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). [1] 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. [2]
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. [3] 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. [4] 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. [5] In 1996 he appeared as a criminal in Raj Kanwar's action film Jeet . He also worked with Santoshi a third time in Ghatak . [6] In 1997, he starred in an all-time-blockbuster epic war film Border , where he played the role of a war hero. [7] 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. [8]
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 ₹1.3 billion (US$15 million) worldwide and he was nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Actor once again. [9] In the same year, he worked in another highly successful action thriller film Indian (2001). [10] 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). [11] 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). [12]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Betaab | Sunny Kapoor | [13] | |
| 1984 | Sohni Mahiwal | Mahiwal / Mirza Izzat Beg | [14] | |
| Sunny | Sunny Inderjit | [15] | ||
| Manzil Manzil | Vijay (Sonu) | [16] | ||
| 1985 | Arjun | Arjun Malvankar | [17] | |
| Zabardast | Sunder Kumar / Shyam | [18] | ||
| 1986 | Sultanat | Sultan | [19] | |
| Saveray Wali Gaadi | Ravi Das | [20] | ||
| Samundar | Ajit | [21] | ||
| 1987 | Dacait | Arjun Yadav | [22] | |
| 1988 | Paap Ki Duniya | Suraj / Ashok | [23] | |
| Ram-Avtar | Ram | [24] | ||
| Yateem | Krishna | [25] | ||
| Inteqam | Birju / Vijay [a] | [26] | ||
| 1989 | Vardi | Ajay Singh | [27] | |
| Joshilaay | Dara | [28] | ||
| Tridev | Karan Saxena | [29] | ||
| ChaalBaaz | Suraj | [30] | ||
| Nigahen: Nagina Part II | Anand | [31] | ||
| Aag Ka Gola | Vikram Singh / Shankar (Shaka) | [32] | ||
| Main Tera Dushman | Gopal | Cameo | [33] | |
| 1990 | Majboor | Sunil | [34] | |
| Kroadh | Ajay Shukla (Ajju) | [35] | ||
| Ghayal | Ajay Mehra | [36] | ||
| Badnam | Darshan | Cameo | [37] | |
| 1991 | Vishnu-Devaa | Vishnu Prasad / Vishnu Subramaniam / Jack D'Souza | [38] | |
| Yodha | Karan Srivastav | [39] | ||
| Shankara | Shankara | [40] | ||
| Narsimha | Narsimha | [41] | ||
| 1992 | Vishwatma | Prabhat Singh | [42] | |
| 1993 | Lootere | Karan Chopra | [43] | |
| Kshatriya | Vinay Pratap Singh | [44] | ||
| Damini | Advocate Govind Srivastava | [45] | ||
| Izzat Ki Roti | Jeet | [46] | ||
| Veerta | Mangal Singh | [47] | ||
| Gunaah | Ravi Soni | [48] | ||
| Darr | Sunil Malhotra | [49] | ||
| 1994 | Insaniyat | Karim Lala | [50] | |
| Imtihaan | Raja | [51] | ||
| 1995 | Dushmani: A Violent Love Story | Suraj Singh | [52] | |
| Angrakshak | Ajay | [53] | ||
| 1996 | Himmat | Ajay Saxena | [54] | |
| Jeet | Karan | [55] | ||
| Ghatak | Kashi Nath | [56] | ||
| Ajay | Ajay | [15] | ||
| 1997 | Ziddi | Deva Pradhan | [57] | |
| Border | Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, MVC , VSM | [58] [7] | ||
| Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya | Himself | Cameo | [59] | |
| Qahar | Raja | [60] | ||
| 1998 | Zor | Arjun Singh | [61] | |
| Salaakhen | Vishal Agnihotri | [62] | ||
| Iski Topi Uske Sarr | Bhangra Dancer | Cameo | [63] | |
| 1999 | Pyaar Koi Khel Nahin | Anand | [64] | |
| Arjun Pandit | Prof. Arjun Dixit (Arjun Pandit) | [65] | ||
| Dillagi | Ranvir Singh | Also director | [66] | |
| 2000 | Champion | Rajveer Singh | [67] | |
| 2001 | Farz | DCP Karan Singh | [68] | |
| Gadar: Ek Prem Katha | Tara Singh | |||
| Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke | Sagar | Cameo | [69] | |
| Indian | DCP Rajshekhar Azad | [70] | ||
| Kasam | Shankar | [71] | ||
| 2002 | Maa Tujhhe Salaam | Pratap Singh | [72] | |
| 23rd March 1931: Shaheed | Chandra Shekhar Azad | [73] | ||
| Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahani | Karan Saxena | Extended special appearance | [74] | |
| Karz: The Burden of Truth | Suraj Singh | [75] | ||
| 2003 | The Hero: Love Story of a Spy | Major Arun Khanna / Ajay Chakravarty (alias name) / Major Ravi Batra (alias name) / Wahid Khan (alias name) [b] | [76] | |
| Kaise Kahoon Ke... Pyaar Hai | Arjun Singh | Cameo | [77] | |
| Jaal: The Trap | Ajay Kaul | [78] | ||
| Khel – No Ordinary Game | ACP Rajveer Scindia | [79] | ||
| 2004 | Lakeer – Forbidden Lines | Arjun Rana | [80] | |
| Rok Sako To Rok Lo | Kabir (Phantom) Mukherjee | [81] | ||
| 2005 | Jo Bole So Nihaal | Nihaal Singh | [82] | |
| 2006 | Naksha | Veer K. Malhotra | [83] | |
| Teesri Aankh: The Hidden Camera | ACP Arjun Singh | Extended guest appearance | [84] | |
| 2007 | Big Brother | Devdhar Gandhi (Deva) / Devdhar Sharma | [85] | |
| Fool & Final | Munna | [86] | ||
| Apne | Angad Singh Choudhary | [87] | ||
| Kaafila | Colonel Sameer Ahmed Khan | [88] | ||
| 2008 | Tolly Lights | Himself | Cameo | [89] |
| Heroes | Squadron Leader Vikram Shergill | [90] | ||
| 2009 | Fox | Yashwant Deshmukh / "Fox" | [91] | |
| 2010 | Right Yaaa Wrong | Ajay Shridhar | [92] | |
| Khuda Kasam | Hussain | [93] | ||
| Hello Darling | Nikhil Bajaj | Cameo | [94] | |
| 2011 | Yamla Pagla Deewana | Paramveer Singh Dhillon | ||
| 2013 | Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 | Paramveer Singh Dhillon | [95] | |
| Singh Saab the Great | Saranjit Singh Talwar / Singh Saab | [96] | ||
| Mahabharat | Bhima | Voice | [97] | |
| 2014 | Dishkiyaoon | Lakwa | [98] | |
| 2015 | I Love NY | Randhir Singh | [99] | |
| 2016 | Ghayal Once Again | Ajay Mehra | Also director | [100] |
| 2017 | Poster Boys | Jagaavar Chaudhry | [101] | |
| 2018 | Yamla Pagla Deewana: Phir Se | Puran | [102] | |
| Mohalla Assi | Dharamnath Pandey | [103] | ||
| Bhaiaji Superhit | Lal Bhaisahab Dubey | [104] | ||
| 2019 | Blank | SS Dewan | [105] | |
| Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas | N/a | Director | [106] | |
| 2022 | Chup: Revenge of The Artist | IGP Arvind Mathur | [107] | |
| 2023 | Gadar 2 | Tara Singh | [108] | |
| 2025 | Jaat | Brig. Baldev Pratap Singh/Jaat | [109] | |
| 2026 | Border 2 † | Lt Col Fateh Singh Kaler | Post-production | [110] |
| Gabru† | TBA | Post-production | [111] | |
| Lahore 1947 † | Sikander Mirza | Post-production | [112] | |
| Ramayana: Part 1† | Hanuman | Post-production | [113] | |
| 2027 | Ramayana: Part 2† | Filming |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | The Romantics | Himself | Documentary | [114] |