Public Family Trees
Real families, shared by their owners and reviewed by our team - browse the stories and connections behind them.
Deol Family Tree - Dharmendra, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol
The Deol family is a Punjabi film dynasty of Hindi cinema, founded by the actor Dharmendra and continued by his sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol, his daughter Esha Deol, his nephew Abhay Deol and his grandsons Karan and Rajveer Deol. Few families have kept such a long unbroken presence on the Hindi screen. From Dharmendra's debut in 1960 to his grandsons' first films in 2019 and 2023, three generations of Deols have worked as leading actors, and the family's production banner, Vijayta Films, has launched several of them. ## Origins The Deols come from the Ludhiana district of Punjab. Dharmendra was born Dharam Singh Deol in 1935 to Kewal Kishan Singh Deol, a schoolteacher, and his wife Satwant Kaur, and grew up in the villages of rural Punjab. In 1954 he married Prakash Kaur, and a few years later he left for Bombay after winning a talent contest, making his screen debut in *Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere* (1960). His younger brother Ajit Deol also settled in Bombay, where Ajit's son Abhay was born. ## Notable members - **Dharmendra** (1935-2025), the family patriarch, starred in *Phool Aur Patthar*, *Satyakam*, *Seeta Aur Geeta*, *Chupke Chupke* and *Sholay*, received the Padma Bhushan in 2012 and served as a Member of Parliament for Bikaner. - **Hema Malini**, Dharmendra's second wife, is one of Hindi cinema's best-known actresses, a classical dancer and a Member of Parliament for Mathura. - **Sunny Deol**, Dharmendra's elder son, became an action star with *Betaab*, *Ghayal*, *Damini*, *Border* and *Gadar: Ek Prem Katha*. - **Bobby Deol**, the younger son, debuted in *Barsaat* (1995) and found a second wave of success with *Aashram* and *Animal*. - **Esha Deol**, daughter of Dharmendra and Hema Malini, starred in *Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe*, *Dhoom* and *Yuva*. - **Abhay Deol**, Dharmendra's nephew, is known for independent-minded films such as *Dev.D*, *Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!* and *Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara*. - **Karan Deol** and **Rajveer Deol**, Sunny Deol's sons, represent the third generation of Deol actors. ## Significance The Deols are closely identified with a rugged, rural Punjabi screen image, carried from Dharmendra's action roles of the 1970s to Sunny Deol's patriotic dramas. The family also spans politics: Dharmendra, Hema Malini and Sunny Deol have each been elected to the Lok Sabha. Films such as *Apne* (2007) and *Yamla Pagla Deewana* (2011) put father and sons on screen together, and the family's two branches, through Prakash Kaur and Hema Malini, are among the most discussed relationships in Indian cinema. ## Quick facts | Fact | Details | |---|---| | Origin | Ludhiana district, Punjab, India | | Founder | Dharmendra (Dharam Singh Deol), 1935-2025 | | Field | Hindi cinema, Indian politics | | Production banner | Vijayta Films | | Generations of actors | Three | | Best-known films | *Sholay*, *Ghayal*, *Gadar: Ek Prem Katha*, *Animal* | | Members of Parliament | Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Sunny Deol |
Chopra Family Tree - Yash Chopra & B.R. Chopra Film Dynasty
The Chopra family is one of Hindi cinema's most influential filmmaking dynasties, founded by brothers Baldev Raj (B.R.) Chopra and Yash Chopra, whose respective studios, B.R. Films and Yash Raj Films, shaped Bollywood across seven decades. Beginning with B.R. Chopra's socially conscious dramas of the 1950s and continuing through Yash Chopra's romantic epics and his son Aditya Chopra's era as head of Yash Raj Films, the family has produced directors, producers, and actors spanning four generations, and remains active at the top of the Indian film industry today. ## Origins The Chopra family originates from Lahore, in what was then British India's Punjab province, where the brothers' father raised his family before the 1947 Partition forced its relocation to independent India. Baldev Raj Chopra, born in 1914, was the elder of the two brothers and began his career as a film journalist before turning to directing and, in 1955, founding B.R. Films. He brought his much younger brother, Yash Chopra, born in 1932, into the industry as an assistant, launching a partnership between two studios that would go on to define mainstream Hindi cinema. ## Notable members B.R. Chopra directed landmark films including Naya Daur (1957), Waqt (1965), and Nikaah, and later produced the television adaptation of the Mahabharata (1988-1990) with his son, director Ravi Chopra, who also directed the hit family drama Baghban (2003). Yash Chopra, meanwhile, founded Yash Raj Films (YRF) in 1970 and directed a string of romances, including Deewaar, Kabhi Kabhie, Silsila, Chandni, Darr, and Veer-Zaara, earning him the nickname the "King of Romance." His wife, Pamela Chopra, contributed to YRF's costumes and music for decades. Their elder son, Aditya Chopra, debuted as a director with the era-defining Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) and now chairs Yash Raj Films, while their younger son, Uday Chopra, built a career as an actor and producer, notably in the Dhoom franchise. Aditya Chopra is married to actress Rani Mukerji. ## Significance Between them, B.R. Films and Yash Raj Films helped define mainstream Hindi cinema's social dramas, historical epics, and romances across the second half of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, and YRF remains one of Bollywood's largest and most powerful studios under Aditya Chopra's leadership. The family is sometimes confused with actress Priyanka Chopra, who shares the surname but is not related to this dynasty in any way; the two Chopra families are entirely distinct. | Fact | Details | |---|---| | Founding generation | Brothers B.R. Chopra (1914-2008) and Yash Chopra (1932-2012) | | Studios founded | B.R. Films (1955), Yash Raj Films (1970) | | Landmark productions | Naya Daur, Waqt, Deewaar, Mahabharat (TV), DDLJ, Veer-Zaara | | Current head | Aditya Chopra, chairman of Yash Raj Films | | Origin | Lahore, British India (pre-1947 Punjab) | | Not related to | Actress Priyanka Chopra and her family |
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