Why girls adore Abhay Deol...

Talking about experiments, his free-spirited nature often reflects in his real life as well. Instead of basking in the glory of Dev D's success, Abhay packed his bags and flew to the US where he even signed up for a welding and metal work course. He found it therapeutic.

Abhay Deol is also learning Krav Maga, an Israeli form of martial arts that Akshay Kumar is well versed with for his next movie, Basra. He has to go through a mixed aerobic and anaerobic workout and has to also use heavy pads to protect his body from damage while training. Apparently he has set up a training area where he would take challenges to judge his skills.

Turning point

Abhay got his first hit with Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd. With audiences having only good things to say about him, it was obvious he would be keen on signing some big films. It came as a surprise when Abhay continued to work with debutant directors who wanted to deliver something fresh.

If Ek Chaalis Ki Last Local was a one-night tale about what transpires after a man misses the last train back home, Manorama Six Feet Under was about a struggling detective novelist pulled into a real-life detective drama. While Ek Chaalis Ki Last Local was an average grosser, Manorama was a commercial failure. But movie lovers developed a newfound love for the actor after the DVDs were released. The critics understood the actor was here to stay.

With Anurag Kashyap's Dev D, a contemporary take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's classic Bengali novel Devdas, Abhay finally bagged his first big hit. Dev D was embraced by the media, critics and public alike, and is considered to be amongst path breaking films in Hindi for the way it presented itself.

The journeyman

His creative passion often compels him to don different hats from time to time. Abhay Deol turns producer with Basra. After Manorama…, where the director did a brilliant job and the actors put in their best, it didn't take him long to understand the importance of distributing and marketing the films the right way.

For Basra, Abhay has roped in Navdeep Singh of Manorama Six Feet Under to helm the project that will feature him with Shahana Goswami, Chitrangda Singh and Soniya Mehra. Reportedly, Basra is high on content, with a considerable dose of action sequences. It is a mainstream film but has something that will make people ponder and keep them on the edge of their seats.

Coming up next

With Basra and Aisha (with Sonam Kapoor) still under production, Abhay at present is looking forward to the release of Road, Movie, also starring Tannishtha Chatterjee and Satish Kaushik. The film was highly applauded at the Toronto Film Fest and opened the section Generation 14plus at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2010.

Expectations are high as the film hits the theatres on March 5. Hope it's worth the wait.