Anil Sharma is an Indian film director and producer.

Biography[link]

He made his directional debut with Shradhanjali with Raakhee Gulzar. He had directed several unsuccessful and unnoticed films in the early 1980s before he started also to produce films with Elaan-E-Jung (1989) which was also directed by him and became the first production film of his to become a resounding success. During the 90s, he has directed films like Farishtay (1991) and Maharaja (1998), and produced two films. He has worked with various established artists like Mega star Amitabh Bachchan, Sridevi, Akshay Kumar, Karisma Kapoor, Govinda, Manisha Koirala and a host of others. Despite this, he did not achieve neither Box-Office success, nor critical acclaim. The only actor who proved to be his lucky star was the Famous Hindi star, Dharmendra. His first liaison with Dharmendra began in the year 1987 when he directed Hukumat. This film became the Highest Grossing Film of the year and became Anil Sharma's First official hit film. Hukumat was also noted for being one of the biggest money spinners of the 1980s decade and was a come back for Dharmendra at the time, who was brimming from a quite unsuccessful spell the year before. The film had the popular song "Pyar ha han han Karega" which became a Chart-buster of its time. From then on, the Dharmendra-Anil Sharma team delivered several successful projects from Elaan-E-Jung (1989), Farishtay (1991), Tahalka (1992) and most recently, the critically acclaimed film, Apne (2007). In the mid 1980s, Anil Sharma was one of only two directors that had a special working relationship with Dharmendra, The other being J.P. Dutta. His working relationship with Dharmendra yielded a record of sorts since having not to have delivered a single flop film with him till date.

In 2001, his years in the industry paid off, as he directed the film Gadar: Ek Prem Katha starring Sunny Deol who happened to be the son of his favorite actor, Dharmendra and Amisha Patel as the heroine. The film was a huge commercial success, and critically appreciated as well. Gadar: Ek Prem Katha went on to become one of the biggest hits in the history of Hindi cinema and till today, it still remains the most successful film of the first decade of the 21st century. Sharma received his first award nominations for Best Director and Best Film in different award ceremonies. In that same year, he however produced the film Aashiq, directed by Indra Kumar, starring Karisma Kapoor and Bobby Deol, the second son of Dharmendra. The movie failed to do well at the box office. Unlike his glorious association with Dharmendra and Sunny Deol, he was not lucky with Bobby Deol.

In 2003, Sharma tried to repeat the success of Gadar, and collaborated once again with Sunny Deol in the film The Hero: Love Story of a Spy starring Preity Zinta and then a newcomer Priyanka Chopra. The film, at its time, was considered to be the most expensive film ever made in Bollywood with the biggest film budget ever.The film went on to be the third highest grosser of the year. However, it did not cover its high costs, and flopped.

In 2004, he produced a romantic thriller - Madhoshi (2004) with John Abraham and Bipasha Basu, which was unnoticed. He also directed the War film Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo starring Amitabh Bachchan, Bobby Deol and Akshay Kumar. The year was not a good year for him, as both the films failed.

Recently in 2007, he made a comeback of sorts when directed the family Drama Apne. This film generated extremely good reviews from critics, and performed very well at the box office. The film was also noted for the enormous success it enjoyed in the overseas market most notably in countries like Canada, UK and Australia. It was the first ever film that brought the famous deol family of Dharmendra-Sunny Deol-Bobby Deol together and Anil Sharma was praised for his perfect timing. The film became his 5th Straight hit with Dharmendra as Main lead completing a remarkable 100% record with the Actor Icon.

Filmography[link]

External links[link]

• Anil Sharma at the Internet Movie Database

References[link]

Sunny Deol
Born	Ajay Singh Deol (1956-10-19) 19 October 1956 (age 55) New Delhi, India[1]
Residence	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Ethnicity	Punjabi
Occupation	Actor, Director, Producer
Years active	1983-Present
Spouse	Pooja Deol ਪੂਜਾ ਦਿਓਲ
Parents	Dharmendra, Prakash Kaur
Relatives	Bobby Deol (younger brother) Hema Malini (step-mother) Esha Deol (half-sister) Ahana Deol (half-sister) Abhay Deol (first cousin)

Sunny Deol is an Indian film actor, producer and director. Often referred to as "Action King of Bollywood".^[2] Deol was born to Bollywood actor Dharmendra.^[3] He has won two National Film Awards^[4] and two Filmfare Awards.^[5] He went to England to study acting. He joined theater called the Old Web Theater in Birmingham, England where he studied theatre and acting^[1]

Deol's films such as Border (1997) and Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001) remain some of Bollywood's biggest hits.,^[6] while films like Betaab (1983), Arjun (1985), Paap Ki Duniya (1988), Tridev (1989), Ghayal (1990), Damini – Lightning (1993), Darr (1993), Jeet (1996), Ghatak: Lethal (1996), Ziddi (1997), Indian (2001), The Hero: Love Story of a Spy (2003), Apne (2007), Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011) are other successful films thus making him successful leading actors of Bollywood.^[7][8] Gadar: Ek Prem Katha is the second-highest grossing movie of Indian film history, if inflation is taken into account ^[9] and also most watched of modern era in theaters.^[10]

Early life[link]

Deol was born into a Punjabi -Sikh family in Sahnewal village of East Punjab (India) to Bollywood actor Dharmendra^[11] and Prakash Kaur. Sunny is eldest son of Dharmendra. His stepmother is Hema Malini.^[12] He has a brother Bobby Deol and two sisters Vijayta Deol and Ajeeta Deol who are settled in California, he also has two half-sisters, Esha Deol and Ahana Deol.^[13] The former being an actress, has worked in some successful Bollywood flicks.His cousin Abhay Deol is also a successful actor.

