schedule and you get back late, then when you do get back you have your family and all and other things, so it's tough to make time to work out."

Bobby Deol smiles at me as another journalist arrives to meet him, and says: "Not bad it wasn't the interview I expected. Pretty good and different," he says. Before I leave I ask him to give me a message for all his fans reading and he obliges by saying:
"Always be true to yourself, be down to earth and humble. Always work hard and everything will be ok. I'm trying my best and thanks for being there, but if I make mistakes in one or two films, remember I'm only human too! God bless and lots of love."

Ladies and Gentlemen, Bobby Deol.

Fuad Omar.