Desi Boyz (Hindi: देसी बोयज़) is a Hindi comedy drama film directed by debutant Rohit Dhawan, son of director David Dhawan. The film stars Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone and Chitrangda Singh in lead roles whilst Sanjay Dutt features in a cameo. The film released on 25 November 2011, and received mixed to positive reviews from critics.

Desi Boyz is the story of two friends, Jerry alias Jignesh Patel (Akshay Kumar) and Nick Mathur (John Abraham), who live in London and who are hit hard by recession. Jerry does odd jobs for a living as he is an undergraduate but Nick has a white-collar job. However, both find themselves jobless due to the economic downturn. Jerry has a little, school-going nephew Veer (Master Virej Desai) to look after as the child has lost both his parents. Nick is to marry his girlfriend, Radhika Awasthi (Deepika Padukone), who dreams of a lovely wedding, a great honeymoon and a wonderful house to live in after marriage.

Out of job, Jerry finds it difficult to even pay the school fees of his nephew because of which the government is on the verge of giving the custody of his nephew to a foster family. Nick fears, he won’t be able to fulfil the dreams of his to-be wife. It is to tide over the difficult times that Jerry and Nick turn to the oldest profession in the world. They become male escorts, fulfilling the costume fantasies of girls and ladies. Ironically, Jerry can’t ultimately prevent his nephew from being sent to a foster home; and Nick loses Radhika when she learns of what he has been up to while she is away in India. Frustrated, Nick blames Jerry for forcing him into the profession and asks him to move out of his house and life.

Akshay Kumar (born Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia on 9 September 1967) is an Indian film actor, producer, comedian and martial artist who has appeared in over a hundred Hindi films. He has nominated for Filmfare Award several times and won two times. When he began his acting career in the 1990s, he primarily starred in action films and was particularly known for his appearances in feature films commonly called the "Khiladi series", which included Khiladi (1992), Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1994), Sabse Bada Khiladi (1995), Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996), Mr. and Mrs. Khiladi (1997), International Khiladi (1999), and Khiladi 420 (2000), as well as other action films such as Waqt Hamara Hai (1993), Mohra (1994), Elaan (1994) and Suhaag (1994).

Later he also gained fame for his drama, romance and comic roles. He started becoming known for his performances in romance films like Yeh Dillagi (1994) and Dhadkan (2000) as well as drama films such as Ek Rishtaa (2001). His comic performances in comedy films such as Hera Pheri (2000), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), and Garam Masala (2005) met with acclaim. His success further rose in 2007, when he starred in four consecutive commercial hits. He has thus established himself as one of the leading actors in Hindi cinema.

Deepika Padukone (born 5 January 1986) is an Indian actress and a former model. She appears mostly in Hindi as well as Tamil and Kannada language films. Born to badminton player Prakash Padukone, she chose to become an actress and not pursue a career in sports.

Padukone made her acting debut in the 2006 Kannada film Aishwarya. The following year, she made her Hindi film debut in Om Shanti Om, for which she earned the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award. It also remains her biggest commercial success so far. She subsequently appeared in films such as Love Aaj Kal (2009) and Housefull (2010). While the former earned her a Filmfare nomination in the Best Actress category, the latter emerged as a commercial success.

In addition to acting, Padukone is also the ambassador of prominent brands such as Tissot, Sony Cybershot, Nescafe and Kingfisher Airlines.

Padukone was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her father, Prakash Padukone, is a former badminton player of international repute, and her mother is a travel agent. Her father was then training in Denmark in the sport and when she was eleven months old, her family moved to Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Padukone also has a younger sister, Anisha, born on 2 February 1991.