Abhay on hearing father’s death during ‘Happy Bhag Jayegi’ shoot

Abhay Deol has spoken out about how he managed to move on with the shoot of ‘Happy Bhag Jayegi’ after the death of his father last year.

Ajit Singh Deol, passed away in a Mumbai hospital last October and Deol admitted that the fallout from the loss hit him hard. At the time he was in production for ��Happy Bhag Jayegi�۪ (2016) but had no choice but to tell producer Aanand L Rai that the shoot must be delayed so he could spend time with his sick father. Deol commented that after the passing it was a blessing to come back to work. Talking about this, Abhay told Pune Mirror, ���He would have wanted me to give my best to the film. I took his ashes to scatter at a gurdwara at Anandpur Sahib on my way to Chandigarh before the shoot. It felt like I was starting all over again.”

Deol won�۪t forget very easily the morals his parents and, in particular, his father had implemented into him. “My parents taught me to be responsible and I wouldn’t want to lose what they instilled in me; that would be another loss. I’m grateful that I was with him through his time in the hospital. There was nothing more we could have done. His illness brought the family together and I try and focus on that.”

Delving into his personal life, Deol sees no restrictions in romance. “Love has no nationality for me. I have a preference for dark skin but that’s just superficial. The craziest thing I’ve done for love? Put my life on hold,” he said. He doesn�۪t revel if there has been any family pressure for him to get married. “At the moment my love is my work and I’ve noticed I cannot necessarily handle both at the same time!�۝

He also sees a return to producing on his horizon sometime soon. ���Yes, I will produce a film again, I’m just waiting to finish a couple of acting jobs first and looking for the right script.�۝

Could this also include the covertly acclaimed director�۪s seat? ���I still don’t plan to direct but I’m more open to the idea now than before,” he said. For now though, it seems that through heartbreak, the light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer for Deol.

‘Happy Bhag Jayegi’ releases next week.

By Jeetesh Luhar