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]