Bobby Deol revealed he spent most of his childhood within the four walls of his home compound.
His father Dharmendra feared for his safety after being warned about kidnappers Ranga and Billa.
Bobby said one of his school friends was kidnapped by the notorious duo.
The police even suspected that Bobby might be their next target.
The Netflix series Black Warrant brought back memories of the terror Ranga and Billa spread in the 1970s.
Bobby shared how the duo’s crimes directly impacted his childhood.
Recalling the kidnapping, Bobby said, “When I was in the sixth standard, a friend of mine got kidnapped. But he was the luckiest of all the people they kidnapped.”
The boy was eventually freed after Ranga abandoned him at a paan shop.
Police later informed Dharmendra that the kidnappers had asked Bobby’s friend for other names.
When his name came up, Dharmendra refused to let him leave home.
Bobby grew up extremely sheltered and wasn’t allowed to even play with friends after school.
He learned cycling inside his house and had to follow a strict 9 pm curfew.
Even in college, Bobby wasn’t allowed to attend parties.
He would help friends set up and leave before the fun began.
Despite Ranga and Billa’s capture and execution, Bobby’s parents didn’t loosen their restrictions.
Meanwhile, his kidnapped friend was back to partying, unlike him.
Bobby recalled another reason for his parents’ overprotectiveness.
As a toddler, he fell from the first floor of their house while the family was at the cinema.
His parents believed the cinema visit brought them bad luck and never returned there, even after it became a PVR.
This strictness, Bobby said, left him unprepared for how harsh the real world could be.
Looking back, Bobby feels his parents should have prepared him better for life’s challenges.
Still, he has fought through struggles and is now enjoying a massive career resurgence.
This year, Bobby celebrates 30 years in the film industry.
He currently stars in Aryan Khan’s Netflix series The Ba**ds of Bollywood*.
