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Abhay Deol (Hindi: अभय दियोल; born 15 March 1976, India) in a Jat Sikh Punjabi family is an Indian film actor.

Career

Abhay Deol's movies are characterized by down-to-earth acting. Abhay Deol stated in an interview with Rediff that he is not into acting because of his famous uncle and his cousins but that he was involved in theatre in school. "At 18, I decided to take the plunge. It took me 10 years because I didn't want to leave my education to get into films.^[1]

He made his film debut in the 2005 film Socha Na Tha. The film got him good reviews for his performance. His second film was Ahista Ahista in 2006 which got him good critical reviews. His first 2007 release was Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. which has a multi starcast and emerged to be a major box office success^[2]. His second 2007 release was Ek Chalis Ki Last Local. His third film in 2007 Manorama Six Feet Under, 2007 which won the Best Film at the MIAAC film festival in New York City. He won a Best Actor award for his role. His 2008 movie 'Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!' was a big hit not just with critics but with the masses as well and established him as a dependable mainstream actor.

Abhay Deol is also the pivotal person behind 2009 Bollywood film Dev.D, a modern day version of Devdas which he himself devised, and in which he enacts the title role. About being compared to biggies like Shah Rukh Khan and veteran Dilip Kumar, who have played 'Devdas' in the past, Abhay told Radio Sargam "I'm not too scared of the comparisons. I am aware of the fact but I don't get into that too much. After all, I was compared to my brothers and uncle when I came to the industry. So I am used to it and only worry about my work. So after them, it would very well be Shah Rukh Khan".

Dev D directed by Anurag Kashyap, released on 6th Feb 2009 and was critically acclaimed all over. Times Of India newspaper gave 5 out 5 stars to the movie. The movie did very well on the box office and Abhay Deol's performance was considered better than Dilip Kumar and Shahrukh Khan. The music of the movie was liked by everyone because of its diversity. Dev D can be considered to be a path-breaking movie in Indian Cinema for its crisp cinematography, good performances and diverse music.^[3]

Abhay was recently on the cover of Man's World and Time Out Mumbai, with titles such as the new face of Indian cinema. He is in the top 50 most desirable men. He has often been described in the media as the thinking women's SEX SYMBOL.

His latest movie venture is Road Movie with Tannishtha Chatterjee

He is scheduled to shoot 3 movies in the summer/fall of 2009, and has also started producing films through his company Forbidden Films.

Abhay Deol is learning Krav Maga, an Israeli form of martial arts that Akshay Kumar is well versed with for his next movie, Basra. ^[4]

The different Deol boy, Abhay, is going all out to prepare himself for his home production Basra that will see him do action for the first time in his career. After Hrs has learnt that the actor has started training in the Israeli hand-to-hand deadly combat tactics Krav Maga. By doing this he joins Akshay Kumar, the only hero in India who can perform the art and international faces like Angelina Jolie, Michelle Yeoh and Keanu Reeves. This deadly skill will see Abhay hit a variety of fast crippling attacks to vulnerable body parts of his enemies. He has to go through a mixed aerobic and anaerobic workout and has to also use heavy pads to protect his body from damage while training.

Sources close to the film reveal that the young actor has also set up a training area where he would look to challenge his body reactions and defense skills through simulated attacks. This will make him faster and agile at offense and defense. Abhay has been called a perfectionist by many critics and this clearly shows his diligent approach to cinema.^[5]

Filmography

References