How an actor's career was ruined by one line: Once rival to Shah Rukh, Aamir Khan, he changed his name, left India

To be launched by Yash Chopra in a Hindi film opposite the biggest female star of the time is no mean feat. Most actors would consider this the launch pad for a bright career. For one man, this happened. Deepak Malhotra, a successful model, was cast by Chopra in Lamhe opposite Sridevi. This was meant to be his big break and catapult him to stardom. But as the film released, it all went horribly wrong for the young actor.

Who is Deepak Malhotra?

Born in Bangalore, Deepak Malhotra began his career as a print and ramp model in the mid-80s. By the end of the decade, he had become the most sought-after male model in Bangalore and his fame and spread to the rest of the country too. As the face of Vimal, he charged ₹1.5 lakh in 1987, becoming the highest-paid model in the country. He began getting offers for films around the same time and Deepak carefully chose Lamhe, a romantic drama to be directed by the legendary Yash Chopra.

Deepak Malhotra's debut in Lamhe and the backlash

Lamhe starred Sridevi and Anil Kapoor in the lead roles, alongside Waheeda Rehman and Anupam Kher. Sridevi played a double role in the film as mother and daughter - Pallavi and Pooja. Deepak was cast as Pallavi's love interest and eventual husband, Siddharth. However, when the film was released, it fared badly at the box office. Deepak's acting and wooden screen presence were slammed by critics. And it was all exemplified by one scene, which has since become something of a pop culture moment.

The scene involved Pallavi fainting and Siddharth trying to wake her up. Deepak's accented rendition of 'Pallo' became fodder for many jokes in the early 90s and countless memes in recent years.

How Lamhe affected Deepak Malhotra

Before the release of the film, Deepak had been locked in by Yash Chopra for his next film - Darr. However, after the backlash to his acting in Lamhe, the director replaced him with Sunny Deol. Deepak also lost Bekhudi to Kamal Sadanah, Suryavanshi to Salman Khan, and Junoon to Rahul Roy. In 1991, he was being considered a rival to the young upstart actors like Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan. And by 1993, he had run out of offers. That year, Deepak quit cinema and moved to the US, where he had been offered modelling contracts. His only release apart from Lamhe was N Chandra's Tejasvini, a box office bomb.

Where is Deepak Malhotra now?

After moving to New York City in 1994, Deepak changed his name to Dino Martelli. He continued modelling and also studied industrial engineering and designing. In 2018, he founded his own apparel brand and currently serves as its principal. He model-turned-fashion choreographer Lubna Adam. They live in NYC with their two sons - Kian and Kyle. The brothers followed into their father's footsteps and modelled for Manish Malhotra.