Abhay Deol

OT: Do you enjoy travelling?

Abhay Deol: I absolutely love travel. I am almost passionately driven to do it. In any case, my work involves a fair bit of it because we shoot movies, sometimes in India, and sometimes outside. And if a film you do is featured in a festival abroad, then you travel for that, which is why I was recently in Venice and Toronto. Part of the reason why I do what I do is because it makes me travel.

OT: Some of your early memories of travel?

Abhay Deol: I remember Ooty, in particular, because we went there three years in a row, every summer — so, that was kind of nice. Actually, so much of my early travel is also movie-related, chiefly because I come from a family that is in the business of movies and there was always a great deal of travel going on. I used to travel to places where shootings would happen, and that’s primarily how we were exposed to India, to its villages, the small towns and hill stations, because we would travel with my uncle [Dharmendra] when he was shooting a film. So that’s how I learnt to love the two things I love most — movies and travel. I remember Shimla as a kid. And I remember Srinagar very distinctly too. It was so incredibly beautiful, the Dal lake and everything else. I think I would definitely put Srinagar out there — as one of the best places I have ever seen.

OT: So what do you like to do on a holiday?

Abhay Deol: I enjoy trekking although I have been living largely in cities lately, like I lived in New York for a year. So, though I would like to trek, I haven’t been able to get away for a bit. We did go to Lonavla because the family has a house there and we all trekked to the Lohagarh Fort there. I love nature, the greenery, being in the outdoors, the visuals, and the exercise. The other kind of holiday I love the best is soaking up the sun by a beach — really, there’s nothing to beat lying about and doing nothing.

OT: You have just finished acting in Shyam Benegal’s Road Movie, which is all about travel, isn’t it?

Abhay Deol: Yes, it is. Road Movie is about this guy who is driving this truck, which is a moving cinema, and the people he meets, the experiences he has and so on. It’s an adventure, so to speak. It appealed to my own sense of adventure, of liking the feeling of being out there. We shot a lot in Delhi and Rajasthan and we went a little bit into Kutch. We explored some of the more isolated parts of Rajasthan. We were based in Jaisalmer, which itself is quite out there, and then we drove out for a couple of hours every day to some of the nearby areas. Even in Jaisalmer, I used to like taking off on my own, leaving early in the morning, on foot. I liked climbing around, seeing houses, and watching people.

OT: Are food and shopping an important part of your travel experiences?

Abhay Deol: Yeah, food is important. I love to check out new dishes and places and I love to experiment, especially with local stuff. I like desserts a lot. But I don’t shop too much.

OT: A place you have always longed to visit?

Abhay Deol: Machu Picchu in Peru, definitely.