Birthday Special : lesser-known facts about action hero Sunny Deol

He made a smashing debut in the early 80s with Amrita Singh in Betaab and has been loved by the audience ever since.

BD Desk 19/10/2020
Sunny Deol
Source: Instagram

Popular silver screen action hero Sunny Deol is celebrating his b’ day today!  Apart from his jaw-dropping fight sequences in films, he is also known for being a director, producer and also has made his way into politics. He made a smashing debut in the early 80s with Amrita Singh in Betaab and has been loved by the audience ever since.

Sunny is the kind of prominent personality from the film industry who is often not seen in the public eye widely, so on his b’ day, we have curated a special list of all the lesser-known facts about him!

Here we go:

1. His actual name is Ajay Singh Deol. He is the eldest son of the veteran legend, Dharmendra. Often referred by his family through his nickname ‘Sunny’, he decided to venture into the world of Hindi film industry with the same name.

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2. Being a Sikh-Jatt, he has a huge fan following in Punjab which only increased when he starred in the film ‘Gadar: Ek Pram Katha’, making it an instant hit. People loved his portrayal of Tara Singh, a Sikh truck driver. This huge fan following led to the film being played in the state from as early as 6 am to have multiple shows in one day!

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3. Although he is often recognised for his hardcore action scenes and rugged avatar in films, which are often Desi, Sunny has studied acting in Birmingham, England. He was also a part of the Old World Theatre, an important centre for theatre in the United Kingdom and sported his skills there.

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4. He made his directorial debut in 1999 with the film Dillagi. He shared screen space with brother Bobby Deol in it. After almost 17 years, he again donned the director’s hat for the sequel for one of his most successful films titled ‘Ghaya’. The new edition was called ‘Ghayal Once Again’. The film ended up making 23.25 crores on the first weekend. He later directed 2019 film ‘Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas’, in which his son Karan Deol Starred. The name of the film was inspired by a song filmed on his father, Dharmendra.

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5. He is the bearer of 2 national awards. One he received in 1991 for his portrayal in Ghayal under ‘National Film Award – Special Jury Award’ and the other was for Damini in 1944 for ‘National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor’. In those years, he also won the Filmfare award under the same category. In 2002, Star Screen Awards chose him as the ‘Best Actor’ for ‘Gadar: Ek Prem Katha’.