The actor battled depression before making a comeback in movies
Bobby Deol is a well-known and distinguished name in the Indian film industry. Though he comes from a famous film family and has the backing of his father Dharmendra, he has made a name for himself with sincerity and hard work. After a series of hit and successful films, Bobby’s film career took a slight turn where he struggled to deliver a hit film. The actor took a major hiatus. He went through depression and other miserable stuff before making a big comeback.
The Fall of Bobby Deol
In the initial years of his career between 1995-2002, Bobby Deol featured in the lead in several hit films such as Barsaat, Gupt: The Hidden Truth, Solider, Badal, Bichoo, Ajnabee, and Humraaz. He was a popular film star then. But his career witnessed a slight decline after 2004 when he struggled to feature in a successful venture. But from 2004 to 2014, Bobby Deol was featured in various films including multi-starrer films. But none of the films helped him to advance his movie career.
Bobby Deol took a major hiatus of three years where he completely isolated himself. He was battling depression and the sadness of being unemployed. In Delhi, at a friend’s night club, Bobby Deol turned DJ for a while and enjoyed playing his favorite songs. But, his pictures and videos got leaked and he was trolled for the same on the social media platforms.
In an interview, the actor spoke about his depression days and revealed that he started drinking extensively, was pitying himself, and gave up. He was just sitting at home and cursing himself when his wife used to go to work and he would sit jobless and it seemed worse to his elder son. And, then he decided to make a comeback but his comeback movie flopped too.
The Rise of Bobby Deol
Bobby Deol’s comeback film Poster Boys flopped badly at the box office. It was during this moment that he received a call from one of India’s biggest movie stars Salman Khan. Salman Khan had called Bobby to offer him a major role in his 2018 action film Race 3. Bobby Deol underwent a serious body transformation and starred in Race 3 as the main antagonist. Race 3 was a major commercial successfully film despite receiving negative reviews. Race 3 proved to be a breakthrough for Bobby Deol.
Salman Khan is quite close to Bobby Deol and has promised to help him revive his career. And, he delivered his promise by offering a big role to Bobby Deol in Race 3. Following the success of Race 3, Bobby Deol signed several films and web series.
After Race 3, Bobby Deol received several movie offers. In 2019 he featured in one of the leads in the multi-starrer film Housefull 4 which was a commercial success. The actor also played the lead in the popular web series Aashram. Aashram is one of India’s most celebrated and debated shows.
In 2023, Bobby Deol starred in one of India’s highest-grossing films ever. He featured in a key role as the antagonist in Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal starring Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, and Rashmika Mandanna among others. Animal is a major commercial success grossing over 900 crores worldwide. Bobby Deol may have made his debut playing positive characters. But today every filmmaker is dreaming of working with him and signing him to play villain roles. For his performance in Animal, Bobby Deol received several awards and widespread critical acclaim. His character in Animal was just about 35 to 40 minutes, but the way he has performed has left everyone speechless. Critics called his brief performance to be one of the most impactful and perilous performances ever. He played a mute psychopath in the film.
In the coming months, Bobby Deol is going to star as the main antagonist in over five major films. He will be seen next as the main antagonist against Suriya in the 2024 Tamil film Kanguva which will be released soon.
The actor has also been signed to feature as the main antagonist in Telugu films such as Hari Hara Veera Mallu with Pawan Kalyan and the untitled NBK 109 with Nandamuri Balakrishna.
Bobby Deol will also feature as the villain against Alia Bhatt in the spy film Alpha. Alpha is YRF’s first female-led spy film from the YRF Spy Universe which he has delivered films like Pathaan, Tiger Series, and War. The film releases in 2025.
To end this article on a high note, Bobby Deol has also been signed to play the negative lead in Tamil superstar Vijay’s final and last film before joining politics. Bobby is the main antagonist of Thalapathy 69.
All the films mentioned here are set to release in 2024 and 2025. Basically, Bobby Deol is going to star in five major successful ventures in a matter of just a few months. Isn’t that a stunning comeback?
Bobby Deol will also reprise his role in the fourth season of Aashram. He has also received several offers to feature in several crime, thriller, and action shows for Netflix, Prime Video, and Hotstar. Bobby Deol is confirmed to star in a comedy thriller film directed by ace filmmaker Priyadarshan. He will also feature along with Saif Ali Khan in a crime thriller film directed by Anurag Kashyap.
Bobby Deol has doubled his acting fees following the immense success of Animal. He is now charging over 10 crores to play a main antagonist in films.