Career[link]

1980s[link]

Sunny Deol made his film debut opposite debutant Amrita Singh in Betaab (1983) which was a blockbuster & launched both Sunny & Amrita Singh's career's. His performance won him his first Filmfare Best Actor Award Nomination.^[14] He then went through a lean phase for a couple of years until Rahul Rawail's Arjun (1985) came. He played the titular role of an unemployed youngster in Arjun. The film went on to become a major hit and established Sunny’s status as an action hero. What followed were a bunch of hits like Dacait (1987), Yateem (1988) and Paap Ki Duniya (1988)^[15] In 1989, he had back to back hits with Rajiv Rai's Tridev and Pankaj Parashar's Chaalbaaz^[16][17]

1990s[link]

With his portrayal of an amateur boxer wrongly accused of his brother’s murder in Rajkumar Santoshi's Ghayal, Sunny proved that he still ruled the industry when it came to action sequences. Produced by the home banner Vijayta Films, the movie was an instant hit with the masses and went on to win seven Filmfare Awards.^[18] His performance won him his first Filmfare Best Actor Award and also his first National Film Award.^[19] In 1991, Sunny starred in about 5 films but only Narsimha was a success. Rajiv Rai's Vishwatma was Sunny's only release in 1992. His role of a lawyer in Damini – Lightning (1993) fetched him several awards and accolades in Bollywood. He shared screen space with Juhi Chawla and Shah Rukh Khan in Yash Chopra’s blockbuster Darr. In the mid-nineties he delivered four big hits in a row Jeet (1996), Ghatak: Lethal (1996), Ziddi (1997) and Border (1997)^[20] In 1999, after starring opposite Juhi Chawla in Arjun Pandit, Sunny Deol tried his hand at direction and helmed Dillagi. He also acted alongside younger brother Bobby Deol and Urmila Matondkar in his directorial debut, which was very well appreciated by critics^[21]

2000s[link]

In 2001, he starred in the film Farz opposite Preity Zinta.^[22] Sunny played the role of lorry driver Tara Singh who falls in love with a Muslim girl in Anil Sharma’s Gadar: Ek Prem Katha. The partition saga went to become an all time blockbuster and was the highest grossing Bollywood film ever that time^[23] and currently 5th highest grossing Bollywood film.^[24][25] He was nominated for the Filmfare Best Actor Award for his portrayal.^[26] His third release that year saw him playing the title role in the action film Indian, a remake of the Tamil film Vallarasu in which Sunny essayed the character of DCP Rajshekhar Azad, an honest police officer. The movie was a success.^[22] Sunny’s next few projects were extremely patriotic in nature and struck a chord with audiences across the country. He played the role of an Indian military officer in Maa Tujhhe Salaam and essayed the character of freedom fighter Chandrashekhar Azad in 23rd March 1931: Shaheed.

In 2003 Sunny Deol teamed up with director Anil Sharma yet again for The Hero: Love Story of a Spy, which also starred Preity Zinta and Priyanka Chopra in her first onscreen appearance.^[27] which released on 11 April and was billed as Bollywood's most expensive film that time with an estimated budget of 60 crore (US$11.97 million)^[28] The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and became the third highest-grossing Bollywood film of that year^[29] Sunny made an appearance alongside Dharmendra and Bobby Deol in Apne (2007)^[30] and then yet again in Yamla Pagla Deewana^[31][32]

2010s[link]

Deol's first release of 2010 was Right Yaaa Wrong.^[33] The film was critically successful, but moderately successful commercially.^[34] Yamla Pagla Deewana was Sunny's only release in 2011 and one of the biggest successes of the year^[35] In 2011, he started working in Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru's I Love New Year opposite Tannishtha Chatterjee and in Chandraprakash Dwivedi's Mohalla Assi opposite Sakshi Tanwar but for some reason's both films have been delayed.For the first time in his career, Sunny will lend his voice (for Bheem) in the Animated film Mahabharata; produced by Jayantilal Gada of PEN India Pvt Ltd. His future ventures includes Sangeeth Sivan's Yamla Pagla Deewana 2, Anil Sharma's Singh Saheb The Great, Rahul Rawail's Ghayal Returns and Rajkumar Santoshi's Next.

Personal life[link]

Sunny Deol has always maintained a low profile in the media about his personal life. He is married to Pooja Deol. His wife has never faced the media till date like other celebrity wives. The couple have two sons Karan Deol(21) and Rajvir Deol(17).His elder son is set to make debut^[36][37]

Awards and nominations[link]

Apart from National Film Awards, Filmfare Awards and other competitive awards which Deol won for his performances throughout the years, he has been awarded several honours for his achievements in the Indian film industry.

Filmography[link]

Actor[link]