Abhay Deol comes from a family of stars. Whether it is his father Ajit Deol, his uncle Dharmendra, or his cousins Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Esha Deol and Ahana Deol, each of them has appeared on the big screen. Recently, Abhay made a surprising revelation. In an interview, he spoke about growing up in a “conservative” household, mentioning that in his family, women are “not allowed” to work in films. Abhay Deol said, “They (women) are allowed to work but not in films.”
The actor also mentioned, “While growing up we were pretty conservative, we were a joint family with seven kids in the house. Films were something I was exposed to from childhood, through my uncle and father. They came from humble backgrounds, they came from a village, and for them the big city and world of glamour was alien. They want to hold on to their small-town values, which I can see in retrospect. Back then I didn't understand why were held back from going to ‘filmy parties' as they call them, or mingle with the industry kids or the industry. They were trying to protect us, but back then I was confused,” during a conversation with Filmfare.
Abhay Deol also shared that his father, Ajit Deol, “hated” his 2007 film Manorama Six Feet Under. “What I did with the film industry, my family was not surprised at all. They always said I should either be a lawyer or an actor. If you ask Bobby or Sunny Deol, they will just tell you that I argue a lot. I started as a left-hander and they made me a right-hander, and I kept questioning it. Early in my career, the film choices I made, they were concerned. They did make my first movie Socha Na Tha, and they were okay with that, but with the later choices like Manorama or Ek Chaalis Ki Last Local, they made peace with my choices with Dev D and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!. They just didn't want me to go down that path because they were concerned. My father was worried, he hated Manorama because that was not a language they understood or a change they saw happening,” said the actor.
Abhay Deol will be next seen in Bun Tikki, which marks the directorial debut of Faraz Arif Ansari. The film also features Shabana Azmi and Zeenat Aman in pivotal roles.