Vijay Singh Deol (born 27 January 1969), known by his stage name Bobby Deol, is an Indian actor who works in Bollywood. A member of the Deol family, he is the younger son of actor Dharmendra. He has won a Filmfare Award in 1996.
After appearing as a child artist in Dharam Veer (1977), Deol had his first lead role in the blockbuster romance Barsaat (1995) that won him the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut. He established himself as a lead with the top-grossing films Gupt (1997), Soldier (1998), Badal (2000), Bichhoo (2000), Ajnabee (2001), and Humraaz (2002). It was followed by a brief career downturn, during which his only rarely successful films include multi starrers like Apne (2007), Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011), Race 3 (2018) and Housefull 4 (2019). He reinforced his critical success with acclaimed performances in digital ventures Class of ’83 (2020) and Aashram (2020–present).
Early life and family
Deol was born on 27 January 1967 into a Punjabi Jat family in Bombay. He is the second son of Bollywood star Dharmendra and Parkash Kaur. He is the younger brother of Sunny Deol and also has two sisters Vijayta and Ajeeta who live in California.
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His step-mother is Hema Malini, through whom he has two paternal half-sisters, actress Esha Deol and Ahana Deol. His cousin Abhay Deol is also an actor.
He married Tanya Ahuja in 1996; the couple has two sons.
Bobby Deol Height Age Girlfriend Wife Family Biography
| Bio/Wiki | |
|---|---|
| Real Name | Vijay Singh Deol |
| Nickname | Bobby |
| Profession | Actor |
| Physical Stats & More | |
| Height (approx.) | in centimeters- 180 cm in meters- 1.80 m in feet inches- 5’ 11” |
| Weight (approx.) | in kilograms- 75 kg in pounds- 165 lbs |
| Body Measurements (approx.) | – Chest: 40 Inches – Waist: 32 Inches – Biceps: 13 Inches |
| Eye Colour | Light Brown |
| Hair Colour | Black |
| Personal Life | |
| Date of Birth | 27 January 1969 |
| Age (as in 2023) | 54 Years |
| Birthplace | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Zodiac sign/Sun sign | Aquarius |
| Signature/Autograph |  |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Hometown | Sahnewal, Ludhiana, Punjab, India |
| School | Jamnabai Narsee School, Mumbai, Maharashtra Mayo College, Ajmer, Rajasthan |
| College/University | Mithibai College, Mumbai, Maharasthra |
| Educational Qualification | Graduate in Commerce |
| Debut | Film (As a Child Artist): Dharam Veer (1977) Film (As a Lead Role): Barsaat (1995) |
| Religion | Sikhism |
| Caste | Jatt |
| Food Habit | Non-Vegetarian |
| Address | Plot No. 22, 10th Road, Juhu Scheme, Mumbai, India |
| Hobbies | Watching Movies, Collecting Sunglasses |
| Girls, Affairs and More | |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Affairs/Girlfriends | Neelam Kothari (Rumour) Priya Chatwal (Rumour) |
| Marriage Date | May 30, 1996 |
| Family | |
| Wife/Spouse | Tanya Deol |
| Children | Sons– Aryaman Deol & Dharam Deol Daughter– None |
| Parents | Father– Dharmendra (Actor) Mother– Prakash Kaur (Real mother), Hema Malini (Step-mother, actress) |
| Siblings | Brother– Sunny Deol (Actor, Elder) Sisters– Vijayta (settled in California, USA), Ajeeta (settled in California, USA), Esha Deol (half-sister), Ahana Deol (half-sister) Cousin– Abhay Deol |
| Favourite Things | |
| Favourite Food(s) | Lauki Ki Sabzi & Moong Ki Dal |
| Favourite Actor | Sunny Deol |
| Favourite Sport(s) | Cricket and Badminton |
| Favourite Destination(s) | Goa, Singapore, Dubai and London |
| Style Quotient |
|
| Cars Collection | Porsche Cayenne, Land Rover Freelander 2, Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, Porsche 911 Carrera 4S |
| Money Factor |
|
| Salary (approx.) | ₹2 Crore/film |
| Net Worth (approx.) | ₹136 Crore ($20 Million) |
Acting career
Debut, box office success and stardom (1995–2002)
Deol first briefly appeared as a child actor at the age of ten in Dharam Veer (1977). Deol then made his adult debut in Bollywood alongside Twinkle Khanna in Barsaat (1995) directed by Rajkumar Santoshi. Deol plays the character of Badal, a naive but intelligent young man who moves from a small village to the big city and gets caught up with corrupt police and criminal gangs amidst falling in love. Partly shot in Scotland, Deol broke his leg in an equestrian accident while filming and had to be flown to London to recuperate and had to call off several publicity shoots which documented his debut. The film was a moderate success at the box office and garnered him the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut.
