Amar Upadhyay (born 1 August 1976) is an Indian actor. He started his career with modelling and he is best known for his collaborations with
Ekta Kapoor
Ekta Kapoor (born 7 June 1975) is an Indian television producer, film producer and director who works in Hindi cinema and soap opera. She is the joint managing director and creative head of Balaji Telefilms Limited, which was founded in 1994. ...
in the television shows namely ''
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi
''Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'' ( ''Because a mother-in-law was once a daughter-in-law, too'') is an Indian Hindi-language soap opera that aired from 4 July 2000 to 7 November 2008 on Star Plus. The show was co-produced by Shobha Kapoo ...
'' (2000-2002), ''
Kalash'' (2001), ''
Kasautii Zindagii Kay Kasautii Zindagii Kay may refer to:
* ''Kasautii Zindagii Kay'' (2001 TV series), an Indian soap opera
* ''Kasautii Zindagii Kay'' (2018 TV series), an Indian soap opera, reboot of the 2001 series
{{disambiguation ...
'' (2005), ''
Kkusum'' (2005), ''
Molkki'' (2020–2022) etc.
His other television shows include ''
Dekh Bhai Dekh'' (1993-1994), ''
Viraasat'' (2006-2007), ''
Chand Ke Paar Chalo'' (2008-2009), ''
Saath Nibhaana Saathiya
''Saath Nibhaana Saathiya'' () is an Indian Hindi-language soap opera produced by Rashmi Sharma under Rashmi Sharma Telefilms. It premiered on 3 May 2010 on Star Plus and became one of the most popular and longest running television series. ...
'' (2015-2017), ''
Ishqbaaaz
''Ishqbaaaz'' ()(international title :Game of love ) is an Indian romantic drama television series that aired from 27 June 2016 to 15 March 2019 on Star Plus. It initially starred Nakuul Mehta, Surbhi Chandna, Kunal Jaisingh, Shrenu Parikh, ...
'' (2019). Apart from television shows, he has appeared in many films like ''
Dhoondte Reh Jaaoge!'' (1998), ''
Dhund: The Fog'' (2003), ''
LOC Kargil'' (2003), ''
13B'' (2009), ''
It's My Life'' (2020), ''
Kaagaz'' (2021) and ''
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2'' (2022).
Early life
Amar Upadhyay was born on 1 August 1976 in
Ahmedabad,
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...
into a
Gujarati family. He grew up in the
Malad
Malad (Pronunciation: aːlaːɖ is a suburb located in North Mumbai. Malad has a railway station on the Western line (Mumbai Suburban Railway) of the Mumbai Suburban Railway, lying between Kandivali station to the north and Goregaon statio ...
suburb of
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...
, and studied chemical engineering in college. After college he attended the
Film and Television Institute of India in
Pune
Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...
.
Career
In 1993, some of his photographs appeared in
Stardust
Stardust may refer to:
* A type of cosmic dust, composed of particles in space
Entertainment Songs
* “Stardust” (1927 song), by Hoagy Carmichael
* “Stardust” (David Essex song), 1974
* “Stardust” (Lena Meyer-Landrut song), 2012
* ...
magazine, which led to
Jaya Bachchan
Jaya Bachchan (''née'' Bhaduri; born 9 April 1948) is an Indian actress and politician. She is a member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from the Samajwadi Party, serving four terms since 2004. Known primarily for her work in Hindi and Bengali ...
offering him the TV series ''
Dekh Bhai Dekh''. This was followed by numerous TV series like ''Arzoo'', ''Suhana Safar'', ''Tulsi'' and
Aruna Irani
Aruna Irani (born 3 May 1946) is an Indian actress, who has acted in over 500 films throughout Hindi, Kannada, Marathi and Gujarati cinema, playing mostly supporting and character roles. She has won two Filmfare Awards for Best Supporting ...
's ''Mehndi Tere Naam Ki''.
Eventually, he became famous in 2000 with the mega TV daily soap, ''
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi
''Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'' ( ''Because a mother-in-law was once a daughter-in-law, too'') is an Indian Hindi-language soap opera that aired from 4 July 2000 to 7 November 2008 on Star Plus. The show was co-produced by Shobha Kapoo ...
