Abhay Deol sports an illustrious last name, but has chosen to tread a path different from the others in the Deol clan. The actor made his debut in Imtiaz Ali’s sweet romcom Socha Na Tha (2005), probably his only conventional film till date. Since then, he has carved a niche for himself by taking up some of the most offbeat and refreshing roles in Indian cinema.
Deol is currently gearing up for Disney+ Hotstar’s original web series 1962: The War in the Hills, where we’ll see him as an army officer for the very first time. The series is based on the Indo-China war of 1962, and Deol plays Major Suraj Singh, a war hero. While you wait for the show to drop on Friday, February 26, bookmark this list of the finest Abhay Deol performances.
‘Manorama Six Feet Under’ (2007)
A neo-noir thriller, this film sees Abhay Deol as an aspiring writer. When his novel tanks, he turns to his unremarkable existence. His wife, played by Gul Panag, is constantly lamenting the fact that she married him instead of a richer man. Soon, he’s caught in a web of lies, deceit and murders, with the novel he published becoming a vital clue to solving these crimes. While the film wasn’t a commercial success, it was well-received by the critics, who were all praise for Deol’s performance.
Creator: Navdeep Singh
Cast: Abhay Deol, Gul Panag, Raima Sen
Streaming on: Netflix
‘Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye’ (2008)
This Dibakar Banerjee-film drew inspiration from the life of Devinder Singh, aka Bunty, a real-life “super-chor” from Delhi. Abhay Deol as Lucky Singh, a bold young thief who likes to rob the elite, sometimes just for the thrills. When he gets arrested, he finally gets a chance to reflect on his life and the the crimes he’s committed. The film won the national award for the Best Popular Film of the year.
Creator: Dibakar Banerjee
Cast: Abhay Deol, Paresh Rawal, Neetu Chandra
Streaming on: Netflix
‘Dev.D’ (2009)
A contemporary take on the classic Bengali novel Devdas, this is the film that changed the trajectory of Deol’s career. He plays Dev, the lazy, egotistical and entitled son of a rich businessman. When he breaks up with his childhood love Paro, he takes to drinking and drugs and runs straight into the arms of a sex worker, Chanda. This was a rare occurrence of a risque film being well-received by the media, the public and the critics alike. Deol was lauded for his performance.
Creator: Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Abhay Deol, Mahie Gill, Kalki Koechlin
Streaming on: Netflix
‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ (2011)
And then came the film that has attained cult status. Directed by Zoya Akhtar, this feel-good travel film centres around three best friends – Kabir, Imran and Arjun – who reunite for a trip to Spain, for Kabir’s bachelor party. Deol essayed the role of the level-headed Kabir. ZNMD is his biggest commercial success till date.
Creator: Zoya Akhtar
Cast: Abhay Deol, Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif, Kalki Koechlin
Streaming on: Netflix
‘Shanghai’ (2012)
Deol teamed up with Dibakar Banerjee for the second time for this political thriller. The film is set in a fictional city that is supposedly going to transform into ‘the next Shanghai’, and sees Abhay Deol playing the role of an honest IAS officer. When a leading social activist is attacked, a ring of corrupt politicians and thugs is exposed. It is upto Deol to set things right.
Creator: Dibakar Banerjee
Cast: Abhay Deol, Emraan Hashmi, Kalki Koechlin, Farooq Shaikh, Prosenjit Chatterjee
Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video
‘JL50’ (2020)
Last year, Abhay Deol made his web series debut with this sci-fi mystery series on SonyLIV. He played a cop tasked with finding out what happened to a plane that crashed 35 years after it was reported missing. Deol’s portrayal of a CBI Officer dealing with the most mind-boggling case of all time, was highly effective. Read our review here.
Creator: Shailender Vyas
Cast: Abhay Deol, Pankaj Kapur, Ritika Anand, Piyush Mishra, Rajesh Sharma
Seasons: 1
Streaming on: SonyLIV
