Abhay Deol, the actor with the boy-next-door appeal, has taken a different route from the rest of the Deol clan. The juniormost Deol hopes that Navdeep Singh’s Manorama — Six Feet Under will justify his faith in realistic cinema and his need to work with new-age directors...

Anurag Kashyap has called Manorama India’s first truly noir film. Do you agree with him?

I guess so. I’m not sure though. Anurag has already seen the film and if he is saying this, it must be true (laughs). He is well-versed in cinema.

You have always done something different in your films. Does Manorama follow this trend?

I play a PWD engineer who has written a detective novel and created a character called Detective Raghu. Thanks to the book, the PWD engineer is hired to do some detective work. It is pretty real.

You are sporting a different look, with a moustache... The moustache was Navdeep’s idea as the role required me to look older, quiet and melancholic. Navdeep was unsure of casting me in the role because he thought I had a boy-next-door look. I told Navdeep his thinking was unfair because until he gave an actor the opportunity, how would he know what he was capable of? Now, of course, he is really happy with my performance.

How did Navdeep and you get together for this film? I met him through a common friend when he had just moved to Bombay to make movies. Later he went into advertising. We would hang out together and became good friends. He is a great guy and very talented.

Which heroine did you get along better with — Raima Sen or Gul Panag?

It was great working with both of them. Raima is really cute and very talented, more talented than she herself knows. With Raima you can let yourself loose because she likes having fun. Whereas Gul reminds you that you are in a profession, fun and games are fine, but one must concentrate on work and take it seriously. Gul is very hard working. What they have in common is that they are very talented and honest actors.

You have bagged the title role in Anurag Kashyap’s Dev D. How did that happen?

I know Anurag for the past nine years, even before he made Paanch and Black Friday. Dev D happened because I had this idea in my mind and I shared it with him. This was before Anurag had seen Manorama.

Which other films are you doing? Meridian is an ensemble piece with many characters. It’s about how different people from diverse backgrounds are ‘karmic’ally connected. I do not have anyone opposite me in the film, and right now it’s in post-production. Junction is a very dark, violent love story. I’m cast opposite Shilpa Shukla (Bindiya of Chak De! India). The shooting will start from next month and from there I will move on to Dev D. I also have Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye directed by Dibaker Banerjee of Khosla Ka Ghosla fame.

Barring Anurag and Dibaker, you have largely worked with debutant directors. Is that by default or by design?

I never thought I would end up working with debutant directors in my first seven films. I love working with new directors as they have new ideas. But just when I had started wondering when I would have a film where the guy is so experienced that he is moving it forward for me (laughs), I landed an Anurag Kashyap film. I am delighted. Why I have worked with all these debutant directors is because they are treading uncharted territories.

One such uncharted territory was the molestation scene (where he is at the receiving end) in Ek Chaalis Ki Last Local. How did your family react to it?

Well, I told my mom and dad that they cannot see the movie; but my mom and aunt still went to the theatre to watch it. When my mom saw how much people were laughing, she got the humour of it. But my aunt hated it, and she had nightmares about taking a cab after that. However, my mom loved it. She thought I was very natural and she loved the reactions of the people.

You debuted with Imtiaz Ali’s Socha Na Tha which was his debut film too. Now the promos of his second film Jab We Met are out. What is your opinion?

Nice. I think Imtiaz has a very nice signature style and that’s coming through.

Does it hurt when directors who have made their debut films with you cast someone else in their next projects?

I feel happy that I have worked with them. I am not possessive about the directors I work with. What happens if my market in films is X amount and if they want to make films of Y amount, then they can’t make it with me because they need stars for their movies. That hurts because I know those films are being made on a bigger scale and could help me further my career. But producers need to be convinced that I can deliver.