Sunny Deol

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 in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian Parliament.

He was elected from the Gurdaspur constituency of Punjab.

As an actor, he has worked in more than 90 Hindi films in a career spanning over four decades and is particularly known for his angry action hero persona.

Deol has won several awards including two National Film Awards and two Filmfare Awards.

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

The elder son of actor Dharmendra, Deol made his acting debut opposite newcomer Amrita Singh in the romantic drama Betaab (1983), a major commercial success.

Deol made his debut with the 1983 romantic film Betaab which earned him his first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor.

The film follows the story of two young lovers, played by Deol and Amrita Singh, navigating obstacles to their love amidst family conflicts.

The film emerged as a commercial success and went on to be one of the biggest hits of the year, emerging as the third highest-grossing Indian film of 1983.

Hajan Valley located in Kashmir, a major location in the film came to be known as Betaab Valley, which has since become a popular tourist destination in the region.

The following year, Deol starred in Sunny, Manzil Manzil, and Sohni Mahiwal, with only the latter becoming successful at the box office.

Sohni Mahiwal (1984), an Indian-Russian film portrays the classic Punjabi folklore tragic love story of Sohni, portrayed by Poonam Dhillon, a potter's daughter, and Mahiwal (Deol), a wealthy merchant, amidst societal constraints.

The film remains celebrated for its soundtrack and has attained cult classic status in Russia.

He had further box-office hits in action films such as Arjun (1985), Paap Ki Duniya (1988) 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 (Feature Film).

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 to date.

In 1986, he appeared alongside his father in Sultanat.

In the final years of the decade he appeared in subsequent action hits including Paap Ki Duniya (1988), Vardi (1988) and Tridev (1989).

His role as a police officer in Tridev was praised.

Tridev received numerous accolades and was the third highest-grossing film of 1989.

He also played a role in the slapstick comedy ChaalBaaz (1989), starring Sridevi in dual role, along with Deol and Rajinikanth.

It was well received by critics and emerged as a commercial success, eventually becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 1989.

Deol appeared in the lead role of a boxer in Ghayal (1990), directed by debutant Rajkumar Santoshi, which became the year's second highest-grossing film worldwide and the highest-grossing film domestically.

The film grossed ₹20 crore and was declared a blockbuster by Box Office India.

The film won him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor and the National Film Award – Special Jury Award (Feature Film).

The 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 2001, he delivered back-to-back successes.

Starting with Yodha in 1991 in which he co-starred alongside Sanjay Dutt.

His portrayal of a volatile lawyer in Santoshi's crime drama Damini (1993) won him the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He also starred in Darr (1993), Jeet (1996), Ghatak (1996), and Ziddi (1997).

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).

He made a solid comeback by reprising his role in Gadar 2 (2023), which became the highest-grossing film of his career and the sixth highest-grossing Hindi film of all-time.