Sunny Deol

Sunny Deol
Deol in 2019
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 June 2019
Preceded by	Sunil Kumar Jakhar
Constituency	Gurdaspur
Personal details
Residence	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Born	Ajay Singh Deol (1956-10-19) 19 October 1956 Sahnewal, East Punjab, India (present-day Punjab)
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Actor film director film producer politician
Years active	1983–present
Works	Full list
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Spouse(s)	Lynda Deol (aka Pooja Deol) ​ ( m. 1984)
Children	2
Parent(s)	Dharmendra (father) Hema Malini (step-mother)
Relatives	See Deol family
Awards	Full list
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Ajay Singh Deol (born 19 October 1956), better known as Sunny Deol, is an Indian actor, film director, producer, politician and incumbent Member of Parliament from Gurdaspur. As an actor, he has worked in more than 90 Hindi films and is particularly known for his action hero persona. Deol has won two National Film Awards and two Filmfare Awards.

A son of actor Dharmendra, Deol made his acting debut opposite newcomer Amrita Singh in the romantic drama Betaab (1983), a commercial success. He had success in such action films as Arjun (1985) and Tridev (1989), and gained wider recognition for his portrayal of a boxer accused of murder in Rajkumar Santoshi's Ghayal (1990), winning the Filmfare Award for Best Actor and the National Film Award – Special Jury Award. His portrayal of a volatile lawyer in Santoshi's drama Damini (1993) won him the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Deol had his biggest commercial successes in the period action films Border (1997) and Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001). The latter was the highest-grossing Hindi film to that point. He subsequently starred with his father and younger brother, Bobby Deol, in the drama Apne (2007) and the comedy Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011). After a decade of decline, he made a career comeback by reprising his role in the sequel Gadar 2 (2023).

Early life

Sunny Deol was born as Ajay Singh Deol on 19 October 1956, in the village of Sahnewal in East Punjab, India in a Punjabi family, to Bollywood actor Dharmendra and Parkash Kaur.

He has a younger brother Bobby Deol and two sisters Vijayta and Ajeeta who are settled in California, USA. Hema Malini is his step-mother. Actress Esha Deol and Ahana Deol are his half-sisters. His cousin Abhay Deol is also an actor.

Acting career

1983-1989: Debut and rise to prominence

Deol made his debut in the 1983 romantic film Betaab in which Deol's performance was praised and he was nominated for best actor at Filmfare Awards. The film was a commercial success and went on to be one of the biggest hits of the year, emerging as the 2nd highest grossing Indian film of 1983. The following year, Deol starred in Sunny, Manzil Manzil, and Sohni Mahiwal, with only the latter becoming successful at the box office.

Deol then appeared in Rahul Rawail's Arjun (1985), in which he played the titular role of an unemployed radical youngster, who alongside his group of friends, fights against the system that thrives on corruption and exploitation of the weak. The film opened to much critical praise and went on to become a major hit and established Sunny Deol's status as an action hero. Arjun is considered one of Deol's best works till date. At the 33rd Filmfare Awards, the film was nominated for several awards, including Best Film and Best Director for Rahul Rawail.

In 1986 he appeared alongside his father in Sultanat. In the final years of the decade he appeared in several hits including Paap Ki Duniya (1988), Tridev (1989) and ChaalBaaz (1989). His role as a police officer in Tridev was highlighted and the film along with ChaalBaaz, was among the top 5 highest earning films of the year.

1990-2003: Commercial success and superstardom

Deol appeared in the lead role of a boxer in 1990's Ghayal, directed by debutante Rajkumar Santoshi, which became the year's second top-grossing film worldwide and the highest grossing film domestically. The film grossed ₹20 crore and was declared a blockbuster by Box Office India. It established and won Deol the Filmfare Award for Best Actor and National Film Special Jury Award. The huge success of the film established Deol as a bonafide box office draw and the film recorded a large repeat audience.

Due to the overwhelming success of Ghayal, Deol enjoyed a very successful period throughout the 90s. From 1991 to 1999, he delivered back to back successes. Starting with Yodha in 1991 in which he co-starred alongside Sanjay Dutt. It received mostly average reviews and earned ₹12.95 crore against a budget of ₹2.85 crore. The same year, Narsimha was another success and emerged as the 8th highest grossing Indian film of 1991.

