Next Big Thing: Diehard actor Deepak Dobriyal

RISING STAR: Deepak Dobriyal's Bollywood career started with a fleeting appearance in Vishal Bharadwaj's Maqbool.

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Mumbai: How many new actors manage to steal the thunder from big stars in the same film? Deepak Dobriyal did just that in Omkara.

That wasn’t his first appearance on screen. The actor made a fleeting appearance in Maqbool for which he demanded the script even though he had no lines.

Since he is a talented actor, but more importantly because he takes his acting seriously, we think Deepak Dobriyal is the Next Big Thing.

Deepak Dobriyal's Bollywood career started with Vishal Bharadwaj's Maqbool, and to spot him in that film, you have to literally pause the DVD in that particular scene.

After seven years of theatre in Delhi, he was offered the miniscule role of Irrfan Khan's right-hand man. A part without any dialogues. No doubt, a hard decision to make for a professional actor.

“They (makers of Maqbool) said there’s a role but no dialogues. But I said I wanted the script. It was a big thing for me since I was going to work with big actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Irfan Khan and Tabu. I learnt the entire script by heart. I would keep observing the other actors and that’s when Vishalji said I am a passionate actor,” Deepak said with a glint of excitement in his eyes.

Next, was again a blink-and-miss role in Blue Umbrella, but by now, Vishal Bharadwaj was fully convinced of Deepak's talent, and promised him a more substantial role in his next film.

Omkara was a multi-starrer film with Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Bipasha Basu making all the headlines before the film's release.

But walking out of that cinema after a screening of Omkara, everyone was talking about this new actor who delivered what was easily the film's most memorable performance.

Close on the heels of Omkara came a strong role and an equally strong performance in the unfortunately lesser-seen film 1971. Deepak's father, once against his acting ambitions, had now become his son's biggest fan.

“My father has bought the DVDs of Omkara and 1971. And every time even the milkman visits our house my father makes him see the films. He is thrilled after my success in the movies,” Deepak said.

Along with the rave reviews, Omkara earned him his first Filmfare award, and adopting the oldest cliché in the book, Deepak says life has never been the same again.

“I have been getting offers especially after the award. In five days I was offered 10 scripts. I was really surprised and I knew I would never have got them without the award,” Deepak said modestly.

The scripts may be piling up, but Deepak's choosing his work with caution. Vishal Bharadwaj has promised him a role in every film, he's in talks with Rakeysh Mehra to feature in Dilli 6 and there are a handful of interesting films, including one with Kundan Shah.

It's safe to say we're going to see a lot of him in the days ahead and we don't hear anybody complaining either.

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