Entertainment / Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas: Karan Deol is doing what dad Sunny Deol did 36 years ago

Sunny Deol's son Karan Deol is making his Bollywood debut with Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas. The film marks a first for Sunny Deol too: it is his first film as a director. With his Bollywood debut, Karan has huge shoes to fill. Ever since Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas was announced, the star kid has been compared to his father Sunny Deol, who made his Bollywood debut with the 1983 film Betaab.

While it is natural that Junior Deol will have to face comparisons with his father, who has a long list of films to his credit, we noticed some similarities between Sunny's and Karan's respective Bollywood debuts.

The trailer of Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas was launched on September 5. From the looks of it, Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas is a love story in which Karan plays the role of Karan Sehgal, who is an adventure guide. Interestingly, in his debut film Betaab, Sunny Deol's character too was also called Sunny. Just like Karan's character in the upcoming film, Sunny is also an innocent, small-town guy who falls in love with a big-city girl who is arrogant and unruly. Karan is also an adventure seeker who loves horse riding.

Watch Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas trailer here:

Another similarity between the upcoming film and the 1983 blockbuster is the character of the female lead. In Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas, Sahher Bambba plays the role of an undisciplined city girl. Her character is called Sahher Sethi. In Betaab, the role of the city girl was played by Amrita Singh.

Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas looks like a visual treat with lush-green valleys and mountains and rivers and waterfalls dotting every frame. The film is a trip to a hill station in itself. Just like Karan's debut film, Betaab was also shot at a picturesque location - in Kashmir, where the place Betaab was shot in has now been developed as a tourist spot called 'Betaab Valley'.

Watch Jab Hum Jawan Honge song from Betaab (1983) here:

While there are some similarities between the father and the son, expectations are high from the newcomer as he has a strong legacy thanks to his family of acclaimed actors like his grandfather Dharmendra and father Sunny Deol.

This is not the first time Karan is being compared to his father. In a recent interview with Humans of Bombay, Karan revealed a particularly painful experience from his schooldays.

Karan said that he was bullied in school for being a star kid. He recounted an incident wherein he was "smacked down" by school seniors who asked him if he was really Sunny Deol's son. "The first memory I have of school, was when I was in 1st grade. We had a sports competition and I was taking part in a race. I was standing there, when suddenly a few older boys surrounded me. One of them lifted me up, and in front of everyone, smacked me down. He then asked me, 'Are you sure you're Sunny Deol's son? You can't even fight back'. I was so embarrassed," he said.

The actor added that things didn't get easier for him as many of his schoolmates either judged him or made fun of him. Even teachers were of no help. "Once when I didn't do well in an assignment, in the middle of the class, a teacher came up to me and said, 'You're only capable of writing your dad's cheques, and nothing else'," said Karan Deol.

The actor, however, fought back and rap became the weapon he used to do so. He participated in a talent competition in which he performed a rap, which earned him a lot of appreciation.

Just like he proved that he is more than just "Sunny Deol's son", we hope that the star kid will prove his mettle in Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas too. After all, he has an audience quite betaab to see him on the big screen.