Bobby Deol got emotional while speaking about his father, veteran actor Dharmendra, on Aap Ki Adalat, recalling childhood memories that continue to shape his life even today. From being affectionately nicknamed “Kaddoo” to waiting up late for his father to return from work, Bobby shared several personal anecdotes about growing up in the Deol household.Bobby revealed that the nickname “Kaddoo” came from his father. “My cheeks were very round and I was a chubby child. We were at a farm where vegetables were being grown, and I saw a large round vegetable and asked my father what it was. He said, ‘Kaddoo.’ From that day onwards, he started calling me Kaddoo,” Bobby said, adding that he never minded the nickname because Dharmendra always said it with affection.The actor also opened up about the close bond he shared with his parents while growing up. Bobby said he slept in his parents’ room until he was 14 years old and considers himself fortunate to have spent those years so closely connected to them.“I used to wait for my father to come home from shoots. He would often work three or four shifts a day and return very late at night. Whenever I was ill, he would hold me close and fall asleep. The comfort I felt at that moment was something else altogether. I was very lucky,” he said.Bobby revealed that even his habit of sleeping with a light on comes from Dharmendra. “My father always liked a little light in the room while sleeping. Since I spent 14 years sleeping beside him, I developed the same habit. Even after marriage, my wife and I would argue because I wanted a little light in the room. Now she’s gotten used to it.”
How Dharmendra inspired Bobby’s acting dream
Despite living a sheltered childhood due to security concerns, Bobby said he knew from a very young age that he wanted to become an actor.Recalling a classroom exercise from his early school days, Bobby said, “When the teacher asked what we wanted to become when we grew up, I said I wanted to be a hero. At that age I didn’t even know what being a hero meant.”The realization came when he began accompanying Dharmendra to film sets.“I saw how people looked at my father. The love in the eyes of the public and his fans was something I didn’t see for other actors. That became one of the biggest reasons I wanted to become a hero. I wanted to receive that same love from audiences.”
Playing Dharmendra’s younger self on screen
Bobby also fondly remembered making his acting debut by portraying his father’s younger version in the 1977 film Dharam Veer.“I came back from school and my father asked me, ‘Will you play my childhood role?’ I immediately said yes,” he recalled.The actor laughed while narrating how he was embarrassed by the costume he was asked to wear and later discovered that the heavy hammer in a scene had been replaced with a fake prop because he couldn’t lift the real one.After the shoot, Bobby asked his father about his payment. “He opened his bag, took out a bundle of Rs 10,000 and told me to give it to my grandmother and ask her to distribute it among the staff.”For Bobby, the most touching aspect of his journey is that it began and ended with his father.“My first film was playing my father’s childhood. And in his last film, where a younger version of him was shown, the voice used was mine. I feel very lucky that I could be a part of both those moments in his cinematic journey,” he said.Speaking about Dharmendra’s place in his life, Bobby became emotional and summed it up simply: “There can never be anyone like my father.”