'' (2000). In fact, when his character Mihir 'died' in 2001, it was followed by protest marches, the TV channel's head office was flooded with phone-calls and letters, eventually his character came back to life, and he is still recounted amongst TV superstars.
After his success in television, he ventured into film with ''Dahshat'' 2003, followed by a big launch, ''Dhund – The Fog'' (2003), along with
Aditi Govitrikar, directed by Sham Ramsay, though later he also appeared in
J.P. Dutta's war movie, ''
LOC Kargil'' (2003). He also done a recurring role in
R Madhavan starrer ''
13B'' (2009). He also appeared in some bhojpuri films like ''Dharam Veer'' (2008), ''Hum Bahubali'' (2008), ''Tu Babuaa Hamaar'' (2008), ''E Rishta Anmol Baa'' (2009). Unfortunately, his film career did not turn out as expected.
Subsequently, he returned to television after a two-year hiatus, playing a key role in the serial ''
Chand Ke Paar Chalo '' (2009) on
NDTV Imagine. Then he appeared in many television serials mostly playing recurring or negative roles namely in ''
Doli Saja Ke'' (2009), ''
Sapna Babul Ka...Bidaai'' (2009), ''Police Files'' (2012), ''
Ek Thhi Naayka'' (2013) and ''
Savdhaan India
''Savdhaan India – India Fights Back'' ( ''Attention India! – India Fights Back'') is an Indian Hindi-language crime show aired by Star Bharat. The series is hosted by Ashutosh Rana, Tisca Chopra, Sushant Singh, Gaurav Chopra, Mohnish ...
'' (2013). In October 2011 he joined the
fifth season of the reality TV series ''
Bigg Boss
''Bigg Boss'' is an Indian reality television game show franchise based on the Dutch reality show ''Big Brother''. It is produced by Endemol Shine India through Viacom18 and Disney Star. Subsequently, the various versions of the show are made ...
'' and finished in fifth place.
In 2015, he entered
Star Plus
StarPlus is an Indian Hindi language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly ''Star India''), a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. The network's programming consists of family dramas, comedie ...
's popular long-running series ''
Saath Nibhaana Saathiya
''Saath Nibhaana Saathiya'' () is an Indian Hindi-language soap opera produced by Rashmi Sharma under Rashmi Sharma Telefilms. It premiered on 3 May 2010 on Star Plus and became one of the most popular and longest running television series. ...
'' as the parallel lead role of Dharam Suryavanshi opposite
Tanya Sharma. He played Dharam's character till the ending of the show in 2017. For his portrayal of Dharam Suryavanshi, he won the
Gold Award for best supporting actor. He also starred in
Sony Entertainment Television
Sony Entertainment Television (SET) is an Indian Hindi-language general entertainment pay television channel, that was launched on 30 September 1995, and is owned by Culver Max Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese Sony.
SET India's Y ...
show ''
Ek Deewaana Tha
''Ek Deewaana Tha'' (There Was A Lover) is an Indian Thriller, Romance television show which was broadcast on Sony Entertainment Television from 23 October 2017 to 1 June 2018. The show was created by Prateek Sharma and produced by LSD Film ...
'' (2017–18) as Rajan Bedi, the antagonist. His performance in the show, was highly praised.
In November 2020, Amar reunited with her ''
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi
''Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'' ( ''Because a mother-in-law was once a daughter-in-law, too'') is an Indian Hindi-language soap opera that aired from 4 July 2000 to 7 November 2008 on Star Plus. The show was co-produced by Shobha Kapoo ...
'' producers
Ekta Kapoor
Ekta Kapoor (born 7 June 1975) is an Indian television producer, film producer and director who works in Hindi cinema and soap opera. She is the joint managing director and creative head of Balaji Telefilms Limited, which was founded in 1994. ...
and
Shobha Kapoor for a television show titled as ''
Molkki''. So then onwards, he is playing the main lead Virendra Pratap Singh in ''
Molkki'' which is being aired on
Colors TV
Colors TV is an Indian general entertainment broadcast network owned by Viacom18. The network's programming consists of family dramas, comedies, youth-oriented reality shows, shows on crime and television films.
