Esha Deol gives her take on the entourage cost debate: We were happy with just a few people
Esha Deol opens up on her Telugu film debut with Hero Heeroine, her opinion on the entourage cost debate and the scrutiny she faced for an alleged ‘lip job’
Actor Esha Deol has been actively working in the recent years, be it her National Award-winning short film Ek Duaa (2021), or the web series Rudra: The Edge Of Darkness (2022) and Hunter (2023). 22 years into the industry, the actor is set to embark on a new path as she will soon be debuting in Telugu cinema with Hero Heeroine.
Ask Deol about this new phase and she says, “I have always had a soft spot for the South. From my heart, I am a big Southie.” She also reveals details of her new film. “There is a lot of romance. It’s a very vivacious and fresh love story. The Telugu cinema is booming right now and it’s the right time to capitalise on it,” she says, adding, “Acting is my passion. What I was doing before were more of the candy-floss kind of roles which I did a lot, but now times and the kind of content being made have changed, so it’s a great time to explore.”
Making her debut again after 22 years feels very different for the 42-year-old, who gives her two cents on the current entourage debate as well. “We debuted in a beautiful, simple time where the focus was more on working on the films and our roles. Today, there are so many heads involved in every project. We functioned with a manager, hair, makeup and a boy. We were happy with that, and we are still happy with that. But it’s a different way of working today and I am a part of it. I don’t have a choice but to merge with it,” she insists.
Earlier this year, the actor came into the limelight when people speculated that she has got work done on her lips because of some pictures that surfaced. Mention it to her and she says, “This much scrutiny was never there (when I started). There was not so much social media and intrusion. Now you have to learn how to deal with it without taking it too seriously.” But how does she explain it all to her daughters? “I will have to cross that bridge when it comes to it. Right now, they are quite small. They don’t get much screen time anyways. They like watching movies and are film buffs though,” she responds.
Ask her what made her decide that it was time to get back into acting with full swing and Deol reveals, “I was very clear in my head that I wanted to have children. But after my second daughter’s birth, I felt it was the right time to get back to acting. The kind of content being made and also how my contemporaries were continuing to be in the field, it felt good to come back. Acting has always been a passion of mine and I don’t think it can ever stay silent for too long.”
The way her daughter became inspiration for her to come back to acting, does she also serve the same inspiration for her mother, actor-MP Hema Malini? “She must come back (to acting). Acting and dancing are her first love, and she is still actively dancing even now. Acting is something she wants to do, but she is just waiting for the kind of work to come her way that she actually wants to do,” Deol says.