Happy birthday, Deepak Dobriyal: 5 best non-comic roles
There's no dearth of talent in Bollywood. Among its finest actors is Deepak Dobriyal who has created a niche for himself, especially for playing comic roles. Popularly known for playing Pappi in Tanu Weds Manu and its sequel, he has also proved his acting caliber with non-funny roles. On his 48th birthday, here's a compilation of projects in which he played non-comic characters.
'Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo'
Dobriyal played the anti-hero in the Dimple Kapadia-led web series Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo which premiered on Disney+ Hotstar in May. He essayed the role of Monk, a nemesis of Kapadia's Savitri in the series. He went bald for the character and donned a poker face which made him look deadly. The actor won praise and critical acclaim for his performance.
'Gulaal'
Anurag Kashyap's acclaimed film Gulaal, starring Kay Kay Menon in the lead, is also proof of Dobriyal's acting versatility. He played Bhati's character, a close aide of Dukey Bana (Menon) in the political drama movie. Released in the year 2009, the film also starred Abhimanyu Singh, Raj Singh Chaudhary, Piyush Mishra, Jesse Randhawa, and Aditya Srivastava in important roles.
'Shaurya'
In the 2008 film Shaurya, Dobriyal was seen as young army officer Javed Khan who had shot his senior officer and is facing a court martial. The film, which starred Rahul Bose, Javed Jaffrey, and Menon in the lead, received critical appreciation from critics. Despite its average business at the box office, the lead actors, particularly Bose and Menon, received praise for their performance.
'Omkara'
Dobriyal won his first Filmfare Awards - Special Performance Award for essaying Rajju in Vishal Bhardwaj's 2006 film, Omkara. In the Hindi adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello, Dobriyal's character was shown head over heels in love with Dolly (played by Kareena Kapoor Khan). It brought recognition to Dobriyal and is considered to be one of the best characters played by him to date.
'Baba'
Dobriyal made his Marathi debut in 2019 with Baba, directed by Raj R Gupta. It starred Dobriyal as a speech-impaired father while exploring the beautiful dynamics of a father-son relationship. Initially, the director had to chase him for narration, but when Dobriyal heard it, he immediately said yes to it. He won the Best Actor award for the movie at the Filmfare Awards Marathi.
