Happy Birthday Sunny Deol!

-

The tarikh is here! It is October 19 and Sunny paaji turns 60 today. Sunny Deol was the face of Bollywood action cinema for over two-and-a-half decades. After making his debut with the romantic film Betaab in 1983, Sunny Deol has gone on to star in numerous films, primarily in the action genre throughout the '80s and '90s.

Today, when the tide has turned against desi, testosterone-fuelled, over-the-top action cinema, not just in Bollywood but Hollywood as well, Sunny Deol stands tall as a symbol of a certain kind of cinema that only a few older stars can pull off today, such as Akshay Kumar orSalman Khan.

On Sunny Deol's 60th birthday, here are ten interesting facts about the Gadar: Ek Prem Katha actor you may not know:

1. Sunny Deol's real name is Ajay Singh Deol. Sunny was his nickname in his school days.

2. Quite contrary to his desi-macho image, Sunny Deol studied acting in England. He studied theatre at the Old World Theater in Birmingham.

3. Unlike his over-the-top action films, Sunny Deol is quiet and introverted in real life.

4. Sunny Deol, being a Punjabi Jatt, has a huge fan following in Punjab. His 2001 film Gadar: Ek Prem Katha became so popular in Punjab that the theatres there would begin playing the film at 6 in the morning due to audience demand.

5. Sunny Deol is the winner of two National Awards. He won the National Award for Best Actor in 1990 for Ghayal and the National Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1993 for Damini.

6. In Damini, Sunny Deol was initially offered a cameo role. But Sunny's acting had so much power, that eventually his screen-time was made longer, and his role became a central character in the film.

7. All the credit for Sunny Deol's muscular physique goes to Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone. In fact, Sunny trained in Stallone's gym to get the perfect body.

8. Sunny Deol has directed two films in his entire career. The first film is 1999's romantic film Dillagi which featured some of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's earliest compositions. The second film he directed was 2016's Ghayal Once Again.

9. Sunny Deol-starrer Mohalla Assi, which is a satire set in Varanasi (Benaras) has been banned by the Central Bureau of Film Certification for it may hurt religious sentiments upon release.

10. Sunny Deol has reportedly had a fallout with three of the biggest directors he has worked with in his career: JP Dutta, Rajkumar Santoshi and Suneel Darshan. JP Dutta directed Sunny in films like Yateem, Kshatriya and Border. With Santoshi, Sunny made Ghayal, Damini and Ghatak.