Bobby Deol plays the character of Yash in Race 3.
“When I did Soldier many years ago, Ramesh Taurani always wanted me to remove my shirt, but now times have changed and it’s about a complete package,” Bobby Deol said when I asked him about his famous shirtless scene in Race 3.
Race 3 marks Salman Khan’s entry into the popular action franchise, but it is Bobby Deol who is getting a lot of traction for his absolutely new avatar in the ensemble film. The actor who has remained away from the scene for some time is ecstatic at returning to cinema. The actor, however, revealed that he suffered from vertigo during the film’s shoot.
In an exclusive chat with indianexpress.com, Bobby shared, “When I started shooting for the song “Party Chale On”, on its first day, I had a vertigo attack. I didn’t even know the vertigo means the whole world is spinning millions of times. I was like I have to work and what is wrong with me. I went to Salman and he took me to his van and everybody was there to take care of me. Though I was fine the next day, but that’s one memory I have.”
Bobby was last seen in Poster Boys. But over the past few years, the only films that he has been part of were from his home banner and the Yamla Pagla Deewana franchise. He remained quite absent between 2013-2017. So what was the reason behind Bobby not signing any films during this time? He explained, “I was just fighting the demons in my head, wondering what’s wrong, why am I not getting any work. I thought I am sitting at home, what will my sons think about me. Then, I started to look after my health and became focused. I met a lot of people in the industry, but the thing is you can tell people honestly what you are trying to say but they will believe in you only if they see it physically as well. That’s when I started preparing myself and then Poster Boys happened. I got a lot of phone calls and messages that people liked my work. That gave me more energy.”
“I had met Salman years back. He told me when I was going through a bad phase I climbed on your brother’s (Sunny Deol) back. I told him, now, let me climb on your back (laughs). And he kept his word and he thought of me and finally, when I was shooting for Yamla Pagla Deewana 3, I got a call from Salman and he said ‘Mamu, shirt utaarega?’ (Will you take off your shirt?), and I said, ‘Mamu, I’ll do anything!’,” Bobby added with a grin.
Recollecting how Salman kept a close watch on him during his preparation days, Bobby shared, “Salman saw to it that I trained well. He was such a sweetheart. He is an angel. He used to call my trainer and check how I was doing. He does a lot and he is so involved with a lot of people around him. No wonder he deserves every bit of the success he has. I was just lucky.”
Bobby Deol and Jacqueline Fernandez in a still from Race 3.
Bobby ended the chat on an honest note, “It’s difficult to get good work. Period. You have to work hard and have to go out, meet people and knock on their doors. You need to create a character for you in the script by meeting everyone.”
Race 3 has been directed by Remo D’Souza and also stars Salman Khan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Daisy Shah, Anil Kapoor and Saqib Saleem. It releases on June 15.