Abhay Deol Lectures At Wharton, Holds Audience Spellbound

It looks like the Deols’ poor cousin Abhay has managed to carve an enviable niche for himself, and that too without any help from his affluent Mumbai cousins.

Today after Anurag Kashyap’s Dev D Abhay is being seen as the voice and spokesperson of a specific kind of niche avant-garde cinema in Bollywood and even being invited to global platforms to speak on the changing face of Bollywood.

Last week on March 21 Abhay was invited to the prestigious business college the Wharton School Of The University Of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

And Abhay wowed the audience.

Reluctant to speak on the prestigious event Abhay finally says, “It was a fun experience. The audience was very receptive and excited. I didn’t go with any theme in mind. I was asked questions about Bollywood. A lot of them were to do with how the industry has been up till now and about how it is changing rapidly. We spoke of the ‘multiplex’ film versus the ‘single screen’ film, of the new economy, the new generation of film watchers, the possibility of Bollywood going global, and talent out there which has yet to be tapped.”

Of course the fact that Abhay is the face of Bollywood’s New Cinema had a direct bearing on his participation at Wharton. “ A lot of the questions had to do with my choice of films. The hall was packed and we got asked many questions.One person even asked me about how some of the sequences in Dev D were shot, primarily the ones where I was rigged with the camera.”

Abhay is now more or less settled in New York. “I love this city. I feel at home here as the people are very much like they are in Bombay and I have my own place. I do cook but I mostly eat out and I keep my place clean. Once in two weeks I have a maid who comes and cleans the apartment.”

He returns to shoot for Anil Kapoor’s Ayesha with Sonam Kapoor. “ I will be back in Mumbai when it’s time to shoot and the dates of my next are still in discussion as of now.”

When reminded that his name is being linked with Sonam and ‘Miss Great Britain’ Preeti Desai, Abhay quips, “ The Indian press would link me with a pizza if I was spotted carrying one with me.”