History
It was launched on ...
. In 2021, he appeared in the
Satish Kaushik
Satish Chandra Kaushik (born 13 April 1956) is an Indian actor, director, producer, comedian and screenwriter.
Early life
Satish was born on 13 April 1956 in Mahendragarh, Haryana. He graduated from Kirori Mal College, Delhi in 1972. He is a ...
directorial ''
Kaagaz'', which stars
Pankaj Tripathi in lead. He played the role of Vidhayak Jaganpal Singh, the main antagonist. The film was released on
Zee5
ZEE5 is an Indian subscription video on-demand and over-the-top streaming service, run by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched in India on 14 February 2018 with content in 12 languages. The ZEE5 mobile app is available on Web, Andr ...
and produced by
Salman Khan
Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. In a film career spanning over thirty years, Khan has received numerous awards, including two Nationa ...
.
Amar also made an small appearance in the
Abhishek Bachchan
Abhishek Bachchan (born 5 February 1976) is an Indian actor and film producer known for his work in Hindi films. Part of the Bachchan family, he is the son of actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan and the grandson of poet Harivansh Rai B ...
starrer ''
Bob Biswas
''Bob Biswas'' is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language crime thriller film directed by debutante Diya Annapurna Ghosh. A spin-off to the 2012 thriller ''Kahaani'', it stars Abhishek Bachchan as the titular character (played by Saswata Chatterjee in th ...
'' (2021), which was directed by
Sujoy Ghosh
Sujoy Ghosh is an Indian film director, actor, producer, and screenwriter who works in Hindi films. He has directed ''Jhankaar Beats'' (2003), ''Home Delivery: Aapko... Ghar Tak'' (2005), ''Aladin (film), Aladin'' (2009), ''Kahaani'' (2012), ''K ...
's daughter Diya Ghosh in her directorial debut. It was released on
Zee5
ZEE5 is an Indian subscription video on-demand and over-the-top streaming service, run by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched in India on 14 February 2018 with content in 12 languages. The ZEE5 mobile app is available on Web, Andr ...
. He was also seen in
Anees Bazmee directorial ''
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2'', the film stars
Kartik Aaryan,
Kiara Advani and
Tabu in lead.
He was also set to appear in the show as a lead in ''
Nima Denzongpa'', but his entry was later scrapped due to show going off-air.
In 2022, he portrayed
Rama
Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular ''avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Being ...
in
Dangal channel television show ''
Jai Hanuman - Sankat Mochan Naam Tiharo
''Jai Hanuman - Sankat Mochan Naam Tiharo'' is an Indian television mythology drama series that premiered from 23 August 2022 on Dangal TV. Produced by Alind Srivastava and Nissar Parvez under Peninsula Pictures, it stars Akshay Dogra, Madiraksh ...
''. Later that year, he announced his television show ''
Kyunkii Tum Hi Ho
''Kyunkii Tum Hi Ho'' () is an Indian Hindi-language Romance film, romance drama television series. Produced by Amar Upadhyay and Suhail Zaidi under the banner of Hawk Eye Vision, it stars Priyanka Dhawale, Karan Khanna and Harsh Nagar in lead ro ...
'', as an actor and a producer.
The show will air on channel
Shemaroo Umang.
Personal life
He has been married to Hetal Upadhyay, who is an engineer. They have a son Aryaman and a daughter Chenab.
He is also a black belt holder in
Taekwondo
''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. ...
.
Filmography
Films
Television
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Upadhyay, Amar
Living people
Indian male film actors
Male actors in Hindi cinema
Indian male taekwondo practitioners
Indian male television actors
Film and Television Institute of India alumni
Male actors from Mumbai
20th-century Indian male actors
21st-century Indian male actors
Gujarati people
Bigg Boss (Hindi TV series) contestants
1976 births