Esha Deol

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ini">Hema Malini. After a childhood amidst the pompous glamour and buzz of Bollywood being born to a star couple she after completing her schooling from Jamnabai Narsee School degree went on to enrol at Mithibai College in Mumbai aiming to become a fashion designer and also trained in Odishi dance and also learned Bharatanatyam from her mother. It was later on that she decided to opt to enter film field following her parent’s footsteps, which led to her acting debut in the year 2002.

chhe">Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe, where she co-starred with Aftab Shivdasani and Sanjay Kapoor. The movie had a poor box office and critical verdict but Esha Deol with an impressive debut stole the limelight by winning four Best Female Debut Awards in prestigious Awards like the Filmfare, Bollywood Awards, IIFA Awards and Star Screen Awards in the year 2002. She caught Bollywood of guard with her stunning looks even though some criticised her for being too “Plastic faced” at parts in her rendition of the character which goes through intense emotional fluctuations. She was next roped in to play the lead lady in the love triangle flick Na Tum Jaano Na Hum along with Saif Ali Khan and Hrithik Roshan.The movie which saw her as a women caught up between two men in her life had her career launched literally with critics showering her matured performance and subtle interpretation of the mind-set of the character although the movie repeated the fate of her previous outing. The same year she collaborated with Tusshar Kapoor for the romcom Kyaa Dil Ne Kahaa which saw her tremendous growth as an actress in a short span but could not contribute her with her much needed success commercially. Subsequent low key releases ( 2003-2005) Esha Deol however failed to garner a solo box-office hit even with her next two outing too in Kucch To Hai and Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne but still managed to groom herself with better performances in each prompting generally warm reviews for her. She had a bit of a respite in the year 2003 with J.P Dutta’s ensemble war drama L O C Kargil where she paired opposite Abhishek Bachchan along with star names like Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan and many more playing other key roles. The movie even though holding minimum promise to the female lead but surprisingly Esha Deol came up with an much acclaimed critical rating for her character and also tenured out to be the first money spinner of her career going on to be the sixth highest grosser of the year with positive word of mouth from critics and movie goers alike. Career break in Tamil cinema and subsequent releases ( 2004-2008) Esha Deol however got her long overdue recognition when she was called upon by maestro Mani Ratnam for his bilingual political thriller Aaytha Ezhuthu, consisting of an ensemble star cast including Suriya ,R Madhavan , Siddarth and many more in the lead where she paired with Suriya. She had to learn the nuances of Tamil to get under the skin of the character of the French teacher who falls in love with the student leader Michael and was unexpectedly fresh and exuberating full on confidence and her romantic antics finally paid off well for Deol with overwhelming critical acclaim for her portrayal which she managed to pass on to the Hindi version of the movie Yuva where she paired with Ajay Devgn with a whole new cast and she was the only common casting repetition in the two movies as Mani Ratnam too was bowled over by her antics on screen reprising her role. She had a major break in the two versions and people finally started accepting her as a serious actress even though the movie failed to perform poorly among the masses but since then has acquired a cult status over the years and made Esha Deol a regular phase way down South too Her Hindi break came in when she was bagged by Yash Raj films for the first instalment of their action thriller series in Dhoom , where she shared screen with John Abraham, Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra . The blockbuster and record breaking movie had her doing nothing special than flaunting her looks and playing the usual “side-lined heroine” as in other Bollywood action extravaganzas but was seen doing her part quite well which enhanced her star repute and proved to be a major landmark for her career after Aaytha Ezhuthu and went on to fetch extra ordinary reviews too inspiring further sequels after going on to be the fourth highest grossing movie in Bollywood. She also received Best Actress Award at IIFA that year. Her 2005 began with the Akshay Kumar starrer Insan, which underperformed and was seen next in a meaty role in Ajay Devgn’s emotional drama Main Aisa Hi Hoon, where she played a nomadic and eccentric character to its full potential and won hearts with the acclaimed outing thus building on her acting credentials. She followed up by starring in Ram Gopal Vermas’s supernatural thriller Darling where she played a vengeful ghost and delivered a blinder, and many critics considered the role a possible career changer for her. After a disappointing outing in Ajay Devgn’s Cash in 2007. She then went on to be part of movies like Sunday and Hijack ; the former saw her in an item song and eventually went on to take a sabbatical from cinema due to recurring underperformers. Post hiatus phase (2011- present) After a self-imposed sabbatical from cinema, she returned to the spotlight with her mother Hema Malini’s directorial Tell Me O Kkhuda which had an ensemble cast including Dharmendra , Arjun Bajwa and Vinod Khanna in the lead, the movie went on to garner highly mixed reviews but was box office failure. She then went on try her luck in Kannada cinema with the multi lingual sequel movie Care of Footpath 2, where she co-starred with Deepp Pathak and Avika Gor in the lead. The movie was a critic’s favourite with screenings at many prestigious film festivals.