Let's talk about .. Abhay Deol!

Dear friends,

I write to you at a very difficult time in my life. The fact is, for months now, there's been a deficit in my life I've not been able to face for what it was. Little by little, this need has consumed me.

You see, for months there has been a film with Abhay Deol in it that I've not yet seen. 

I hear you ask, "But what about those twenty-odd years in your life when you hadn't seen a single Abhay Deol film? Did you live those in spiritual poverty?", and I must reply, "No, not in the least, but then I knew not of what I was missing; so blissful was my ignorance."

But you've read my story before. You know how it all began, and how it continued. It's not an uncommon one, as there have been others before me, and there will be new ones after I'm gone, so long as pictures like this one keep circulating the internet:

It's perhaps not that I've not yet seen Shanghai, that I find so tragic, but the fact that it feels so long since I've seen anything new from the man. Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara I watched around a year from right now, but it feels like the longest year. And it's times like these that I really start to long for rewatches of his films, to re-ignite those memories, because it suddenly hits me just how much I truly love Abhay Deol.

I could take a step back and try to phrase some praise for his acting abilities, dimples or choice in roles; the man seems to know his strengths and plays to them, and while you could perhaps criticize the upper middle class, smug but adorable Delhi boy role he seems to be mostly occupying in his films so far, you can't really fault him for such a stunning filmography. There's not really a single bad film in the mix, and even the ones that didn't impress me much have numerous fans.

So what do I like about him so much? It's hard to say.

Something about the combination of talent, looks and of carving out his own niché that doesn't really rely on his family relations (though the fact no doubt eased things for him - I'm no nepotism apologist). He's captivating and convincing, even in fairly forgettable films like Road, Movie (and let's face it, most of us did forget that one). He's just good.

So, so good.

In the end, that's all I've really got to say.

How about you?