Esha Deol

Despite mixed reactions and box office failure, Deol won numerous awards for her performance including the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut at the 48th Filmfare Awards.

Deol's second film was Arjun Sablok's love triangle Na Tum Jaano Na Hum opposite Saif Ali Khan and Hrithik Roshan.

Taran Adarsh of IndiaFm praised her acting and wrote "it is Esha Deol who surprises you with a mature performance. Although her looks are inconsistent, the youngster takes on the role with utmost sincerity and comes out with a natural performance. She has been better presented when compared to her debut film."

Bhavna Giani of Rediff praised Deol's acting and dancing and compared it to Deol's mother Hema Malini.

Deol's third and final release of the year was Sanjay Chhel's Kyaa Dil Ne Kahaa opposite Tusshar Kapoor.

It was Deol's third consecutive flop but she earned critical acclaim and Taran Adarsh observed that it was her better performance as compared to her previous two films.

Esha Deol (born 2 November 1981) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Hindi films.

Esha Deol was born in Bombay (present Mumbai) on 2 November 1981.

She is the elder daughter of Bollywood actors Dharmendra and Hema Malini.

She has a younger sister named Ahana.

She is the half sister of actors Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol and the first cousin of actor Abhay Deol.

Her father is Punjabi Jat, and her mother Tamil Hindu Iyengar Brahmin.

She speaks Tamil with her mother and sister.

During her school days at Jamnabai Narsee School, she was passionate about football and played as a midfielder.

She was the captain of her school football team, represented her college in handball at the state level.

She played as a national level footballer and was also selected to play for Maharashtra in the Senior National Championship at Punjab in 2001.

The daughter of actors Dharmendra and Hema Malini, Deol made her acting debut in the romantic thriller Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe (2002), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

She started her acting career in a lead role with Vinay Shukla's Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe (2002) opposite Aftab Shivdasani, with Sanjay Kapoor, Jaya Bachchan and Anupam Kher playing supporting roles.

The movie was a box office failure.

Deol received mixed reactions from critics upon her performance.

Savera R Someshwar of Rediff.com wrote "Esha, as a person, exudes a confidence that almost borders on arrogance."

Rakesh Budhu of Planet Bollywood wrote "She isn't horrible, but given the hype, the demands and of course, comparisons, she surely isn't up to the mark. … Of course, she is nowhere close to being a washout and if you are her fan you can appreciate the other aspects of her performances without completely losing faith in her future projects."

Deol's first two movies of 2003: Kucch To Hai and Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne were box office failures.

For Kucch To Hai, Deol earned mixed reviews from Taran Adarsh, who wrote "Esha Deol shows improvement in terms of performance as well as her overall appearance."

Taran Adarsh considered Deol to be "alright" in Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne.

Deol was one of the heroines of J.P. Dutta's multi starrer war epic LOC: Kargil and was paired with Abhishek Bachchan.

Though Deol and all the other heroines could not get much scope, she earned critical acclaim for her performance.

The film became the sixth highest-grossing film of the year.

Following a series of poorly received films, Deol had success in the political film Aayutha Ezhuthu (2004), the horror film Kaal (2005), the action thrillers Dhoom (2004) and Dus (2005), and the comedy No Entry (2005).

This was followed by a setback and a hiatus.

Deol returned to acting with the streaming series Rudra: The Edge of Darkness (2022) and Hunter Tootega Nahi Todega (2023).

In 2004, Deol made her debut in Tamil cinema by playing a French teacher in Mani Ratnam's political film Aayutha Ezhuthu opposite Suriya.

She earned critical acclaim for her performance.

Sify.com defined her as "surprisingly fresh and sparkling".

To prepare for her role, Deol learned nuances of the language with Mani Ratnam's assistant R. Kannan.

This was the only Tamil film she ever acted in.

After completing Aaytha Ezhuthu, Deol started filming the Hindi version of the movie titled Yuva.

In Yuva, Deol repeated the same role and was paired opposite Ajay Devgn.

Both movies were released on the same date but could not attain success.

Yuva had a below average opening and flopped at the box office.