In 1997, Deol starred in Gupt: The Hidden Truth, a suspense thriller directed by Rajiv Rai, which is widely considered his breakthrough role. Cast alongside Manisha Koirala, Kajol, Paresh Rawal, Om Puri and Raj Babbar, Deol played the role of Sahil, a young man accused of murdering his stepfather over an engagement proposal and wrongly imprisoned. He escapes and tracks down the real killer. Gupt: The Hidden Truth was highly acclaimed for its storyline and soundtrack and was a commercial success. In the same year, Deol appeared in Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya, alongside Aishwarya Rai in her debut Bollywood role. The film failed to do well at the box office.
In 1998, Deol starred opposite Neha in the Vidhu Vinod Chopra film, Kareeb. Deol played the character of Birju, an irresponsible young man from an upper-middle-class family in Himachal Pradesh with a love of petty thievery and deceit. Later in 1998, he appeared in Abbas Mustan’s military thriller Soldier, alongside Raakhee and Preity Zinta. Deol played the mysterious character of Vicky, later revealed as Raju, son of Vijay Malhotra who was convicted of arms smuggling. Soldier was a big hit and was a huge commercial success.
In 1999, Deol starred in Dillagi, directed by and co-starring his brother Sunny Deol. The film is noted for being the first time Sunny Deol directed a film and also the first time he acted alongside Bobby Deol. This pairing was repeated in 23rd March 1931: Shaheed (2002), Apne (2007) and Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011) among others. Dillagi features the two as the brothers Ranvir and Rajvir, fighting for the affection of Shalini (Urmila Matondkar).
In 2000, Deol appeared in the action drama Badal alongside Rani Mukerji, under the director’s helm of Raj Kanwar. The film is set in 1984 when riots were engulfing parts of Punjab and Delhi. Deol plays the character of Badal, a boy who witnesses the massacre of his family and villagers by the corrupt Police Inspector Jai Singh Rana (Ashutosh Rana) and grows up to be a dreaded terrorist, fuelled by the anger and hatred of the authorities who wrongly deprived him of his family and friends. The film is inspired by The Devil’s Own (1997), starring Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford. Badal was a commercial success. Following this, he starred alongside Karisma Kapoor in Hum To Mohabbat Karega (2000), and reunited with Rani Mukerji in Bichhoo (2000), a blatant remake of Luc Besson’s 1994 film Leon, starring Jean Reno and Natalie Portman. In Bichhoo, Deol plays Reno’s role, Jeeva, a young man from a struggling middle-class family who has the misfortune of falling in love with the wealthy Kiran (Malaika Arora). Her cruel, disapproving father in rage at their relationship, has Jeeva’s mother and two sisters publicly arrested for prostitution, and eventually all three kill themselves. Jeeva becomes a professional killer and later exacts vengeance against Kiran’s father and his henchmen. He and his neighbour Kiran Bali (Mukerji) soon witness the entire Bali family get murdered. Jeeva now decides to help Kiran seek revenge on the men who killed her family. The film and Deol’s performance was panned by the critics, with Sakanya Verna of Rediff.com citing the film as “one of the most painful of the year” and commenting, “Deol’s performance is quite, well, robotic. He religiously hangs on to a brooding expression right through the film. Why-o-why doesn’t someone insist he goes to an acting school?”
In 2001 (although filmed in 2000), Deol starred alongside Karisma Kapoor and Rahul Dev in Indra Kumar’s Aashiq. Following this, he featured in Abbas–Mustan’s thriller, Ajnabee, alongside Kareena Kapoor, Akshay Kumar and Bipasha Basu. The film, adapted from the 1992 American thriller Consenting Adults, features Bobby as Raj, the new husband of Priya Malhotra (Kapoor) who after moving to Switzerland and initially befriending their neighbors (Kumar and Basu), become entangled in a web of deceit and extra-marital affairs. Ziya us Salaam of The Hindu was unconvinced with Deol’s performance, remarking that he “only occasionally manages to transmit fear of the fugitive.”
In 2002, Deol starred alongside his brother Sunny in the historical drama 23rd March 1931: Shaheed. Set in British India, it depicts the events leading up to the hanging of Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and his companions Rajguru and Sukhdev on 23 March 1931. The film stars Bobby Deol as Bhagat Singh and Sunny Deol as another revolutionary Chandra Shekhar Azad. The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rediff.com believed the movie had plenty of good moments, and plenty of bad ones and believed the film was superior to that of the original on Bhagat Singh, although they believed the agony of Bhagat Singh’s fight was underplayed, diminishing the brutality and anguish suffered in the real-life event. While Deol was praised for some scenes, he was criticised for his loud acting and Rediff.com believed he was overshadowed by Ajay Devgan remarking, “In terms of performance, Devgan is clearly the winner, with the advantage of a stronger script and a better director. Devgan, who reportedly lost weight to look the part, is today emerging as one of India’s finest actors, willing to try out different roles. Deol tries his best, but it is difficult to shout and act simultaneously.”
Later in 2002, Deol was nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his role as a suave, wealthy shipping businessman in Abbas-Mustan’s romantic thriller Humraaz. The film is inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Dial M For Murder (1954) (remade in 1998 as A Perfect Murder) and features Deol in a love triangle with Ameesha Patel and Akshaye Khanna. The film received positive reviews from critics, with Chitra Mahesh of The Hindu saying, “Bobby Deol spends the entire first half looking moony eyed and spaced out, but overcomes the stupor towards the end where he actually gives a good performance.” Deol’s final film of 2002 was David Dhawan’s Chor Machaaye Shor in which he acted alongside Paresh Rawal, Shilpa Shetty, Bipasha Basu and Om Puri. He played Shyam, a small-time crook who gets his hands on some diamonds worth millions.
