Kabir Bedi is probably best known as the model-actor who set hearts aflutter with his tall, good looks and baritone voice. The actor, who has tried his histrionic skills both in Hollywood and the Hindi film industry, shares an easy camaraderie with his son Adam from his marriage with American model, Ischel.

Adam, a former model, made his Bollywood debut with Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Charas and followed it up with Sanjay Jha’s Strings. Now he has decided to try his luck on the international scene and spend the next few months in the US. But that clearly won’t be a barrier between father and son who make sure that each is just a phone call away.

Kabir:

I have had long periods of separation from Adam. But during the first nine years of his life, we saw a lot of each other, because we were both living in the US. Adam was a good-looking child with startlingly blue eyes and brown hair. So wherever he’d go with us, he got a fair amount of attention with people commenting on his eyes.

Now, a divorce is always difficult for all the persons in the relationship to deal with. But I’ve never noticed any visible reactions from Adam. In a sense, children from a divorce background, turn out to be resilient and learn to adapt to changing situations.

I always made sure that even though we were away from each other, we spent time together. At first, Adam was staying in Los Angeles with Ischel and then he moved to Colorado. But he would spend his summer vacations with me. While doing his own things, he cleverly involved me in his activities such as paint bowling, swimming and body surfing.

I see some mannerisms in him that I had when I was young. There are the physical aspects like the build, the looks and the voice. Yet we’re such different personalities. He is an extrovert, while I am, comparatively an introvert. I love reading; he doesn’t. He is into house and trance music, I like Hindi pop. Despite the differences in taste and age, our bond is that of a strong affection.

Somehow, I have never subscribed to the ‘friends’ notion. Children have enough friends of their own. I believe in being a father figure and being a parent who takes part in the child’s development, be it through love, sternness or voicing my opinions on what my son’s doing or not. Above all I want to let him know that I will always be there for him.

Adam:

My dad’s been a good friend and a great teacher. More than anything, we share an open relationship where we can talk about almost anything.

My parents split when I was three years old. So I used to spend my holidays with dad. I would miss him physically at times, but he made sure that I knew that I could call him whenever and irrespective of the phone bills.

He was the one man who has always spoilt me during my childhood. The fact that my parents actually were not together did not quite strike me at the time because I was too young to realise what was going on. They made it comfortable for me — they’d get along fine. At the end of the day, that’s how our family is. It might be divided but we share a great rapport and the family just keeps growing.

Let me give an example of that. My stepfather, Ken, who is half-Swedish and half-American is a cool guy. From the first day, he made it clear that I didn’t have to call him Dad if I didn’t want to. And he has a son from his earlier marriage who is half-Swedish and half-Chinese. We have a four-month age gap and are very close to each other. That’s how our family works.

In the meantime, my father was staying in the US, UK and India. So I got to travel from a very young age — from about eight years. At 11, I was fighting with my mother to let me travel alone.

While we were in LA, I remember making him play paintball with me. We would wear helmets and goggles and protective gear because you’re prone to bruises when you shoot pellets of colour at each other with air guns. My father would turn into Rambo on the field.

I’ve been living on my own in Mumbai for the past six years. Before I got my own place, I stayed with him for a year. We hang out together and often go to parties and various events together. Once in a while we take off to Goa. Recently he took me to see the school he studied in — Sherwood in Nainital. It was interesting to see where he grew up.

I grew up watching my father’s films, though not his Hindi ones as I learnt the language only after I came to stay in Mumbai. Though it’s definitely an advantage to have your father in the industry itself, I am proud of the fact that I am where I am today on my own.