PeepingMoon Exclusive: Bobby Deol talks about playing age-appropriate character in 'Class Of '83', says 'was on a lookout for a role that establishes me as an actor'

By Ankita Bhalla

on August 18, 2020

Sporting long locks, chiselled abs and suave looks, Bobby Deol left behind an impressive in every person's mind in the 90s. It won't be wrong to say he was the charming soldier of Bollywood. Now, as he completed quarter-century in the film industry, the 51-year-old is all set to showcase the other side of his acting craft as Dean Vijay Singh in Atul Sabharwal's Netflix film Class Of '83. Interestingly, his character's name is the same as his real name (Vijay Singh). Ahead of the film's release, Bobby along with his Class Of '83 co-actors Hitesh Bhojraj, Sameer Paranjape and Bhupendra Jadawat spoke to PeepingMoon.com in an exclusive interview.

Talking about being the Bollywood veteran on board with youngsters along, Bobby said, "It was exciting for me to play a character of my age. It is away from all those I've done in my career. Everything that I did was glamourised. This is the first time, as an actor, I enjoyed playing a real character. It was something I was always looking for. Dean Vijay Singh is a person who is heroic as well as vulnerable. That is what makes him relatable. All these years I was on a lookout for something like this and the day I was offered Class Of '83 which is a Shah Rukh Khan-Gauri Khan and Gaurav Verma production on Netflix, I hoped that the script is good. When I read it, I decided to not let it go. At that point, I felt it will change so much about me as an actor, the way people perceive me and hoped people take me seriously and have more faith in me to give further opportunities. That is what an actor looks for. But in the industry, you get a fixed image and roles are dependent on it. It is not where you can portray yourself as an actor more than just a glamourous person."

Bobby is making his web debut with Class Of '83. Speaking of what prompted him to sign the film based on a novel by Hussain Zaidi of the same name, the actor who is seen sporting a salt-n-pepper look, told, "All my career I have been searching for a character that I as an actor would relish while performing. I am trying to mould people’s thought process about me. I hope this film has done justice to that."

Watch the interview here: