Indian actor Sunny Deol debuted in his father's production Betaab (1983) directed by Rahul Rawail, which was a commercial success. It was followed by numerous roles in some other films of that decade including Sohni Mahiwal (1984), Arjun (1985) and Paap Ki Duniya (1988). In 1989, his role as a police officer in Tridev was highlighted and he also appeared in ChaalBaaz; both were among the top 5 highest earning films of the year.
Sunny Deol appeared in the lead role of a boxer in another of his father's productions Ghayal, directed by debutante Rajkumar Santoshi, which became the year's second top-grossing film. It established and won him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor and National Film Special Jury Award. In 1993, Deol reunited with Santoshi to play an alcoholic lawyer in the highly successful social drama Damini and was awarded the Filmfare Award and National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. That year, his character of a lieutenant army officer in Yash Chopra's psychological thriller Darr earned him a Filmfare Award for Best Actor nomination. In 1996 he appeared as a criminal in Raj Kanwar's action film Jeet. He also worked with Santoshi a third time in Ghatak. In 1997, he starred in an all-time-blockbuster epic war film Border, where he played the role of a war hero. Two years later, he produced and directed his brother's starrer Dillagi (1999), in which he had a lead role too, but the film failed to gain success.
In 2001, Deol featured as a Sikh truck driver who loves a Muslim woman in Anil Sharma's patriotic action drama portraying the India-Pakistan partition of 1947, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, opposite Amisha Patel. The film became the highest-grossing Hindi film up until then in mainstream cinema earning over worldwide and he was nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Actor once again. In the same year, he worked in another highly successful action thriller film Indian (2001). He went on to appear in several films co-starring his father and brother, such as Apne (2007) and the Yamla Pagla Deewana film series (2011–18). In 2016, Deol directed and starred in a sequel to Ghayal. He launched and directed his elder son as an actor in the romantic thriller Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas (2019).
Sunny Deol has experienced a massive career resurgence in recent years, headlining two of the highest-grossing blockbuster films in Indian cinema history. Following the record-breaking success of Gadar 2 in 2023, he returned to the war genre with the 2026 blockbuster Border 2, further cementing his legacy as a dominant force at the box office.
Films Year Title Role Notes 1983Betaab 1984Sohni Mahiwal Mahiwal / Sunny Manzil Manzil Vijay (Sonu)1985ArjunZabardastSunder Kumar / Shyam1986Sultanat Sultan Saveray Wali Gaadi Ravi Das Samundar Ajit 1987Dacait 1988Paap Ki Duniya Suraj / Ashok Ram-Avtar Ram Yateem Krishna Inteqam Birju / Vijay 1989VardiJoshilaay Dara TridevChaalBaaz Suraj Nigahen: Nagina Part II Anand Aag Ka Gola / Shankar (Shaka) Main Tera Dushman Gopal Cameo appearance 1990Majboor SunilKroadhAjay Shukla (Ajju) GhayalBadnam Darshan Bengali film; Cameo appearance1991Vishnu-Devaa / Vishnu Subramaniam / Jack D'Souza Yodha Shankara Shankara Narsimha Narsimha 1992Vishwatma 1993LootereKshatriya Damini Izzat Ki RotiJeet Veerta Gunaah Darr1994Insaniyat Imtihaan Raja 1995Dushmani: A Violent Love Story Angrakshak Ajay 1996Himmat Jeet Karan Ghatak Kashi Nath Ajay Ajay 1997Ziddi Border Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya Himself Cameo appearanceQahar Raja 1998Zor SalaakhenIski Topi Uske Sarr Bhangra Dancer Cameo appearance 1999Pyaar Koi Khel Nahin Anand Arjun PanditProf. Arjun Dixit (Arjun Pandit)Dillagi Also director; Directorial debut 2000Champion 2001Farz Gadar: Ek Prem Katha Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke Sagar Cameo appearance Indian Kasam Shankar 2002Maa Tujhhe Salaam23rd March 1931: Shaheed Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahani Special appearanceKarz: The Burden of Truth 2003The Hero: Love Story of a SpyMajor Arun Khanna / Ajay Chakravarty () / Major Ravi Batra () / Wahid Khan () Kaise Kahoon Ke... Pyaar Hai Cameo appearance Jaal: The Trap Khel – No Ordinary Game2004Lakeer – Forbidden Lines Rok Sako To Rok Lo 2005Jo Bole So Nihaal 2006Naksha Teesri Aankh: The Hidden Camera 2007Big BrotherDevdhar Gandhi (Deva) / Devdhar Sharma Fool & Final Munna Apne Kaafila 2008Tolly LightsHimself Cameo appearanceHeroes 2009Fox Yashwant Deshmukh / "Fox" 2010Right Yaaa Wrong Khuda Kasam Hussain Hello Darling Cameo appearance 2011Yamla Pagla Deewana2013Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 Singh Saab the GreatSaranjit Singh Talwar / Singh SaabMahabharatBhima Voiceover 2014Dishkiyaoon Lakwa 2015I Love NY 2016Ghayal Once Again Also director2017Poster Boys 2018Yamla Pagla Deewana: Phir Se Puran Singh Mohalla Assi Bhaiaji Superhit 2019Blank Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas Director 2022Chup: Revenge of the Artist 2023Gadar 2 2025Jaat Brig. Baldev Pratap Singh / Jaat2026Border 2 Lt Col Fateh Singh Kaler Ikka Arjun Mehra / Ikka Netflix filmBatwara 1947 Sikander Mirza scope="row" TBA Post-production scope="row" Hanuman Post-production 2027scope="row" Filming
Television
Year Title Role Notes 2023 The Romantics Himself Documentary
See also List of awards and nominations received by Sunny Deol
Notes
References
External links