Esha Deol Indian Actress Born 1981 in Mumbai

Early life

Esha Deol was born in Mumbai on 2 November 1981, at a time when the city was still widely called Bombay. She is the daughter of the film actors Dharmendra and Hema Malini, and she has a younger sister, Ahana. She speaks Tamil, Hindi and English fluently.

Her schooling included Kodaikanal International School and Jamnabai Narsee School, and she later attended Mithibai College. Sport played a large part in those years. At Jamnabai Narsee she played football as a midfielder and captained the school team, and at college she represented her institution at state level in handball. She reached national level in football and was selected for the Maharashtra team at the Senior National Championship in Punjab in 2001. She is also trained in classical dance, as her mother is, and is a professional Odissi dancer who has also studied Bharatanatyam.

Career

Deol began her film career with a lead role in Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe (2002), directed by Vinay Shukla, opposite Aftab Shivdasani. The film did poorly at the box office, and critics were divided about her performance, but it earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Later that year she appeared in Na Tum Jaano Na Hum, with Saif Ali Khan and Hrithik Roshan, and in Kyaa Dil Ne Kahaa, opposite Tusshar Kapoor. Two further releases in 2003, Kucch To Hai and Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne, were not commercial successes either. That year she was also one of several actresses in J. P. Dutta's war film LOC Kargil, in which she was paired with Abhishek Bachchan; the film was the sixth highest-grossing of its year.

In 2004 she made her Tamil-language debut as a French teacher in Mani Ratnam's political drama Aayutha Ezhuthu, opposite Suriya. She prepared by working on the language with Ratnam's assistant, R. Kannan. It remained her only Tamil film. She then filmed the Hindi version, Yuva, in which she played the same role opposite Ajay Devgn. Both versions opened on the same date and neither did well commercially.

Her breakthrough came with Yash Raj Films' action thriller Dhoom (2004), her first action role. She was paired with Uday Chopra, and the film was a hit and the fourth highest-grossing of its year. Her performance brought a nomination for the IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2005 she took part in Insan, opposite Akshay Kumar, and in Main Aisa Hi Hoon, opposite Ajay Devgn, a remake of the American film I Am Sam, in which her supporting turn drew praise. She also appeared that year in Dus, Kaal and the comedy No Entry. Later credits include Darling, in which she played a vengeful ghost, and Cash in 2007, then Hijack and a first item number in Sunday in 2008, after which she stepped away from film for about three years.

She returned in Tell Me O Kkhuda (2011), directed and produced by her mother, with Arjan Bajwa and with Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor and Dharmendra in supporting parts. It did not succeed at the box office, and she stepped back again. In 2015 she made her television debut as a judge on the reality series MTV Roadies and appeared in the Kannada-Hindi film Kill Them Young, her first film in almost four years.

She came back to acting in 2021 with the short film Ek Duaa, which she acted in and co-produced, released on Voot. In 2022 she reunited with Ajay Devgn in the web series Rudra: The Edge of Darkness, and in 2023 she appeared opposite Suniel Shetty in the series Hunter Tootega Nahi Todega.

Recognition

Besides the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut, presented for Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe, her recorded honours include the Golden Glory Awards and the IWM Digital Awards.

Personal life

Deol married the businessman Bharat Takhtani on 29 June 2012 in a small ceremony at the ISKCON temple in Mumbai. In February 2020 she announced her first book, Amma Mia!, a guide to parenting and children's diet. In February 2024 she and Takhtani announced their separation.