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 of Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian Parliament from 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 | |
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Deol in 2019 | |
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
Assumed office 18 June 2019 | |
Preceded by | Sunil Kumar Jakhar |
Constituency | Gurdaspur, Punjab |
Personal details | |
Residence(s) | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
Born | Ajay Singh Deol 19 October 1956 Sahnewal, East Punjab, India |
Occupations | |
Years active | 1983–present |
Works | Full list |
Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
Spouse |
Lynda Deol (a.k.a. Pooja Deol)
(m. 1984) |
Children | 2 |
Parent | Dharmendra (father) |
Relatives | See Deol family |
Awards | Full list |
Signature | |
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. 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). 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.