Twelve years after he entered showbiz as the Nanhe Deol, Bobby Deol is looking at more variegated fare in his films, and this is what stands out even in this rather busy year for him. His Nanhe Jaisalmer released last week and he is so charged about this film that he has co-produced it too.

The actor whose chameleonic past includes Barsaat, Gupt, Soldier, Dillagi, 23 March 1931 - Shaheed, Humraaz and this year’s Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Apne and Naqaab is down-to-earth, warm and courteous (a family trait) and candid as always.

Excerpts from an interview:

Nanhe Jaisalmer, in a different yet similar context, sees you reprising what you father Dharmendra did in Guddi 36 years ago - a lead role as yourself with a fan as the other protagonist.

Yes, but the two films are completely different. Nanhe Jaisalmer is about belief and faith in your dreams and how your own imagination can make dreams come true. 

There is the message that education is important to achieve goals. A child has to understand that what is good for me as an adult is not good for him.

Your co-star Dwij Yadav is said to be a very smart cookie.

Oh he is! Children are smarter nowadays - it’s all about evolution in the human race. By the time they are six years old, they can teach you so many things, and they take to gadgetry like fishes to water - it’s all in-built. Dwij remembered not just his own but everyone’s lines - he was a dialogue-prompter for me and all of us!

It's so funny that when Sameer narrated the script, I was apprehensive only about Dwij - handling children can be an ordeal, like their short attention spans when we take up homework, I thought. But two months with Dwij changed my views. One day I casually asked him how much he got in his last examinations and he said he got 89 per cent.

Why did Sameer Karnik, who wrote and directed the film, think of you for this role?

He says that the script needed a hero who was like a mix of me and my image. Samir was frantically after me with SMSes, but when I finally heard the narration I had never even imagined he would give me such a fascinating subject. It so happened that at that time that I had not been signing films, so I asked him when he would like to start.

He had his complete team in place and I just told him, “Start it now!” I only had one condition - that he better make it exactly as he had narrated it. You know what happens over here all too frequently!

And did he do so?

Absolutely. I am now doing two more films with him - Roshan, which again has Dwij along with Kangana Ranaut, and a cameo in Mera Bharat Mahaan.

This has been a record year for you. Of all the five films you have done, which characters are close to you?

More than characters, I would say that it is about the film. And apart from Nanje Jaisalmer, it is obvious that Apne is very special.

You could say that I am like Dwij in the film, for I was acting for the first time with my hero, my father as well as my other hero, Sunny bhaiyya. It will always be a special film for me, as the first to have all three. I feel blessed to be a part of this family and I want to be with them in all my births.

What was special about the film also was that it did not star the three of us as a gimmick. The roles were tailor-made and the script perfect.

We three had wanted to come together on screen, and Anil Sharma the director wanted this too, but we waited for years. We are very proud of Apne and happy that people have loved the film and my father’s performance. Now we want to do a lighter film together.

You have done your first negative role and your first comic one too this year.

Yes, I have been itching to do comedy for a long time, and I got the chance in Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. Though the film did not work, it got me a lot of appreciation. Naqaab was my fourth film with Abbas-Mustan and I have always loved working with them.

After three films as a paragon, I did villainy here!

Is 2007 going to see more films of Bobby Deol?

Yes, Roshan is complete, and Ek will also release. Sangeeth Sivan directs this thriller that also stars Nana Patekar and Shriya.

What else are you doing?

We are launching a solo film each under our banner. The scripting of the film starring all three of us is being worked on. The first to roll out will be a fifth film with my father and me.

But the only other film that I have signed is a hard-hitting subject with Kabir Kaushik, who last directed Sehar. I was approached for that film, I sensed Kabir’s potential, but thought that the film was too dry. That was why I turned down the film and was not surprised when it did not do well despite being essentially a great film.

Coming full circle, isn’t Nanhe Jaisalmer also a risk - there is not even a heroine.

I think that cinema and the audience are evolving, but entertaining the audience remains the key, whether it is Nanhe Jaisalmer, Roshan or Mera Bharat Mahaan, which is also quite a fresh and different concept like a travelogue.

I think that every film that entertains, even if it is a short, star-less and small-budget film like Khosla Ka Ghosla and Bheja Fry which is commercial.