It's Esha Deol's birthday today. As the actress, who is a dancer and now mother to two beautiful daughters, turns 39 this year, we take a look at her journey from filmdom to motherhood in pictures.
Updated On: 2019-01-22 01:21 PM IST
Born on November 2, 1981, Esha Deol is the daughter of Dharmendra and Hema Malini. During her childhood days, Esha used to play as a midfielder for her school Football team. In fact, she was the captain of her school football team. A hardcore athlete, Esha Deol represented her college in handball at the state level and was also selected for the Indian national women's football team. (All photos: Esha Deol's Instagram page)
Esha Deol has a younger sibling named Ahana. Also, she is the half-sister of Bollywood actors Sunny and Bobby Deol (Dharmendra's sons from his first wife).
Just like her mother, Esha is a trained classical dancer and participates in dance shows with Hema Malini. Esha enjoys the hustle and bustle of a dance show. She said in an interview with mid-day, earlier, 'You have to be in the green room to feel the energy. The show is over an hour long. There are several costume changes. So, backstage, we have to be really quick.'
Esha Deol made her Bollywood debut in 2002 with 'Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe' opposite Aftab Shivdasani and Sanjay Kapoor. She also won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut performance in the film, which also featured Jaya Bachchan and Anupam Kher.
Esha Deol worked in around eight films for the first two years since her debut but none gave her any recognition as an actor. However, her big break came in 2004 when the first film of the hit 'Dhoom' franchise was released.
Esha Deol sported a never-seen-before sexy avatar in Sanjay Gadhvi's directorial Dhoom. But, unfortunately, she was unable to capitalise on the success of Dhoom and went on to appear in more commercially flop films.
Esha Deol starred in films such as - Na Tum Jaano Na Hum, Kyaa Dil Ne Kahaa, Kucch To Hai, Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne, LOC Kargil, Yuva, Insan, Kaal, Main Aisa Hi Hoon, Dus, No Entry, Shaadi No. 1, Pyare Mohan, Ankahee, Just Married, Darling, Cash, Money Hai Toh Honey Hai, One Two Three and Hijack.
After a string of flop films, Esha Deol was relaunched in 2011 by mother Hema Malini in 'Tell Me O Kkhuda' with dad Dharmendra too offering his support. However, this one too failed to work at the box-office.
After the box-office failure of 'Tell Me O Kkhuda' Esha Deol decided to take a break from films to focus on her family life.
Esha Deol wed her boyfriend Bharat Takhtani on June 29, 2012.
Esha Deol became a mother to a beautiful baby girl on October 20, 2017. She named her daughter Radhya.
Esha Deol did not shy away from sharing images of her baby bump on Instagram during her pregnancy. In fact, Esha gained a lot of limelight during this period.
Just before her pregnancy, Esha Deol made her television debut with Roadies X2 (2015). She was seen as a gang leader on the show.
She kept herself busy even after becoming a mother. Just five months after Radhya was born, Esha Deol participated with her mother Hema Malini in a dance show in New Delhi, and later, in Mumbai. "It was my way of keeping in touch with dance after a maternity break."
Esha Deol's tiny tot also accompanies her to dance rehearsals. "She is happy to be around the troupe. She seems to be enjoying it. Radhya has rhythm. Hopefully, she will also be interested in dance," said Esha.
In 2018, another maternity break came Esha Deol's way. The actress took to Instagram to share the news that she is set to be a mommy again by sharing a picture of one-year-old daughter Radhya, which was captioned, 'I'm being promoted to big sister (sic).'
Esha Deol welcomed her second child, another baby girl, on June 10, 2019. Esha and husband Bharat named their baby girl Miraya.
On the work front, currently, Esha is busy reading scripts, for movies, web series and digital films and also excited with her new role as an author with her book Amma Mia published by Penguin Books. She will soon announce her film project when the time is right.
In a media interaction, Esha Deol shared, "I also have a couple of other projects lined up for the future on different OTT platforms. I think digital is the future, and not just due of the lockdown owing to the unfortunate COVID-19 situation we are in. In general too, many now want to see films on the move. I'm happy and proud to be part of this medium."
"Well, I started acting from the age of 18 and being in front of the camera remains my first love. I still look fit and good. But yes, this is a great time to get into production for the digital medium as well and produce some meaningful content -- the kind I believe in." Esha Deol further continued.
