Abhay Deol explains why star kids recreate their parents’ songs, act like them

Abhay Deol has spoken about how star kids often find themselves in a situation which requires them to act like their parents or recreate their songs. The actor is the nephew of veteran actor Dharmendra and the cousin of actors Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol and Esha Deol. He is currently gearing up for his upcoming release, Jungle Cry. Also read: Abhay Deol says he has been gaslit for being himself: ‘Have had directors slag me in public and spread lies about me’

The actor was recently asked about his earlier statement when he said actors in Bollywood are not allowed to be individuals. He said star kids in the industry are expected to work in a certain way.

“That was more specific to my own situation, because I came from a film background. I had a lot of that thrown at me, and a lot of star kids get this, when people say, ‘Oh your uncle is from the film industry, your dad is like this, your mom is like that, so there’s already an audience image tailor made for you’. And my reaction to that was always, ‘But I am me. I am not my dad, my uncle or my brothers’,” Abhay told Etimes in an interview.

Talking about how the industry has particular expectations from star kids, he further said, “I felt a lot of resistance to me being different from them. People said you have a formula made for you, you’d be stupid to turn that down. But I always said, doing that wouldn’t be me. I had to say that I am an individual and why don’t you use that individuality and see what it’s capable of. That is the reality of the industry especially for kids who come from industry backgrounds. That’s why you’ll see the star kids often doing a cover of a song that their father did or acting like their mother. It’s because they’ve been put into that position.”

Abhay has worked on his own terms and conditions. Barring a few like Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara, most of his films fall under the ‘non-commercial’ category. He claims he likes to call them non conventional films. After making his acting debut with Imtiaz Ali’s Socha Na Tha, he became known for his performances in Dev.D, Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, Manorama Six Feet Under and Happy Bhag Jayegi.