Abhay Deol's tryst with Hollywood

Actor Abhay Deol’s last outing on screen was Zoya Akhtar’s Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara where he played a sweet, boy-next-door kind of role.

While he has always been experimental in terms of his roles, one thing he confesses that he can’t do is dance. In a bid to overcome this, Abhay has been taking dancing lessons for his item number in Shaadi Of The Dead.

From playing a zombie in the film, it is a complete 360 degree turn for him as he is doing an extremely different role in his big Hollywood debut film, Singularity. Roland Joffe’s Singularity will see him play an action packed role, a far cry from his other outings till date.

The actor is super excited about his Holywood venture but confesses that he never thought he would land a role in Joffe’s film. The Mission (1986) is a film he recalls watching as a child. It was one of those films that shaped his desire to become an actor.

“So when I got the opportunity to work with a man who’d inspired me, I grabbed it,” he says. Rolland, Abhay admits, lived up to his image: “He’s a lovely man; soft-spoken, protective and father-like.”
The film is a story of an impossible love set against the backdrop of the first Anglo-Maratha war across two time periods and continents.

Abhay plays the role of Udaiji, a part he calls the “most physically challenging one he has ever played”. He admits it was tough to do a film where everyone, including the Maratha warriors, spoke in English. To add to his troubles, his action-packed role required intensive training in Israeli martial arts and horse riding. “I had ridden before, but by the end of the three-week training, I was galloping through my Hollywood debut. Rolland was a happy man because I didn’t need body doubles for my stunts,” he says.

The film also stars Bipasha Basu as Tulaja Naik, a Maratha warrior, James Stewart (Josh Hartnett), a British officer posted in India in the 1780s to spearhead a war against the Marathas, falls desperately in love with her. 

Ask him about his co-star Bipasha Basu and he is all praises for her. The duo has apparently known each for quite sometime now. Abhay and Bips also bonded with Josh on the sets and the trio would often hang out together. “I’ve known Bipasha for a while. It was nice to be on the sets with her,” he says.