From Fardeen Khan to Bobby Deol: Bollywood comebacks that are stories of resilience and reinvention -Exclusive! |

“To have a comeback, you have to have a setback”
Mr. T (American Actor)
Bollywood – They call it a land of dreams, desires, and heartbreaks. Yes, it gives you fame, money, and fandom, but at the same time maintaining your image through constant public spotting, great projects and the dedication to work in the face of adversity is not an easy nut to crack. Over the years, Bollywood has seen many fierce warriors who once ruled the screen feel threatened by failure as their projects tanked. It has witnessed the empires of silver screen kings and queens fall into dust, almost suddenly. However, there have been many stories of resilience and grit, where stars rose from the very dust. They created an empire brick by brick and didn’t stop till the time they were able to make an even bigger and better realm for themselves.
In honor of such stars, here are some of Bollywood’s most inspiring comeback stories that prove talent can’t be dimmed at any stage of life…
Bobby Deol: From Ashes to ‘Aashram’
His boyish charm and charismatic performances made Bobby Deol a household name right from his debut. His movies like ‘Gupt,’ ‘Soldier,’ ‘Badal’ and more are to date, counted among his classics. However, as they say, the only thing constant is change, and the one who can keep up with it, faces a loss. Something like this happened with Bobby Deol. He faced a rough phase both personally and professionally. The actor during his appearance on the Kapil Sharma Show mentioned that even his kids started to wonder why their mother went out to work, while their father stayed at home.
Bobby Deol then told Salman Khan he needed work and thus, after a hiatus, he was seen in the 2018 released ‘Race 3.’ It was supposed to be his one solid comeback, but the movie failed to impress much. However, it did open a new path for Bobby Deol, as after that he appeared in the web series ‘Aashram’ and everything changed.

“I have spent 25 years in the industry and never saw such a response before for my work. It is just phenomenal. It feels like I have just begun my career. I had never imagined playing something like this on screen. Whatever experiences I went through all my life helped me create a character that you saw me play in Aashram,” said Bobby Deol in his conversation with ETimes.
“A project like Aashram kept me on my toes throughout the shoot. Not just me, my father, my mother and even Sunny (Deol) has been receiving a lot of calls where people have only said great things about my work on the show. My mom was in tears when her friend called her and told her, ‘Your son played a villain, yet we loved him so much,” he added.
The dark and complex character of Baba Nirala helped him win over the audience and critics. From Bobby, he became Lord Bobby. The unconventional character put him back on the chart and opened more opportunities for him. His work as an antagonist in ‘Animal’ was loved by all, so much so that he got more praise than the main lead Ranbir Kapoor. Though the internet, audience, and critics were divided on the story and character of Ranbir, but the only thing on which everyone agreed was the powerful performance of Bobby Deol.
Fardeen Khan: A Journey of Reinvention
Chocolate boy, Bollywood heartthrob, and many more adjectives were used to describe Fardeen Khan when he entered the acting world. His movies like ‘No Entry,’ ‘Jungle,’ ‘Fida’ and more were able to help him create a fanbase. From romance to comedy to thrillers, he tried everything in his career span. However, in 2010, he took a break from acting. He went through many challenges and struggles. He wanted to focus more on his family life as well. Later, he also faced a lot of criticism for his weight gain, and perhaps that is when he decided to turn his life around.
After a long hiatus of 14 years, Fardeen Khan stepped back into the world of acting with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s debut web series ‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar.’ Staying away from the camera for such a long time made Fardeen also ask many questions.

“I wasn’t coming back after a couple of years, but 14 years and that too, after turning 50. I had a lot of questions like, will filmmakers be able to slot me in a role? Do people even want to see me? Today, the content is very different from what it was in the 2000s. The protagonists have changed. Different parts of our country are being represented so beautifully now. The times are very different. So, I came back with the mentality of literally starting off a new career,” said Fardeen in an interview.
Today Fardeen is in the best shape of his life. He has realized that there’s nothing more important than self-love and thus, he aims to maintain a healthier lifestyle. At the same time, he makes sure to not miss any opportunities as they come. After ‘Heermandi,’ he starred in ‘Khel Khel Mein,’ and up next has various other projects in the pipeline.
Karisma Kapoor: The Return Of The Queen
Karisma Kapoor, the iconic Bollywood star, the girl with the most beautiful eyes, the actress with a plethora of successful movies under her belt like ‘Dil To Pagal Hai,’ ‘Raja Hindustani,’ ‘Zubeidaa’ and more, also took a break from her acting while she was on the peak of her professional career. She wanted to concentrate on her married life and on embracing the bliss of motherhood and thus, stepped away from the limelight.
She returned to the screen with ‘Dangerous Ishhq’ but it was a big debacle at the box office. It’s been more than a decade since the movie came out and Karisma doesn’t consider it as her comeback film. In all honesty, Karisma is not at all fine with the use of the word ‘comeback.’

“The word comeback, honestly, should be packed and parcelled away. Let’s not keep doing that to us actors. You tell me when someone comes back to the office after a few years, is he or she making a comeback into the corporate world? He or she’s just back to work. And people just behave normally with that person. I think that should be the way with actors as well, whether they’re male or female. But especially for females. People tend to reference the ‘comeback’ label a little too often and too easily,” she said.
Speaking about staying away from the limelight and not signing plenty of projects, Karisma shared, “My kids were young. I wanted to be at home. I started working at an unusually young age. I was working right out of school, literally. And I’d done so many movies back to back. I’ve worked four shifts a day and three shifts a day for multiple years. I would have 8 to 10 releases every year. Thankfully, most of them were successful.”
“But the point was that I had done a lot of work and I think it reached a kind of burnout. And then it was my choice not to keep at it. I didn’t want to leave my home and get hurt. I didn’t want to go to an outdoor location for 100 days. It was my choice to take it easy,” she added.
Then in 2020 came ‘Mentalhood,’ a series that captured different parenting styles of mothers and their common struggles while raising their kids. In 2024 she appeared in the mystery thriller ‘Murder Mubarak,’ where she played a sophisticated actress. Times Of India praised the actress’ work by saying “[she] stands out amongst a cacophony of loud and goofy characters”
And we are not done…
When Sushmita Sen made her comeback with ‘Aarya’ she came out stronger than ever. Then came ‘Taali’ and she surprised everyone. Her charisma, her versatility, and the stubbornness of getting into the skin of the character helped her reclaim her crown. Bollywood’s beloved Sanju Baba reinvented himself with ‘KGF 2.’
These stories of Bollywood comebacks are not just tales of returning to work, these are epics of survivors. They all had their reasons to stay away from the limelight, but one thing that each one of them had in common is they wanted to prove themselves and they did (and with a bang!)