Abhay Deol: There is more recognition today

From Tokyo to Toronto Dev Benegal's ROAD, MOVIE has found acclaim on its travels through the international festival circuit. Ahead of the film hitting the box office this Friday, we caught up with Abhay Deol, to get the lowdown on what is going to be his eighth release.
'In a really short pitch it's about a guy driving a truck through the desert which he discovers is actually a moving cinema. In one line that would be the story', explains Abhay. 'Of course there are many layers to the film. It is an adventurous story, about a protagonist maturing who has not been out there much. He takes upon the responsibility of driving this truck, and we see what happens to him on the way, the kind of people he meets, how they influence him and what he discovers about himself.'
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Despite a number of delays due to poor weather conditions, the shooting was completed in two and half months, 'It was beautifully shot and I don't know how many Indo- American productions have been made, but we had people from America, people from France, and of course many of the team were Indians, so a nice joint effort of people coming from around the globe.'
Although Abhay has been in the industry for five years, it has been recent hits OYE LUCKY! LUCKY OYE! and DEV D, one of the major successes at the Filmfare awards, that have catapulted the actor to stardom, 'The big change is that a lot more people know me now than they did before.' Shooting in often remote areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat, Abhay appreciated the adoration of fans who turned up to watch the filming, 'I suppose, there is more recognition today, with the names of my characters from my movies called out which was great. Lots of the films are named after the characters I play like Lucky and Dev.'
Let's hope that Abhay's new character Vishnu becomes a favourite among devotees of the poster boy of Bollywood's offbeat. But does the actor miss having one Raj or Rahul name to stick with? 'I haven't repeated any name at all. I don't know why actually, it's probably a different form of cinema that I do', Abhay signs off.