Rithvik Dhanjani (born 5 November 1988) is an Indian actor who primarily works in
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
television and web shows. He made his acting debut in 2009, portraying Parth in ''
Bandini''. Dhanjani earned wider recognition with his portrayal of Arjun Digvijay Kirloskar in ''
Pavitra Rishta''. He is a recipient of one
Indian Telly Award and
Gold Award each, along with other nominations.
Dhanjani had his first success with ''
Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani'', where he was seen portraying Jay Khurana. His film debut ''
Jo Hum Chahein'' (2011), failed to leave a mark. The year 2013, marked a turning point in his career when he turned host with ''
Yeh Hai Aashiqui'' and his success there led to him hosting other shows including ''
India's Next Superstars'', ''
Super Dancer'', ''
India's Best Dramebaaz'' and ''
So You Think You Can Dance''. He made his web debut with ''
I Don't Watch TV'' (2016) and has been part of successful web series including ''
XXX'' (2018) and ''
Cartel
A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collaborate with each other as well as agreeing not to compete with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. A cartel is an organization formed by producers ...
'' (2021).
In addition to his acting career, Dhanjani has won reality shows such as ''
Nach Baliye 6'', with his then partner Asha Negi and ''
I Can Do That''.
Early life
Dhanjani was born on 5 November 1988 in Mandsaur,
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...
. His family, who's
Sindhi, moved to
Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
soon after he was born.
He has a younger sister named Heena Dhanjani. He did his schooling in Dubai and complete his graduation from City of London College,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. In his college days, he was into acting, modeling and hosting shows.
Later, Dhanjani got involved in theater for as long as two and a half years. After doing theatre and events in
Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
, he decided to shift to
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
to become an actor.
He then did an acting course from the
Kishore Namit Kapoor Institute before entering the television industry.
Career
Debut and early roles (2009–2012)
Dhanjani began his acting career with a cameo in ''
Bandini'' in 2009, where he played Parth, a negative character. He then portrayed supporting parts of Prithvi Pundir in ''
Bairi Piya'' from 2009 to 2010 and Partho Rawal in ''
Tere Liye'' in 2010.
He had his big break with ''
Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani'' where he played the antagonist, Jay Khurana from 2010 to 2011, who was a werewolf and in love with
Sukirti Kandpal's character. In 2011, he made his film debut with ''
Jo Hum Chahein'', portraying Akash. The film received mixed to negative reviews and was a box-office failure. He also worked in the short film, ''Aftermath'' portraying Ali.
In June 2012 Rithvik entered ''
Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 5'' as wild card entry and became the second runner up.
Establishment as an actor and presenter (2013-2019)

Dhanjani's portrayal of Arjun Digvijay Kirloskar opposite
Asha Negi in
Balaji Telefilms's ''
Pavitra Rishta'' proved as a major turning point in his career. He portrayed the character from 2011 to 2014. Dhanjani got several nominations for his portrayal and won the
Indian Telly Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
In 2013, he hosted ''
India's Best Dramebaaz'' with
Ragini Khanna
Ragini Khanna (born 9 December 1987) is an Indian film and television actress, model, comedian, singer and television host. She has hosted various reality shows, such as ''India's Best Dramebaaz'' (2013) and ''Gangs of Haseepur'' (2014). She is ...
. From 2013 to 2015, he hosted two seasons of ''
Yeh Hai Aashiqui'', which gained him further praises. In 2013, he also portrayed Kabir, opposite
Mihika Verma in an episode of ''Yeh hai Aashiqui''. In 2015, he and Negi recreated their love story in the final episode of Season 1.
The same year, he participated in ''
Nach Baliye 6'' with his then partner
Asha Negi and they emerged as the winners. In 2014, he portrayed Vidhyut in ''
MTV Fanaah''. In the same year, he participated in the dance reality show ''
Dare 2 Dance'' and hosted the finale episode of ''
India's Raw Star''. He hosted a variety of shows such as ''
V Distraction'' and ''
Nach Baliye 7'' with
Karan Patel.
Dhanjani emerged as the winner of the stunt based reality show ''
I Can Do That''. He has also hosted ''
India's Best Dramebaaz (Season 2)'' the same year. Dhanjani hosted four shows in 2016 including ''
Pyaar Ki Yeh Kahani Suno'',
''
So You Think You Can Dance'', ''Man Vs. Job''
and ''
Super Dancer (Chapter 1)''. Dhanjani nade his web debut with ''
I Don't Watch TV'' in 2016.
