As Bobby Deol prepares to headline Anurag Kashyap‘s much-anticipated thriller ‘Bandar’, releasing in cinemas on June 5, 2026, the actor has been unusually candid about the professional wounds that quietly shaped him into the performer he is today. In a revealing appearance on ‘Aap Ki Adalat’, Bobby revisited one of the most painful chapters of his career: discovering that the production house he had pitched ‘Jab We Met’ to had gone ahead and made the exact same film with the same director, Imtiaz Ali, and the same leading lady, Kareena Kapoor only replacing him with Shahid Kapoor as the male lead. Nearly two decades later, Bobby says the heartbreak did not break him but built him.
The ‘Jab We Met’ story: What really happened?
Long before ‘Jab We Met’ became the beloved romantic classic it is today, Bobby Deol was the man trying to make it happen. He had identified Imtiaz Ali’s talent early drawn in by the rough cut of Socha Na Tha, the filmmaker’s 2005 debut and had personally gotten both Imtiaz and Kareena Kapoor on board. Bobby was then actively shopping the project to production houses, convinced he had found the right creative partnership at exactly the right moment.“That story is done now. We’re friends. My heart got broken because I needed a film like this during that phase of my career,” Bobby said on Aap Ki Adalat. “I had great confidence in Imtiaz since the time when he was making Socha Na Tha with Abhay. When I watched the rough cut, I was so taken in and excited by his work. I thought he’s such a good director, I should work with him.”The production house Bobby pitched the project to passed, citing Imtiaz as too expensive a director.“That’s when we first decided we’d make a film together. But when your market position isn’t good, nobody backs you. So much time passed trying to get the film started. The production house I pitched it to said Imtiaz is a very expensive director. But the same production house ended up making the film with Imtiaz, and with the same heroine I’d gotten on board,” Bobby recalled with faint disbelief.
When Bobby Deol had opened up about ‘Jab We Met’ previously
This is not the first time Bobby Deol has addressed the ‘Jab We Met’ episode, but his language has evolved from raw hurt to hard-won perspective. Speaking on Raj Shamani’s podcast ‘Figuring Out’ last year, the emotion was still closer to the surface.“I was heartbroken. I was not getting work. I was doing films with certain directors… They were typical Bollywood films. I have nothing against Imtiaz. I love the guy; he’s one of the most talented directors we have in the industry. I guess, in that moment in his career, he was also insecure and had to make choices. But it happened in a bad way.”
Imtiaz Ali’s side of the story
The story, as with most industry stories, has more than one version. Imtiaz Ali, speaking to The Lallantop in 2023, offered context that complicates the narrative of a simple betrayal.“Socha Na Tha got over, but I still didn’t make the film for two years because I wanted Bobby to start it. But he was getting other offers from big directors, so he was waiting for that to happen. He kept postponing my film, but then a time came when I didn’t find it correct because a lot of time went by,” Imtiaz said. “Because I did Socha Na Tha for five years and I didn’t do a film for two years after that, so it was putting financial strain on me. Then I told Bobby, ‘Let’s not make this film. Let’s shake our hands and decide we will not do this film together because then our thing will be affected.'”
How did Bobby Deol turn the pain into purpose?
Rather than positioning himself as a victim of industry politics, Bobby Deol has arrived at something closer to gratitude, not for the experience itself, but for what it forced out of him.These things do happen. It never happens that only good things happen to someone. When I began working on myself, I decided the hurt and anger I’ve gone through should become my strength. Because you can’t just keep crying about it. These things made me a better person and a better actor. I’ve only learnt from them. I don’t have any qualms with anyone.”
More about Bobby Deol
Bobby Deol staged one of Hindi cinema’s most unlikely and celebrated comebacks, first with Prakash Jha’s ‘Aashram’ on Amazon MXPlayer, then with a scene-stealing turn in Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s ‘Animal’ in 2023, and most recently with Aryan Khan’s Netflix India directorial debut ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood.’
More about ‘Bandar’
‘Bandar’, which releases on June 5, 2026, stars Bobby as Samar Mehra, a once-celebrated pop star whose life unravels after sexual assault allegations pull him into a brutal media and legal storm. Directed by Anurag Kashyap and written by Sudip Sharma and Abhishek Banerjee, the team behind ‘Paatal Lok’, ‘Kohrra’, and ‘Udta Punjab’, ‘Bandar’ also features Sanya Malhotra, Sapna Pabbi, Saba Azad, Raj B. Shetty, Indrajith Sukumaran and Jitendra Joshi.