In 1992, he appeared in his only release Vishwatma. The film received critical acclaim upon release from contemporary as well as modern critics, with praise drawn towards its screenplay and action sequences. It earned over ₹9.5 crore in its total theatrical run worldwide and was the sixth highest-grossing Indian film of 1992. The soundtrack created a rage and was very much successful. The song "Saat Samundar" became a huge chartbuster of that year which till now, enjoys a massive cult status among Indian audience. It proved to be a major launchpad for Chunky Pandey as well as for debutanté Divya Bharti, who went on to achieve the limelight in Bollywood.

In 1993, Deol reunited with Rajkumar Santoshi to play an alcoholic lawyer in the highly successful social drama Damini and was awarded the Filmfare Award and National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. It is considered a cult feminist film and is still regarded as an all-time classic female oriented film and important for portraying women empowerment in cinema The pathbreaking film was praised for breaking social taboos and handling the subject of rape with sensitivity; a rarity in Bollywood at the time. It further strengthened Deol's He-man image. His dialogues in the film "Tarikh Pe Tarikh" ("date after date") and "Dhai Kilo ka Haath" ('Two-and-a-half kilogram hand') became iconic and a pop-culture reference. The film was a milestone in the careers of Deol as well as Amrish Puri who went onto star in various films together in the future. Besides being critically acclaimed, the film also became the sixth highest grossing film of the year and was declared a "hit" at Box Office India. That same year, Deol's character of an lieutenant army officer in Yash Chopra's psychological thriller Darr earned him a Filmfare Award for Best Actor nomination. Darr was declared a blockbuster and was the third-highest grossing film of the year in India, and the highest-grossing Indian film of the year in the overseas markets. It received critical acclaim from critics and audiences upon release. It is also remembered for being Shah Rukh Khan's breakthrough film.

In 1994's Insaniyat, he appeared alongside Amitabh Bachchan which turned out to be the 10th highest grossing film of the year. In 1995, Angrakshak was an 'above average grosser' at the box office.

At the time, 1996 marked Deol's most successful year in terms of commercial success. The audiences saw four releases that year including Himmat, Jeet, Ghatak, and Ajay, all four were successes. Starring Alongside Salman Khan and Karisma Kapoor, Jeet earned a worldwide collection of ₹29 crore. It was declared a Super Hit and became the 4th highest grossing Bollywood film of 1996. The soundtrack of Jeet was a chartbuster with the inclusion of the songs "Saanson Ka Chalna" and "Yaara O Yaara". Ghatak, released the same year, received critical and commercial acclaim, and was declared a Blockbuster. It marked Santoshi's third collaboration with Deol, Seshadri, and Puri after Ghayal (1990) and Damini (1993). It won three awards including Best Supporting Actor for Puri at the 42nd Filmfare Awards, where it was also nominated for three other awards: Best Director for Santoshi, Best Actor for Deol, and Best Villain for Denzongpa. Deol's dialogues in Ghatak such as "Ye Mazdoor Ka Haath Hai Kaatiya" and "Utha Utha Ke Patkunga" became extremely popular among the audiences and influenced the pop culture of the time period.

Deol kicked off 1997 with another blockbuster Ziddi. Ziddi, with a net collection of Rs 292.5 million, was one of the highest grossing films of 1997. The movie flourished particularly in North India. The songs were well-received, with the dandy number "Mera Dil Le Gayi Oye" becoming extremely popular. He followed it up with the colossal hit Border, an epic war film based on the real life events that happened during the Battle of Longewala in 1971, in which Deol played the leading role of decorated Indian Army officer Brigadier Kuldip Singh Chandpuri. The film featured a huge ensemble cast of Deol, Jackie Shroff, Sunil Shetty, Akshaye Khanna, Tabu, Raakhee, Pooja Bhatt, including others. It opened to strong box office results and was declared an all-time blockbuster by Box Office India. It also became the highest-grossing Hindi film of 1997 in India, and the second highest-grossing film of the year worldwide. Border grossed a worldwide total of ₹65.57 crore and it was the fourth biggest blockbuster film of the 90s decade. The film won several awards at different award functions. It received 11 nominations at the 43rd Filmfare Awards, including Best Film, and Best Actor for Deol. The film's song, "Sandese Aate Hai", sung by Sonu Nigam and Roop Kumar Rathod, became one of the most popular Hindi songs. The popularity of the song marked the breakthrough of Sonu Nigam in the industry.

