Abhay Deol PROFILE
Hailed as the thinking man’s actor,
Abhay Deol has proved time and again that members of the Deol family can be good at things other than ‘
dishum dishum’ when it comes to movies. Known for his unconventional roles and subtle acting,
Abhay Deol has also been compared to
Amol Palekar from time to time. This Punjabi ‘
munda’, who had explored theatre while in school made his debut in the 2005 film
Socha Na Tha for which he was nominated the ‘Best Male Debut’. This film was followed by
Ahista Ahista an year later.
By this time, the Deol prince was getting noticed and his 2007 release
Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd directed by
Reema Kagti where he played a nerd turning superhero ala Superman became a box office success. His second film of the year was the comic
Ek Chaalis Ki Last Local where
Abhay Deol played a call centre executive whose night turns complicated after he misses his last train and comes in contact with a myriad of characters from the quintessential ‘whore with a golden heart’ to a corrupt ‘mantra reciting’ cop to a garishly homosexual gangster. Though the film did not become a huge hit, the movie received acclaim from all quarters.
Abhay Deol then appeared in
Manorama Six Feet Under, a desi version of Hollywood noir ‘Chinatown’ which won the Best Film at the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival. This crime caper was followed by
Dibaker Bannerji’s
Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye in 2008 which was reportedly inspired from the life story of a real life burglar in Delhi who had specialized in burgling upper middle class residences in the capital city.
Abhay Deol played a cheeky conman in the movie and it went on to win the National Award for Best popular Film that year.
Abhay Deol’s moment of glory however came in
Anurag Kashyap’s
Dev D the same year where he played the modern version of the heartbroken alcoholic Devdas who finds redemption in the love of a prostitute. Deol had reportedly thought of the concept himself and the movie which had amazing music bagged six Filmfare awards that year.
The year 2009 was not as successful for
Abhay Deol where he acted in
Road, Movie directed by
Dev Benegal which was appreciated at international film festivals but did not raise much eyebrows in India. His next movie
Aisha which was based on Jane Austen’s famous novel ‘Emma’ was also not successful and some critics went on to say that
Abhay Deol was wasted in the movie. Deol has also starred with
Hrithik Roshan and
Farhan Akhtar in
Zoya Akhtar’s male bonding on a road trip’ formula movie
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara which has been praised by critics and fans alike.
Abhay Deol shall be back in
Dibaker Bannerji’s upcoming movie’
Shanghai where he will reportedly play a negative character…The thinking man’s hero has finally come of age.