When Bobby Deol was about to make his screen debut with Barsaat, director Shekhar Kapur had said 'Bobby is like fire on screen.'

Unfortunately, Barsaat, didn't set the box office on fire, but Bobby became kinduva heart-throb to many. Films like Gupt and Soldier him as an action hero in big brother Sunny's mould.

While his action movies did well at the box-office, his romances, Kareeb and Dillagi fared miserably. His latest release Aashiq too has had a disappointing opening.

Bobby tells Runima Borah Tandon why his best is yet to come.

When you look back, are you happy with the way your career has shaped up?

I am quite happy. The only thing that upsets me is though I have worked with the best directors, the scripts were wrong and they didn't work out. Especially the romantic films.

None of my romantic films did well. That upsets me, but that doesn't make me give up. I guess it's the luck factor. Also being at the right place at the right time.

Do you feel your forte lies in action films?

It's not that. It's like getting hits. If all my romantic films were hits, then my action films wouldn't have done well. They would have said I should do more romantic films and not action films. So, it's eventually a good film that does well.

Do you feel your best is yet to come?

Definitely! I have done only nine films. I really liked myself in Dillagi. I think I've really grown as an actor from my first film till now. One learns a lot from experience. You improve with every film you do.

Who are the directors you would like to work with?

I would like to work with all the good directors. I don't like to specify anybody. There are a lot of good directors I haven't worked with.

What are your other interests besides films?

Only films. I never had any hobbies. I love being with my friends. I love spending time with my family and I like playing games. It's what I like to do when I don't work.

Who are the actresses from the past you would like to work with?

I would have loved to work with Madhuri.

Who are your favourite actors?

My dad and my brother are my favourite actors. My father was the best looking actor during his time.

Where does your inspiration come from?

My family gives me the inspiration. I have seen my father doing so much for me. He was always there for everybody in the family.

You have suddenly mellowed down as a person and become a family man. What made you change?

I was always family oriented, but I just wanted to experience life. You have to taste everything in life, but then I realised that my family is the most important thing to me.

Is there any particular incident that made you feel like this?

No. It was part of growing up, the mistakes I had made. You have to make mistakes, so that you can learn from them.

How do you rate yourself as an actor on a scale of ten?

I must be beyond that.

Tell us honestly.

No, honestly I can't rate myself. I think I'm hard working, I've got talent and I have to just keep on working hard.

Who are your favourite co-stars?

Preity and Rani. They are my best friends and are very nice people. I'm very fond of both of them.

How do you select your films?

First of all, I go for the story idea and see if it's interesting. Then the film must have the right director doing that film.

Suppose the director goes wrong somewhere.

We are human beings. We make mistakes. We are not perfect, so we go wrong sometimes. I can't blame the director for that.

How do you relate to Abbas Mastaan as directors? They gave you one of your biggest hits, Soldier. Now you are doing Ajnabi with them.

They are my favourite directors. I'm very close to them.

I think they are great human beings and are very hard working. I like their style of working. I've always loved their movies especially Khiladi and Baazigar.

Working on Soldier with them was a great learning experience for me. Ajnabi is almost complete. It'll be a film to watch out for. I'm so glad that I gel with them so well. They treat me like their younger brother. They are very nice and soft-spoken and extremely good at their work.

You have also worked with Vidhu Vinod Chopra in Kareeb. How was the experience?

That was a great experience too. I really enjoyed doing that film. I'm sad the second half wasn't the way it should have been. If the second half had been different, the film would have really done well.

What are your forthcoming films?

My next release would be Ajnabi. It's a romantic suspense thriller and has Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor and Bipasha Basu in it.

Then I have another film where I'm playing a cop for the first time. It is being directed by Naresh Malhotra and has Ameesha Patel in it.

I'm going to start two more films with Abbas Mastaan this year.

Then I'm doing films with David Dhawan, Mahesh Manjrekar, Guddu Dhanoa and Bunty Soorma.

What are you looking forward to this year?

My movies doing well. That's the most important thing to me.