In 1998, Salaakhen was his only hit of the year. Deol was critically acclaimed for his role.

His 1999 film Arjun Pandit marked his first collaboration with director Rahul Rawail after Yodha (1991 film). Due to the critical and commercial success of their previous collaborations Arjun (1985) and Yodha, the film was among one of the most awaited films of the year. Although it was not well reviewed upon release, the film became a hit. UP gangster Vikas Dubey was reported to be an ardent fan of this movie. He was rumoured to have watched it over 100 times. Inspired by his love for this movie, he had earned the monicker Pandit. The film is also remembered for its song Kudiyan Shehar Diyan, sung by Daler Mehndi and performed by Juhi Chawla. In 1999 he made his directorial debut with Dillagi starring himself, his brother and Urmila Matondkar, but the film failed to gain success.

Deol's only release of the year 2000 was Champion which was a box office disappointment.

Farz, released in 2001, was Deol's first hit in the millennium. His first blockbuster hit in the millennium was 2001 film Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, directed by Anil Sharma, in which Deol played the role of a patriotic Indian truck driver, Tara Singh who falls in love with a Muslim girl, Sakeena, in the backdrop of 1947 partition violence, and makes a dramatic trip to Pakistan to get back his beloved. Gadar became the highest-grossing Hindi film up until then in mainstream cinema earning over ₹1.3 billion (US$18 million) worldwide. Gadar: Ek Prem Katha ranks among the top 3 Indian films in all-time highest footfalls since 1990s. The soundtrack of Gadar was immensely popular, especially the songs "Udja Kale Kawan" and "Main Nikla Gaddi Leke" which topped the charts for months. The soundtrack sold approximately 2.5 million copies. The infamous "Handpump scene" became a major cultural symbol and influenced the contemporary meme culture in India in the following years. Deol was nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Actor once again. In the same year, Deol also worked in another successful action thriller film Indian (2001). It was the fourth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year in India with collection of ₹42.60 crore.

In 2002, Deol starred in the war film Maa Tujhhe Salaam (2002) which opened strongly but only emerged as a "below average grosser" due to poor reviews. He played the role of Indian revolutionary Chandra Shekhar Azad in his second doctorial 23rd March 1931: Shaheed, starring his brother Bobby Deol. The film's release coincided with another film based on Bhagat Singh directed by Rajkumar Santoshi and titled The Legend of Bhagat Singh. Both films failed at the box office but became a cult classic in the coming years.

Then, in 2003, Deol teamed up with director Anil Sharma yet again for The Hero: Love Story of a Spy, which also starred Preity Zinta and the debutant Priyanka Chopra. Released on 11 April, The Hero was billed as Bollywood's most expensive film at that time with an estimated budget of ₹600 million (US$8.4 million). The film became the third highest-grossing Bollywood film of that year.

2004-2010: Experimental projects and setbacks

Sunny Deol in 2012

During this phase of his career, Deol ventured into a range of films that deviated from his usual style and the prevailing trends of the Bollywood industry, unfortunately achieving lackluster success.

In 2004, Deol starred in Lakeer – Forbidden Lines, which featured an ensemble cast including Sunil Shetty, and newcomers Sohail Khan and John Abraham. The film was a flop. In the same year, he starred in the sports comedy film Rok Sako To Rok Lo, another flop.

Jo Bole So Nihaal released in 2005 was Deol's solo release for the year. Despite the buzz, the film didn't fare well at the box office. However, Deol's unique portrayal sparked a noteworthy trend in the industry, inspiring the creation of comedic movies centered around Sikh protagonists exuding a carefree and jovial persona. This trend saw subsequent releases like Singh is Kinng (2008), Son of Sardaar (2012), and Singh is Bliing (2015) in the years that followed.

In early 2006, Deol starred in the techno-thriller Teesri Aankh. It marked the second time he co-starred alongside Ameesha Patel, after the all time blockbuster Gadar: Ek Prem Katha. The film is also inspired by the 1994 movie Mute Witness. It was panned by critics and turned out to be a disaster. In September 2006, Deol took on a role in the action-adventure film "Naksha," an endeavor by Bollywood to capture the essence of films seen in the Indiana Jones and The Mummy series. Despite being hailed as ahead of its time by certain critics, the movie unfortunately met with box office failure.

