From Barsaat To Animal : Bobby Deol’s Remarkable Comeback

I remember flipping through film magazines in spare time in the 90’s and in year 1995 the glossies had pictures of long haired younger son of Dharmendra . There was curiosity too when he made his debut in Rajkumar Santoshi’s Barsaat In 1995 opposite Twinkle Khanna. The film was romantic one and the songs and Bobby Deol’s screen presence caught the eye of the audience . A star son has arrived. And Bobby did  what Deol’s were not good at – dance well.

He had the impressive screen presence and excelled in the Deol forte- action  – In Blockbuster films like murder mystery Rajiv Rai’s Gupt ( 1997) with Kajol and Manish Koirala. And the Deol had the nation  crooning  to the song – Duniya Haseeno Ka Mela – A foot -tapping dance number in the nightclub. His style was complete with jackets, jeans , sunglasses and long hair .

Then  in Soldier (1998) directed by Abbas Mustan opposite dimpled and charming Preity Zinta, he had the nation swooning to Soldier Soldier .  Bobby was on a roll . Bobby the actor proved his mettle in films like  – Badal (2000), Bichhoo (2000), Ajnabee (2001), and Humraaz (2002). But unfortunately after these films Bobby literally went missing from the big screen.

Bobby after featuring in many films which did not fare well at the Box- Office, found his way back in the spotlight in Deol family film with father Dharmendra and brother Sunny Deol Apne (2007), story of boxers and in the laugh-riot Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011) with Sunny Deol. Then it was long break .

Then seven year-wait  ended with  Bobby featuring in Superstar Salman Khan starrer Race 3 ( 2018) . The fans here saw new look Bobby Deol. Clean shaven and with vastly improved physique. Bobby credits  Superstar Salman Khan for his comeback . Bobby was quoted as saying , “I will keep thanking Salman all my life. One day he called me and said, ‘Mamu shirt utarega?’ I said I will do anything! That’s how I got Race 3. I had not worked for a lot of years so youngsters didn’t know me that much. But I knew if I appear in a Salman Khan film, crores of people will watch it. That wasn’t the turnaround as such, but because of that people started recognizing me again.” He added, “Because of that I got Housefull 4. I still wasn’t happy as an actor because I wasn’t finding anything challenging. I wanted to prove myself, do characters. Then I got Class of 83, where everything began for me and then happened Aashram”.

In the Netflix outing Class of 83, Bobby played ADGP Vijay Singh while in filmmaker Prakash Jha directed Aashram web series on Netflix (2020-), the actor played the role of Kashipur Waale Baba Nirala. And as Baba he excelled in the role and the audience were left speechless with his transformation as an actor . Ripped body and beard in place Bobby made a powerful impact . It was image never seen before. It was it seems a matter of time he exploded on the big screen again.

And Sandeep Reddy Vanga directed Ranbir Kapoor starrer Animal ( 2023) saw Bobby back with a bang. The film was Blockbuster at the Box-office. Bobby in short role as mute villain made a stunning impact . He was simply superb in the role of Abrar Haque. The fans were ecstatic with his brilliant performance . And fittingly he was rewarded . Bobby won the best actor award in a negative role for the film Animal in the recent Dadasaheb Phalke Awards 2024.

The year 2023 was in sense great for the Deol family – Bobby’s elder brother Sunny Deol delivered a humungous hit in Gadar- 2 directed by Anil Sharma. A sequel to his 2001 Blockbuster Gadar- Ek Prem Katha. And Bobby featuring in another Super Hit Animal . Bobby 55 and Sunny 66 have proved that age is just a number.

So from Barsaat to Animal , Bobby Deol has come a long long way . The Long hair is gone and now replaced by a  bearded and ripped  body look. So welcome,  Lord Bobby as he fondly called now in his second innings. And no wonder post- Animal directors and actresses are keen to work with him .  This has been a  grand  comeback of sorts.