Abhay Deol

Abhay Deol (born 15 March 1976) is an Indian actor who is known for his work in Hindi films. Born in the Deol family, he made his on-screen debut in 2005 with Imtiaz Ali's romantic comedy Socha Na Tha. Deol was praised for his performances in the independent films Manorama Six Feet Under (2007) and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008). His breakthrough role came in 2009 with a starring role in Anurag Kashyap's black comedy Dev.D, a modern-day adaptation of Devdas.

Deol had his biggest commercial success in Zoya Akhtar's ensemble film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011). His performance was well-received and earned him a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. Deol later appeared in independent films including the drama Road, Movie (2010) and the war film Chakravyuh (2012), while simultaneously working in commercially successful films including the romantic drama Raanjhanaa (2013), and the romantic comedy Happy Bhag Jayegi (2016). He has since starred in the Tamil film Hero (2019) and in the Netflix drama miniseries Trial By Fire (2023).

Deol is noted for his portrayal of complex characters on screen, and is vocal in his support for parallel cinema in India. Deol owns a production company, Forbidden Films, which he established in 2009. He is an active philanthropist and supports various NGOs.

Early life

Deol was born on 15 March 1976 to Ajit Deol and Usha Deol.[2][3] He is the nephew of actor Dharmendra, and the cousin of Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Esha Deol and Ahana Deol.[4][5] His father, who passed away in 2015, was Dharmendra's younger brother and an actor-director in both Hindi and Punjabi cinema.[6]

Abhay Deol stated in an interview with Rediff that he is into acting not because of his father, but because he was involved in theatre since school. "At 18, I decided to take the plunge. It took me 10 years because I didn't want to leave my education to get into films."[5]

Acting career

Deol made his film debut in the 2005 Imtiaz Ali's Socha Na Tha, a romantic comedy where he starred opposite Ayesha Takia.[7][8] The film garnered mostly positive reviews from critics and was an average grosser at the box-office.[9] Deol's performance in the film was well received. His second film role was 2006's romantic drama Ahista Ahista opposite Soha Ali Khan. Deol's first 2007 release was the ensemble comedy drama Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. which emerged as a box-office success.[10] Deol had two more releases in the year, the crime film Ek Chalis Ki Last Local and the thriller Manorama Six Feet Under.[11] The latter won the Best Film at the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival in New York City, and Deol won the Best Actor Award.

Deol's sole release of 2008 was dark comedy film Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!. Directed by Dibakar Banerjee, the film had Deol portray a compulsive thief, Lovinder Singh a.k.a. Lucky, and the film's plot follows his exploits.[12] Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! was met with critical acclaim, but suffered heavily because of the timing of its release, a day after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, leading to widespread fear of crowded places.[13]

Deol's breakthrough role came in 2009 when he portrayed the titular character in Anurag Kashyap's 2009 neo-noir film Dev.D, a modern-day adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's classic Bengali romance novel Devdas. The idea behind the film was conceived by Kashyap during a conversation with Deol where the latter spoke about a man frequenting a Los Angeles strip club like a "modern day Devdas".[14] Dev.D. received widespread attention for its distinct visual style, experimental soundtrack, and innovative narrative structure which was unprecedented for any Bollywood film.[15] In a 4 out of 5 star review for The Times of India, Nikhat Kazmi deemed Deol's performance in the film as a "class act".[15] Deol appeared alongside Tannishtha Chatterjee in Road, Movie.[16] Deol made a cameo appearance for an Item number in the movie Tera Kya Hoga Johnny in 2010.[17] In 2009, Deol launched a production company Forbidden Films, with Junction being the film to be picked up by the banner.[18]