Deol kicked off 2007 with another atypical film for the time, Big Brother, a vigilante film. This was supposed to be Priyanka Chopra's first release in 2002 but was delayed by almost 5 years. The film was a disaster. Continuing his year, he appeared in the comedic caper "Fool N Final," sharing the spotlight with emerging talents Shahid Kapoor and Ayesha Takia. This film was also a box office disappointment. Deol appeared alongside his father Dharmendra and brother Bobby Deol together for the first time in Apne (2007), a sports-drama film. The movie garnered significant hype and achieved notable success.

In 2008, he appeared with his brother again in the ensemble film Heroes. Deol's performance, although brief, was praised.

2009 saw Deol star in the thriller Fox (2009) opposite Arjun Rampal. It marked Deol's first film appearing as an antagonist. The film was inspired from Hollywood film A Murder of Crows (1999). The film failed miserably at the box office.

Deol's first release of 2010 was Neeraj Pathak's crime thriller Right Yaaa Wrong which had him playing a police inspector.

2011-2013: Sporadic success

Yamla Pagla Deewana which also featured him alongside his father and brother was Deol's only release in 2011 and was declared a Hit.

For the first time in his career, Deol lent his voice in the Animated film Mahabharata for the role of Bheem. It earned ₹16.9 million.

Yamla Pagla Deewana 2, a sequel to his 2011 hit was released in 2013 but the film was a critical and box office failure. In the end of 2013 Deol teamed up with Anil Sharma yet again for Singh Saab The Great which was loved massively and created a big pandemonium in the cinema hall as well as on Facebook. The film turned out be success.

2014-2021: Career decline

Sunny Deol and Dharmendra in 2016

In 2015, he worked in Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru's I Love NY opposite Kangana Ranaut. Due to an unknown reason, the film was delayed from its original release date of 2011 and released several years later. The film failed at the box office.

In 2016, Ghayal Once Again was released which was a sequel to his 1990 blockbuster Ghayal. It marked Deol's second film directorial since Dillagi (1999). It was one of the most anticipated movies of the year. The action sequences were praised but the story and pacing were criticized. The film earned well but ultimately failed.

In 2017, he and his brother appeared in Shreyas Talpade's comedy film Poster Boys, which flopped at the box office.

In 2018, Deol appeared in Yamla Pagla Deewana: Phir Se, the third film in the franchise. Also that year, two of his long delayed films Bhaiyyaji Superhitt (where he plays a double role for the first time), and Mohalla Assi were released. All of them were box office failures.

Meanwhile, in 2019, Deol took the mantle of a director again, his third film as a director, Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas, which marked the debut of his son Karan Deol, with another newcomer Sahher Bambba in lead roles.

2022-present: Resurgence

In 2022, Deol starred in the crime thriller Chup: Revenge of the Artist. The plot of the film centered around a serial killer who targets dishonest film critics. Released on 23 September 2022, where it received positive reviews from critics.

The sequel of the 2001 blockbuster Gadar, Gadar 2, was released on 11 August 2023.. The film's story is centered around the era of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, in which Deol as Tara Singh returns to Pakistan to bring back his son. It is directed and produced by Anil Sharma, and the film stars Deol along with Ameesha Patel, and Utkarsh Sharma in lead roles. The film had a bumper opening and earned ₹105 crore just 2 days after its release. It marked a career comeback for Deol.

Deol will next be seen in Soorya. He has also committed to star in Baap, in which he will appear alongside his contemporaries Mithun Chakraborty, Sanjay Dutt, and Jackie Shroff.

Political career

Deol joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on 23 April 2019. He won the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections from Gurdaspur constituency in Punjab against his rival Sunil Jakhar of Indian national Congress with a margin of 82,459 votes.

Personal life

Sunny Deol is married to Pooja Deol (aka Lynda Deol) and the couple has two sons, Karan and Rajveer. Karan was an assistant director on Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 and has rapped in a song sung by Diljit Dosanjh in the film. Karan Deol has made his Bollywood debut in 2019 with the Hindi-language feature film Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas. Karan also starred in 2021 crime comedy film Velle. In June 2023, Karan got married to Drisha Acharya in the presence of the Deol family, including Sunny Deol, Dharmendra and Bobby Deol, among others.

Filmography

Main article: Sunny Deol filmography

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Sunny Deol

External links

• Sunny Deol on IMDb