Bobby Deol credits OTT for breaking free from Typecasting: I have moved away from what my image used to be...

Bobby Deol talks about his career choices

Bobby Deol is in the middle of what many are calling the most exciting chapter of his career. After grabbing headlines — and praise — for his powerful role in Animal, the actor has been on a roll, diving into intense, layered characters that are a far cry from the romantic hero image he started out with.

Next up, Bobby is all set to appear in The Ba***ds of Bollywood, the highly awaited Netflix debut of Aryan Khan, son of Shah Rukh Khan, hitting the platform on September 18.

He’s also leading Anurag Kashyap’s gritty drama Bandar, which just had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

While in Toronto, Bobby spoke candidly with Screen about how far he’s come — and the journey it took to get here. “Today, I have become more brave and fearless. I have moved away from what my image used to be. The web shows I acted in were very helpful in this regard,” he shared.

He recalled the time when work dried up, and instead of giving up, he took acting classes and reflected on what had gone wrong.

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“I asked myself: why did my career have a good start? That’s because people saw something in me. However, because of my wrong choices, my career suffered. I worked on regaining faith in myself as well as being disciplined. If you are disciplined, you can put more effort into your work without feeling the pressure.”

There’s a sense of honesty and humility in the way Bobby describes his second innings. He credits streaming platforms for allowing him to break free from being typecast. “In this industry, one tends to get typecast. It is tough to break that mould. OTT gave me that chance to come out of it. Playing an antagonist character and getting appreciation is something I had not imagined. However, every antagonist has to be different — be it my character in Aashram or Animal.”