The 32-year-old was launched by
his uncle Dharmendra with "Socha Na Tha" in 2005. He
then went on to prove his mettle with films like "Ahista
Ahista", "Manorama Six Feet Under", "Ek Chalis
Ki Last Local", "Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd" and
more recently "Dev
D".
When asked what motivated him to don the producer's
hat, Abhay revealed: "I had bad experiences in the past,
with 'Manorama...' being the classic example where the director
did his job - he made it well, actors gave their level best but
when it was the producer's turn to distribute and market the film,
it was nowhere to be seen.
"Not just 'Manorama...', I had been through
this for some of my other films too. I realised that I need to
protect my films because the director will move on, the producer
will move on too but as an actor I will be considered a flop if
things will not work.
"I also realised I need to protect myself,"
he explained.
Along with that he also wanted to give a platform
to new and dynamic directors to make films that have quality content.
"The idea was also to provide platform to
filmmakers to make the kind of movies they want to make -- probably
high on content, low on budget. Let's see where the formula goes
and then I will take it from there," said the actor, who
was in the capital to attend the 11th Osian's Cinefan film festival
where two of his films, "Dev D" and "Oye
Lucky! Lucky Oye!" were screened.
So does he plan to sign his cousins Sunny and
Bobby Deol for his home productions?
"I would love to sign them for my films
but it also depends on whether the role is right for them. So
I don't think I will be able to approach them for my first venture,
but something in the future definitely," said Abhay.
Right now the actor is excited about his upcoming
film "Road" with Dev Benegal and his romantic film "Ayesha"
with Sonam
Kapoor. |