In 2017, he first hosted ''Aye Zindagi'' and then participated in ''
Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 8'' and ended at 7th place. He also participated in ''
Lip Sing Battle''. From 2017 to 2018, he hosted ''
Super Dancer (Chapter 2)'', for which he won
Gold Award for Best Anchor, and ''
Rasoi Ki Jung Mummyon Ke Sung''. He hosted, ''
India's Next Superstars'' and ''
India's Got Talent 8'' in 2018.
Dhanjani portrayed Shivam Chaturvedi, opposite
Anita Hassanandani in ''
Galti Se Mis-Tech''. It received positive reviews. He portrayed Mayank in ''
XXX'', both in 2018. He hosted ''
Super Dancer Chapter 3'' from 2018 to 2019.
Expansion and career progression (2020-present)
Dhanjani participated in ''
Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi – Made in India'' in 2020. He stood at 7th place and quit the show midway. The same year, he appeared in ''Lockdown Rishtey'', as a presenter. He then appeared in ''
Ladies vs Gentlemen'' as panelist.
In 2021, He hosted ''
Super Dancer 4''. Dhanjani next portrayed Abhay Angre opposite
Monica Dogra in 2021 series ''
Cartel
A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collaborate with each other as well as agreeing not to compete with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. A cartel is an organization formed by producers ...
''. Joginder Tuteja for ''
ABP News'' noted, "Rithvik is a find. When ''Cartel'' begins, it takes time to adapt to his character and mannerisms. However as the series progresses, you get the ‘sur’ of him, something that unleashes big time towards the terrific climax."
Dhanjani in 2022, appeared in the short film, ''Arranged'', portraying Tarun opposite
Tridha Choudhury
Tridha Choudhury is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Hindi, Bengali and Telugu films and series. She won the title, ''Clean & Clear Times of India Freshface 2011''. Her first movie was '' Mishawr Rawhoshyo'' in 2013, directed by ...
. Praising his performance, Archika Khurana wrote, "Both, Tridha’s Richa and Rithvik’s Tarun are the most appealing and well-written characters of the film. Onscreen, they get along well, and their genuine and sincere performances contribute to the story's relatability." The same year, he hosted Global Excellence Awards and
Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.
In 2023, Dhanjani appeared in an interactive film ''Lost and Found in Singapore'' opposite
Apoorva Arora. It was released on
MX Player. That year, he also appeared in an episode of the mini series ''Butterflies''.
Dhanjani began 2024 with the reality show ''Aapka Apna Zakir'', where he appeared as a panel member. Following this, he played Ved in the second season of ''Half Love Half Arranged'' opposite
Maanvi Gagroo.
Bhawna Arya stated, "Rithvik's Ved has our heart, the innocence in his character is clearly intriguing and he plays his part flawlessly."
Personal life
Dhanjani met actress
Asha Negi on the set of ''
Pavitra Rishta'' in 2011 and later they began dating.
Dhanjani and Negi parted ways in May 2020, after 7 years of relationship.
Other work and public image

Dhanjani along with his ''
Cartel
A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collaborate with each other as well as agreeing not to compete with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. A cartel is an organization formed by producers ...
'' team, joined a project named, "JO FO MO" with a
NGO
to help the charity organizations raise funds for the
migrant workers
A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work.
Migrant workers ...
, during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. He has ramp walked in the
ITA Creators Walk in 2017 and has been the
cover model A cover model is a male or female whose photograph appears on the front cover of a magazine. The cover model is generally a fashion model, celebrity, or contest winner. Generally, cover models are depicted solitarily; however, on occasion magazines ...
for several magazines such as Zing Magazine and Gr8 Magazine, where he featured with
Asha Negi.
Dhanjani ranked 15th in 2013 in ''
Eastern Eyes 50 Sexiest Asian Men list. In the same list, he ranked 21st in 2014 and 20th in 2015. In ''
Times of India
''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
''s Most Desirable Men on TV list, he was placed 13th in 2017. Apart from acting, Dhanjani is an celebrity endorser for several brands and products, including
Vivo. He also featured in
Amazon Audible's ad film with
Nakuul Mehta. In 2024, Dhanjani started his own clothing line, named RDX.
Filmography
Films
Television
Guest appearances
Web series
Accolades
See also
*
List of Indian television actors
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhanjani, Rithvik
Living people
21st-century Indian male actors
Indian male television actors
Male actors from Madhya Pradesh
Indian television presenters
Place of birth missing (living people)
Nach Baliye winners
1988 births
Contestants on Indian game shows
Participants in Indian reality television series
Indian Sindhi people
Sindhi male actors