Before finding renewed success and enjoying a career renaissance with ‘Race 3’, Bobby Deol he experienced one of the most difficult periods of his life. Job offers slowed, his confidence took a hit and he found himself drinking heavily. Looking back, the actor says it was his wife, Tanya Deol, who stood by him and helped him rebuild his life.Bobby He reflected on the women who shaped him the most, his mother, Prakash Kaur, and his wife, Tanya. To begin with, he started talking about his mother’s role in the Deol family which is often overlooked as she has never been part of the film industry.“My mother has been a housewife all her life. People keep thinking that our father is the biggest reason for our existence, but that is never the case. The one who plays the biggest role when it comes to children is the mother. Since my mother is not an actress, we talk more about my father. But my mom is just an amazing woman. She was so young when he married her. The fame and glory that came, he never really got into. She was a simple woman and she is still… totally grounded,” Ranveer said in an interview with Allahbadia on his podcast. Dharmendra and Prakash Kaur married in 1954, before the legendary actor moved to Mumbai to pursue his film career. Together, they raised four children: Sunny, Bobby, Ajeeta and Vijayta. A few years later, Dharmendra got married Hema Malini in 1980Drawing a parallel to his own marriage, Bobby spoke of the enormous contribution women make to a household, which often goes unrecognized.“I’m seeing that happening with my personal life, with my wife. My wife works. We come from a very strict culture where women don’t work and men go to work, but people make it seem like women aren’t working. But they’re doing the most important job: taking care of the house.” Women should continue to worry about the house. They are so strong, I have a lot of respect for them.’The actor described Tanya as a pillar of strength that helped him navigate the darkest chapter of his life, when his career stalled for more than a decade.“I have learned so much from my mother that way, and from my wife. My wife is like my backbone. I am who I am today because my wife stood by me. I would be scattered without her. The problem is… Your family would never be so strict with you. But a wife can see and she knows what you are capable of. He was by my side during those dark times, those 10-15 years, working and taking care of things, financially and everything. He has raised my boys so well,” she shared.Bobby also fondly revisited the beginning of their love story with Tanya, recalling how he first noticed her at a party in the mid-1990s.“When I look back, 30 years ago when I used to party a lot, I went to this card party. I didn’t play cards and I was on crutches and it slowed me down a little. I saw this woman sitting there and that was it. I saw her somewhere before, I was with some friends. I still remember she was wearing a striped one, I said to someone I said “Hi” to her. told.Their paths crossed again, and Bobby was determined not to let the opportunity pass.“So the second time we met at the card party, I hated the game and was losing. I asked him, ‘Can I take you out to dinner instead?’ Then I went after him and gatecrashed parties to meet him. The day I finally talked to him, we talked for hours and hours, it was just that. Despite his very careless lifestyle, my father-in-law agreed to our marriage because he had great respect for my father.’After nearly three decades of marriage, Bobby says he’s realized that relationships are built on understanding rather than trying to change each other.“One thing I’ve learned is that nothing is perfect. You go through ups and downs in your relationship. Every time one person tries to change the other for their wants and desires, and you learn. Marriage isn’t ‘Oh, now I’m married, I have to act like this.'”He added: “You learn, you realize, and you see that you can’t change each other. But, try to compromise sometimes and have something for the moment, because the other wants it, but you can’t change the other completely.” That is one of the most important things in a marriage, and respect, trust”.Bobby also candidly addressed his struggles with alcohol and admitted that it was during this time that he truly understood all that Tanya was doing for the family.“When I wasn’t drunk and started taking care of myself. She was my inspiration because I was sitting at home and she was taking care of everything. I never thought about what she was going through. Then I realized, I had just taken my wife for granted. What kind of example am I as a parent? That changed everything,” he said.Reflecting on those years, the actress admitted that Tanya suffered the most difficult version of herself, but she did not stop giving support.“My wife took the worst of it. She was the only one who took it and she was still there for me. My wife is a lot younger than me and she taught herself the business she’s in. She worked in interiors, she was very good at it, and she made my clothes for many years. She’s my inspiration,” concludes Bobby.Bobby and Tanya tied the knot on May 30, 1996 and are parents to two sons, Aryaman and Dharam. Professionally, the actor was recently seen in Anurag Kashyap’s Bandar and will next be seen in Alpha alongside Alia Bhatt and Sharvari.
