Knew I wasn’t going to be offered hero roles, says Bobby Deol on accepting Aashram

Bobby Deol on Wednesday said the opportunity to play the anti-hero protagonist Baba Nirala in the web series Aashram came to him at a time when he believed that he would no longer be offered hero-like roles. As someone who wanted to try out playing characters of different shades, the actor took up the job that eventually led to a career turnaround for him, kickstarting a second innings in showbiz.

Directed by Prakash Jha, Aashram revolves around a self-proclaimed godman Baba Nirala (Deol), who leads an illegal empire of fraud, drugs and preys on young women of his ashram. The first season premiered back in 2020. “We, as actors, want to play characters which we are not in real life. As an actor you get an opportunity to be someone else without being that person... I was trying to do different roles. I knew I wasn’t going to be offered hero roles anymore. That is why when I accepted this show. I did not tell anyone in the family. I was waiting for the show to come and then see their reaction,” Deol said. The actor was speaking at the trailer of Aashram season three-part two, titled Ek Badnaam Aashram, in Mumbai. It will premiere on Amazon MX Player on February 27. Ek Badnaam Aashram will see Chandan Roy Sanyal and Aaditi Pohankar reprise their characters.