At
many
stages,
it
has
appeared
as
though
Sunny
Deol’s
career
was
running
out
of
steam,
but
each
time
he
has
risen
Phoenix-like
from
the
ashes.
Dinesh
Raheja
gives
us
a
closer
look
at
the
man
on
his
67th
birthday
on
October
19.
Sunny
Deol
with
Ameesha
Patel
in
Gadar
2.
Dharmendra
was
one
of
the
biggest
stars
in
Hindi
films.
But
around
40
years
after
his
debut
(Dil
Bhi
Hum
Bhi
Tere,
1960),
he
was
playing
a
character
role
in
the
1998
Salman
Khan-Kajol
film,
Pyar
Kiya
To
Darna
Kya,
His
son
Sunny
Deol,
on
the
other
hand,
headlined
the
blockbuster
Gadar
2
(2023)
exactly
40
years
after
he
debuted
as
a
hero
with
Betaab
(1983).
In
his
mid-60s,
Sunny
has
tided
over
financial
problems
and
a
longish
career
nadir
to
script
an
amazing
comeback
story.
While
this
may
partly
be
a
function
of
the
increased
career
longevity
for
all
stars
across
the
board
in
contemporary
Hindi
cinema,
it
does
also
stand
testament
to
Sunny’s
ability
to
remain
relevant
with
the
passage
of
time.
At
many
stages,
it
has
appeared
as
though
the
actor’s
career
was
running
out
of
steam,
but
each
time
Sunny
has
risen
Phoenix-like
from
the
ashes.
Sunny
Deol
and
Amrita
Singh
in
Betaab.
Gadar
2
was
a
Sunny
Deol
vehicle
which
wheeled
the
ageing
star
into
a
position
of
prominence
once
again
by
revisiting
his
biggest
triumph
(Gadar:
Ek
Prem
Katha,
2001).
Yes,
action
stars
can
keep
their
guns
blazing
onscreen
for
decades,
but
what
also
worked
in
Sunny’s
favour
is
his
signature
intensity
which
is
stamped
over
almost
every
scene
of
the
film.
Action
and
intensity
were
Sunny’s
hallmarks
even
when
his
star
dad
launched
his
career
four
decades
ago
with
Betaab.
Sunny
made
a
successful
debut
as
a
horse-riding
outdoorsman.
Even
his
romancing
of
Amrita
Singh
in
this
Rahul
Rawail
directorial
venture
had
a
rugged,
strong-and-silent
quality.
Sunny
Deol
in
Dacait.
His
father’s
film-makers
like
Raj
Khosla
(Sunny)
and
Nasir
Hussain
(Manzil
Manzil)
rushed
to
make
films
with
the
new
star,
but
they
flopped,
and
Sunny
ended
up
forging
his
own
path.
Though
he
enjoyed
some
success
with
the
romantic
Sohni
Mahiwal
(1984),
Sunny’s
screen
image
soon
strengthened
into
that
of
a
brooding
loner
who
spoke
with
his
fists.
This
was
thanks
largely
to
Rahul
Rawail’s
follow-up
films
to
Betaab
—
Arjun
(1985)
and
Dacait
(1987).
Though
Arjun
did
reasonably
well,
Dacait
proved
too
unrelentingly
grim
for
audiences.
Naseeruddin
Shah,
Sunny
Deol
and
Jackie
Shroff
in
Tridev.
Shaken,
Sunny
give
up
on
his
earlier
selectivity
and
signed
a
spate
of
films
including
many
of
indifferent
quality.
He
had
seven
releases
in
1989.
But
successes
like
Paap
Ki
Duniya
(1988)
and
Tridev
(1989)
ensured
his
place
in
the
Anil
Kapoor-Sunny
Deol-Jackie
Shroff
trio
that
ruled
the
roost
among
1980s
youngsters.
The
actor
hit
a
high
in
1990
with
Rajkumar
Santoshi’s
tautly
made,
anti-system
revenge
drama,
Ghayal.
Sunny
displayed
a
talent
for
raw
despair
and
ruthless
rage.
It
won
him
a
Best
Actor
National
Award.
Sunny
Deol
in
Damini.
Under
Rajkumar
Santoshi’s
direction,
Sunny
delivered
two
more
knockout
performances
in
films
about
ordinary
people
battling
against
stifling
oppression,
Damini
(1993),
for
which
he
won
another
National
Award
and
Ghatak
(1996).
In
Damini,
Sunny’s
impassioned
speech
about
the
common
man
getting
just
‘taareekh
pe
taareekh‘
in
the
courts
proved
immensely
crowd-pleasing.
So
did
his
famous
pronouncement:
‘Yeh
dhai
kilo
ka
haath
jab
uthata
hai
na,
toh
insaan
uthata
nahin,
uth
jaata
hai.’
Sunny
was
not
playing
the
male
lead
in
Damini,
but
he
stole
the
show.
Unfortunately
for
him,
the
reverse
happened
in
Yash
Chopra’s
Darr
(also
1993),
in
which
the
script
favoured
Shah
Rukh
Khan;
and
Sunny
and
his
fans
felt
short-changed.
Sunny
Deol
in
the
Yaara
o
Yaara
song
in
Jeet.
Rosy
romanticism
and
NRI-centric
themes
permeated
much
of
Hindi
cinema
in
the
1990s
after
Hum
Aapke
Hain
Koun?
and
Dilwale
Dulhaniya
Le
Jayenge.
Actors
scrambled
to
recast
their
images,
but
Sunny
defied
the
trend.
When
he
did
try
and
dance,
like
in
the
Jeet
song
Yaara
o
Yaara,
his
awkward
foot-stomping
caused
much
hilarity.
In
film
after
film,
Sunny
played
to
his
strengths
in
the
action
genre,
but
this
meant
his
roles
were
often
within
a
limited
range.
Despite
his
painful
back
problem
which
has
persisted
over
decades,
Sunny
continued
to
score
with
the
action-packed
Jeet
(1996),
Ziddi
(1997)
and
especially
Border
(1997).
The
’90s
veneration
of
all
things
Indian
led
to
a
boost
in
patriotic
films
like
Border
which
Sunny
shouldered
with
emotional
acuity
and
sheer
lung
power.
Watch
this
space
for
more
Sunny
coming
up!
