At 18, Karan Deol summoned up the courage to tell his parents about his dream of becoming an actor. At 27, he’s debuting with Pal Pal Ke Pass, a film directed and produced by his father, Sunny Deol. But, what took him so long?
“As an actor, it is important to remove your inhibitions otherwise you can’t be in front of the camera – it captures everything. So, I started with different workshops and took an acting course from Ealing Film School in London. It was there that I started feeling like an ordinary person because I wasn’t Sunny Deol’s son anymore but one amongst the many students. That’s when I grew as an actor,” says Karan Deol who’s film releases on September 20.
While one might find this statement surprising, Karan recalls how being an actor’s son led to him being bullied in his childhood – so much so that he had to change his school.
“Since I was shy and wouldn’t retaliate, I became a soft target for my classmates – they would pick on me and there would always be a new joke. It affected me badly, I started dreading going to school. I would come home crying and confide in my mom,” he recalls.
In his debut film, Karan will play a young boy who runs an adventure camp and homestay. “He is a simple guy who draws inspiration from survival instructor Bear Grylls. He gets an adrenaline rush from rappelling, river crossing, hiking and other activities. Then comes a girl [Sahher Bambba] .”
Was there any apprehension in working with his father?
“It was my dream to work with my father but yes, he was very blunt. At times, when he wouldn’t be happy with a shot, and would say, ‘let’s pack, we will do it again tomorrow.’ He was trying to push me because he wants me to give my best and be prepared for the criticism,” says Karan, while admitting that he got this launch only because of his father.
But, is this the ideal debut that he had on his mind?
“I wanted to do something like Quentin Tarantino’s True Romance (1993) and initially, we thought we would make something on these lines but then it was changed over the course of writing.
But, yes, I am on the same page as my father when it comes to the genre,” avers Karan, who is in the process of signing a rom-com by Indra Kumar.