A look at Riteish Deshmukh's career choices and transformation on his 46th birthday

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Riteish Deshmukh, popular for his comic timing and hilarious portrayals, entered Bollywood with the 2003 romantic drama Tujhe Meri Kasam where he starred alongside his now wife Genelia D'Souza. The film was successful at the box office and his performance in his debut film earned him a nomination for Screen Award for Best Male Debut.

Riteish Deshmukh's first foot forward was funny

In the same year, he appeared in the romcom Out of Control. In the coming few years, he appeared in many more comedy films, including Masti, Home Delivery, Mr Ya Miss, and Bluffmaster!. His 2005 sex-comedy Kya Kool Hain Hum helped him earn a strong foothold with comic roles in the industry. Malamaal Weekly and Apna Sapna Money Money helped him strengthen himself as a comic actor. For the next 7-8 years he continued doing comedy roles. He also reprised his roles in franchises like Housefull and Dhamaal which proved to be blockbusters at the box office. However, his 2014 release where he essayed triple roles, Humshakals, failed at the box office.

Turning point in Riteish Deshmukh's career

The actor then played a serial killer in the 2014 film Ek Villain. His role in the film was acclaimed critically and did well at the box office. Ek Villain became a turning point in the actor's career as then he started moving towards serious roles. After this success, Riteish ventured into Marathi films and debuted with Lai Bhaari in a double role. It became the highest-grossing Marathi film. He then starred in multiple comedy films which failed at the box office and received negative reviews from critics, including Bangistan, Mastizaade, Kya Kool Hain Hum 3, Great Grand Masti, Banjo, Bank Chor, and Welcome to New York.

Riteish's multistarrer films where he appeared with an ensemble cast worked at the box office. This includes Housefull 3, Total Dhamaal, and Housefull 4. Post-pandemic, the actor expanded to OTT and appeared in projects like Plan A Plan B, Kakuda, and Visfot. He made a special appearance in Ek Villain Returns and a Marathi film Adrushya. He also appeared in the medical thriller series Pill where he portrays a man fighting the corrupt medical system. Riteish is currently working on franchise films like Raid 2, Housefull 5, Dhamaal 4, and Masti 4. He is also portraying Chhatrapati Shivaji in the Marathi film Raja Shivaji.

There have been many phases of fluctuations in his career and Riteish has come out of them even stronger. He has not just been successful in sustaining himself in the industry for more than two decades but also has a huge fan base and is known for his acting prowess. Now, the actor is moving in the direction of serious films and more layered characters although his love for comedy films and funny characters has not moved past him as has not stopped doing comedy films. But, it will be interesting to watch Deshmukh do something different from his usual comedic characters in the future.