Comeback (2017–present)
Bobby Deol has made his comeback in 2017 with Shreyas Talpade’s directorial venture Poster Boys alongside his brother Sunny Deol. In 2018, Deol played the role of Yash in the action thriller Race 3 alongside Salman Khan and Jacqueline Fernandez. He also starred as Kalaa in the comedy film Yamla Pagla Deewana: Phir Se co-starring his Dharmendra, Sunny Deol and Kriti Kharbanda. In 2019, he starred as Dharamputra / Max in the comedy film Housefull 4 alongside Kriti Kharbanda, the film released on 25 October 2019 and was directed by Farhad Samji. His latest release Class of ’83 was on Netflix, where he played the character of a police officer. The film is based on the book The Class of ’83 and tells the story of a hero policeman shunted to a punishment posting as the dean of the police academy. Class of ’83 is Netflix’s third collaboration with Red Chillies Entertainment, following the original series Bard of Blood and Betaal. The film premiered on 21 August 2020 on Netflix. In 2020 his web series Aashram premiered on MX Player original series where he played the character of a Baba Nirala. The actor has made a stellar comeback in his second innings and cast in several movies since then. Three generations of Deols in ‘Apne 2’: Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, and Karan Deol all set for the sequel.
Filmography
Films
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Dharam Veer | Young Dharam | Child artist |
| 1995 | Barsaat | Badal | |
| 1997 | Gupt: The Hidden Truth | Sahil Sinha | |
| Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya | Bobby Oberoi | ||
| 1998 | Kareeb | Brij Kumar/Birju | |
| Soldier | Vicky/Raju Malhotra | ||
| 1999 | Dillagi | Rajvir Singh/ Rocky Singh | |
| 2000 | Badal | Raja/Badal | |
| Hum To Mohabbat Karega | Rajiv Bhatnagar | ||
| Bichhoo | Jeeva | ||
| 2001 | Aashiq | Chander Kapoor | |
| Ajnabee | Raj Malhotra | ||
| 2002 | Kranti | ACP Abhay Pratap Singh | |
| 23rd March 1931: Shaheed | Bhagat Singh | ||
| Humraaz | Raj Singhania | ||
| Chor Machaaye Shor | Shyam Singh/Insp. Ram Singh | ||
| 2004 | Kismat | Tony | |
| Bardaasht | Aditya Shrivastava | ||
| Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo | Kunaljit Singh/Vikramjeet Singh | ||
| 2005 | Jurm | Avinash Malhotra | |
| Tango Charlie | Sepoy Tarun Chauhan | ||
| Barsaat | Aarav Kapoor | ||
| Dosti: Friends Forever | Karan Thapar | ||
| Nalaik | Himself | Punjabi film; Guest appearance | |
| 2006 | Humko Tumse Pyaar Hai | Raj Malhotra | |
| Alag | Himself | Guest appearance | |
| 2007 | Shakalaka Boom Boom | Ayan Joshi | |
| Jhoom Barabar Jhoom | Steve Singh/ Satvinder Singh | ||
| Apne | Karan Singh Choudhary | ||
| Naqaab | Karan Oberoi/Rohit Shroff | ||
| Om Shanti Om | Himself | Guest appearance | |
| Nanhe Jaisalmer | Himself | ||
| 2008 | Chamku | Chandrama “Chamku” Singh | |
| Heroes | Dhananjay “DJ” Shergill | ||
| Dostana | Abhimanyu Singh | ||
| 2009 | Ek: The Power Of One | Nand Kumar Sharma”Nandu” / Fake Puran Singh | |
| Vaada Raha | Dr. Duke Chawla | ||
| 2010 | Help | Vic | |
| 2011 | Yamla Pagla Deewana | Gajodhar Singh/Karamveer Singh Dhillon | |
| Thank You | Raj Malhotra | ||
| 2012 | Players | Ronnie Grewal | |
| 2013 | Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 | Gajodhar Singh/Prem Oberoi/Q. Oberoi | |
| 2017 | Poster Boys | Vinay Kumar Sharma | |
| 2018 | Race 3 | Yash Singh | |
| Yamla Pagla Deewana: Phir Se | Kalaa / Kalia | ||
| 2019 | Housefull 4 | Mahabali Dharamputra Singh / Max Sinha | |
| 2020 | Class of ’83 | ADGP Vijay Singh | |
| 2022 | Love Hostel | Viraj Singh Dagar | |
| 2023 | Animal † | TBA | |
| Hari Hara Veera Mallu † | Aurangzeb | Telugu film | |
| Kanguva † | TBA | Tamil film |
Television
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2020–2023 | Aashram | Kashipur Waale Baba Nirala / Monty Singh |
| 2022 | Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives | Himself |