The makers of Bobby Deol's Aashram unveiled the intriguing trailer of the second part of the third season of the web show, titled Ek Badnaam Aashram, at a grand event in Mumbai on Wednesday. Directed by Prakash Jha, the show revolves around a self-proclaimed godman, Baba Nirala (played by Bobby), who operates an empire of fraud, drugs, and exploitation under the guise of spirituality. It also stars Chandan Roy Sanyal, Aaditi Pohankar, Tridha Choudhury, Darshan Kumaar, Vikram Kochhar, Anupriya Goenka, Rajeev Siddhartha, and Esha Gupta in key roles.
The first season of Aashram released in 2020 and became a turning point in Bobby's career. Speaking at the event, Bobby credited his role in Aashram for reigniting his career. He also shared how the opportunity to play an anti-hero came at a time when he believed hero-like roles were no longer in his reach.
"As actors, we want to portray characters that are different from us in real life. I was actively seeking out diverse roles when Aashram came my way. I knew I wouldn't be offered hero roles anymore, which is why I didn’t even tell my family about accepting this show. I wanted them to see it first and then react."
He admitted that he was hesitant to inform his parents and brother about the show. "The subject of Aashram was such that if I had told my parents or my brother (Sunny Deol), they would have questioned me, saying, 'Why are you doing this?'" he shared. Instead, he confided only in his wife, who was aware of his struggle to find compelling roles. "She told me, 'Follow your heart. I’m with you,'" he recalled.
"I also knew that the topic of this show was controversial. But it shows what's happening in our country," the 56-year-old actor added.
The actor revealed that his family’s response to Aashram was overwhelmingly positive. "I felt like I was dreaming. My mom was getting calls from her friends praising my performance. Papa (veteran actor Dharmendra) told me that his friends were calling him to appreciate my work. Even Bhaiyya was receiving messages from his friends wanting to connect with me," he recalled.
The actor also expressed gratitude to Prakash Jha for believing in him and offering him the role. "Prakash ji changed my life in many ways. As actors, we strive to do our best, but sometimes it takes one person to take a chance on you," he said.Emphasising the importance of depth in antagonist roles, he explained, "Once the industry sees you in a certain image, they start offering similar roles. But I don’t accept every antagonist role that comes my way. There has to be substance to the character."
Despite his current streak of playing villains, he believes he still has much more to offer. "People love a good bad-boy character, and that has worked for me. But I’ve just begun my journey again, and there’s a lot more I want to explore as an actor," he added.
The second part of the third season of the show will release on Amazon MX Player on February 27.
