Bobby Deol

ing his schooling at Jamnabai Narsee School, he went on to graduate in commerce from Mithibai College in Mumbai. Deol made his entry into cinema as a child artist at the age of eight in his father’s movie Dharam Veer in the year 1977 where he played the younger version of Dharmendra’s character. He made his official debut as a hero in the year 1995 through the movie Barsaat.

Lead Debut in Barsaat ( 1995 ) Rajkumar Santoshi was the first one to cast Deol as the lead in his romantic thriller Barsaat in 1995. The movie also served as the debut for Rajesh Khanna’s daughter Twinkle Khanna; incidentally, the movie was financed by Dharmendra himself and narrated the story of a young man who comes to the city only to discover the dark sides of the urban life through his love. The movie was a commercial money spinner and ranked among the top grossers of the year and also won Deol and Khanna Filmfare Awards for Best Male and Female Debut’s respectively. Career break phase ( 1997) Bobby Deol had his first major break in Hindi cinema when he was cast in the lead in Rajiv Rai’s suspense thriller Gupt: The Hidden Truth the year 1997. The movie saw him pair with Kajol and Manisha Koirala, the role turned out to be a breakthrough for Deol as he immediately came under the limelight and the movie had a fabulous run commercially and also garnered positive reviews from critics for its writing and performances and it had a good run in the box office. The movie also marked Deol’s first attempt at portraying characters that go under “ The clichéd Bollywood conspired against hero and revenge-seeking protagonist” which became his forte shortly with him doing many more roles belonging to the same league in his career afterwards and is still today judged as his best works in movies. However, Bobby Deol could not follow up well as he next went on to star opposite Aishwarya Rai in the romcom “Aur Pyar Ho Gaya” which failed to do any good for his career despite a good storyline and the Miss World as his co-star who was already at the reign in the film industry then. The year 1998 saw Bobby Deol playing the lead in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s romantic movie Kareeb also saw him coming up with a befitting performance as a brash young man in love with a village girl. He followed up with Abbas Mustan’s thriller in which he paired with Rakhee and Preity Zinta (on her debut) in the lead. The movie was one of the highest grossers of 1998 and was a super hit. Next up came his first on-screen association with the Deol Brothers, incidentally also Sunny Deol’s directorial debut; The movie had a poor run at the box office although Sunny Deol’s direction was appreciated. Rise to stardom ( 2000-2003) Deol kick-started his 2000s with the revenge tale, playing a man who has been wronged in the past during the Punjab conflict and deals with his further clashes with the system. The movie was successful at the time commercially. His next releases were the romcoms Hum To Mohabbat Karega, Aashiq both co-starring with Karishma Kapoor and also in the thriller Bichhoo, the latter saw him as a professional killer who after quite a bit of turn of events trains a girl to handle arms to wreak vengeance against those who had wronged. Both films only had mediocre successes but Deol had made his presence felt in the industry although his performance in Bichhoo went on to garner awful reviews for Deol’s interpretation of the character. Abbas-Mastan’s thriller which saw him pairing with Akshay Kumar for the first time in the flick went on to be a huge hit. in 2001 Deol joined hands with his brother once again for the historical epic, 23rd March 1931: Shaheed, where he played the real-life martyr freedom fighter Mangal Pandey, along with his brother Sunny Deol who played Chandrashekar Azad. The movie was released simultaneously with Ajay Devgn’s biopic The Legend of Bhagat Singh, both had an exemplary critical review though underperformed at the box office. Bobby Deol was unanimously praised for his mature and in-depth depiction of the Indian hero which he pulled off with maximum conviction. The Filmfare Award for Best Actor came his way in the year 2002, with his frequent collaborators Abbas-Mastan in the thriller Humraaz. Return after sabbatical ( 2004- 2006) After a self-imposed sabbatical from cinema for two years, Deol returned with back-to-back projects in his kitty in the year 2004 like the action movie Kismat opposite Priyanka Chopra. Vikram Bhatt’s drama Bardaasht and the ensemble war drama Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo; which (incidentally is his most popular character to date) all of which had mixed reactions from critics and moviegoers alike. Vikram Bhatt’s thriller Jurm saw Bobby Deol’s return to the winning ways, with the critics praising him wholeheartedly for his standout depiction of a wealthy businessman who starts doubting his wife. After that came Tango Charlie and Barsaat which were all drenched outings. Deol’s next major outing was the musical romance movie Humko Tumse Pyaar Hai which again got him widespread critical acclaim for his performance. Recent films ( 2007- present) After two uneventful ensemble dramas in Shakalaka Boom Boom and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, which got panned by both critics and audiences alike, Bobby Deol paired with his father for the first time in the sports drama Apne, where he co-starred with Sunny Deol as brothers on the silver screen, the movie which narrated the story of a father who trains his two sons in boxing only to create a rift in the family was a huge success and finally ended Deol’s losing streak which he followed up with his return to forte playing an “a wealthy businessman who gets caught in a treacherous love triangle”, A role that had nothing new to offer for his career prospects then. After cold responses for Chamku and Heroes, he appeared in a supporting role in the blockbuster Dostana along with Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham and Priyanka Chopra in the lead. His most recent flops were Ek: The Power of One, Help, Thank You, Players and Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 which was his last release in Hindi. He is all set to play the lead in Shreyas Talpade’s directorial debut Poster Boys along with his brother Sunny Deol in 2017.