Bobby Deol recently received the Best Actor award at the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival (DIFF) for his landmark series MX Player‘s ‘Aashram’. In an exclusive interview with ETimes, the actor opened up about his experience and memories of being a part of the Prakash Jha directorial, and the appreciation he has received so far. Excerpts…

How does it feel to be rewarded for ‘Aashram’?
I really don’t know how to express it. It is a great honour! When I was working on ‘Aashram’, I had never thought that I was working on getting an award. I was just trying to portray my character as best as I could. When you get recognition for something like this, you feel so much confidence. It makes you feel that you are on the right track. I think it is the love of my audience and fans that made this award happen for me. They appreciated my work and I am truly grateful for that.

Take us to the time when you were first approached for the role. What was your reaction?
I have been consciously trying to do different kinds of roles and it is difficult to find different characters. I was equally excited when I got ‘Class of ‘83’ because that is something that I have not done before. One day, I got a call from Shruti Mahajan saying Prakash Jha wanted to meet me and I was super excited as I had always wanted to work with him. I didn’t know what the subject was. It was given to me in my lap. Here I was trying to do something different and ‘Aashram’ was so different in so many ways. Prakash sir saw it in me. I was his first choice. He believed in me. I will always be grateful to him for that.

What is the best compliment that you have received for your performance so far?
When people saw ‘Aashram’ and said that only Bobby Deol can play this character; nobody else could have. I feel that is the biggest compliment that anyone could ever get. At home, everybody is happy; they enjoyed what I did on screen. It was very different from what I have done so far. For so many years you get typecast in the industry and end up playing the same kind of characters. Everybody was very proud of me that I did something different.

You have played a quintessential hero on screen and now you have also shown the audience a glimpse of your darker side. What do you feel is more difficult?
It is how you accept a character and then play it on screen. Once you understand it, every character has the same way of reacting. It is just that situations change. When you are playing the antagonist, you get an edge. You can create that image by just feeling it. You feel it and then give it a look. A lot of people have played gurus on screen but it is very caricaturish and I didn’t want to follow them. I wanted to make it mine. I played the character the way I would have behaved if I was that baba, which really worked for me. Eventually, we all have good and bad in us; it is how we control it.

Were you skeptical that your fans might not approve of you playing a negative character?
I was very skeptical before taking up the role. I thought a lot about it. This was the first time I was offered something like this. It was a big challenge for me and I was quite nervous. Every day on the sets, I would be on my toes. Definitely, it was one of the most difficult characters to play for me. However, at the same time, I enjoyed every moment of it.

Do you think you would have received the same response if you were playing a baddie on the silver screen?
I would not be able to predict that of course but I am sure even if it was made into a two-hour film, the character would still have been very interesting. It would have definitely made an impact.

What was it like on the sets of ‘Aashram’?
It was the best time I ever had! We had such brilliant actors and we bonded well. The whole day I used to behave like a bad baba and in the evening we all used to be buddies. It was great fun! We used to play cricket on our day off.

What was your biggest takeaway from ‘Aashram’?
I have learnt a lot and I am still learning, I believe. ‘Aashram’ has also given me a lot of confidence. At the same time, it has made me nervous about how I am going to approach my other work. Now people expect more from me. At one given point, I had nothing to lose. No one thought about me much as an actor. I never thought I would get a best actor award. I am not going to work towards getting an award but it is really necessary to give the audience something different and entertain them. As an actor, I think you should never fail to do that.

You also recently completed 25 glorious years in films. How do you look back at your journey so far?
I think it has been great learning for me in the past 25 years. I have seen ups and downs. I have spent time when I was struggling with myself and my work. I think it has taught me how to be stronger and more confident. I have more belief in myself as an actor now more than before.

What is topping your bucket list right now?
It is nothing like that. It is a new chapter and I am looking for different characters to play. It doesn’t have to be the main lead roles but they have to be characters of substance, that make an impact.

What’s next?
Right now, I am going to be shooting for a project called, ‘Love Hostel’. I am doing workshops and will be leaving in some days. I am very excited for it!