Actor Abhay Deol has talked about a period in his life when he felt overtaken by the attention and stardom that would follow the release of Dev D. The movie made the actor famous and was a cult hit, but Abhay claimed he couldn’t handle the changes and quit Mumbai for New York.
Abhay talked about his belief that Anurag Kashyap’s Dev D would become a huge hit and transform his life and career in an interview with Humans of Bombay. The movie from 2009 was a hit.
Abhay talked about how he went to New York during that time and lived there for a while, “I was finding it hard to deal with the attention and fame because I started getting flashbacks of when I was a kid.”
“I was a sensitive child, and I didn’t like the attention. I liked the art, creativity and medium. I knew that Dev D was going to be big, but I didn’t want to be famous. But at the same time, I wanted to act. There was a conflict within me. I focused a lot on the negatives. I hadn’t resolved many issues, so I just ran away because I was afraid of being famous and everything that came with it.”
He also adds, “I knew I wasn’t going to stay there. I was just in New York playing the part I played in Dev D, getting drunk, not working and being terrible with my money. It was a waste in that sense. I won’t call it a waste now because I learnt something, but it was destructive. I wanted to come back home and continue to earn and support myself and my family.”
“There are responsibilities; you have to come back. This is a make-believe world. I knew it wasn’t going to be permanent; it was a temporary escape.”
Dev D, a contemporary adaption of Sarat Chandra’s classic Devdas, was written and directed by Anurag Kashyap. Kalki Koechlin and Mahie Gill played the main parts in the movie as well. Dev D, an indie film with a modest budget, brought in ₹20 crore at the box office and took home multiple major honours, including six Filmfare Awards and a National Film Award.