Ananya Panday

Ananya Panday (born 30 October 1998) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi films. Born to actor Chunky Panday, she began her acting career in 2019 with roles in the romantic comedies ''Student of the Year 2'' and '' Pati Patni Aur Woh''. These performances earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. In 2025, she was featured in ''Forbes Asia'''s 30 Under 30 list.

Panday's two subsequent theatrical releases were poorly received, but she had a commercial success with a brief role in the comedy '' Dream Girl 2'' (2023). On streaming, her performances as young women navigating the perils of urban life and technology in the drama films ''Gehraiyaan'' (2022) and ''Kho Gaye Hum Kahan'' (2023), the thriller film '' CTRL'' (2024), the comedy series ''Call Me Bae'' (2024) were well-received. She earned further praise for her role as a lawyer in the courtroom drama ''Kesari Chapter 2'' (2025).

Early life and family

Panday was born on 30 October 1998 to actor Chunky Panday and costume designer Bhavana Pandey (née Khosla) in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Her mother is Punjabi while her father is part Punjabi. She has a younger sister named Rysa. Her grandfather Sharad Panday, was an Indian heart surgeon. Her uncle Chikki Panday is a businessperson and her aunt Deanne Pandey is a wellness coach, and their children, Alanna Pandey is a Youtuber, and Ahaan Panday is an actor. She has described her childhood as "very privileged and cushioned", and has said that she aspired to be an actress from a young age.

Pandey studied at Dhirubhai Ambani International School until 2017. She participated in '' Vanity Fair''s Le Bal des débutantes event in Paris in 2017. When asked if she missed out on higher education, Panday described film sets as her film school.

Career

Early work (2019–2022)

Panday made her acting debut in 2019 with the teen film ''Student of the Year 2'', co-starring Tiger Shroff and Tara Sutaria, which was produced by Karan Johar's studio Dharma Productions. Writing for Scroll.in, Nandini Ramnath felt that Panday showed potential in an unremarkable film. The film did not perform well at the box-office. Panday next starred in '' Pati Patni Aur Woh'' (2019), a remake of the 1978 film of the same name, alongside Kartik Aaryan and Bhumi Pednekar. She played a secretary who indulges in an affair with a married man, which was portrayed by Ranjeeta Kaur in the original. ''India Today'' mentioned that Panday is "bland and boring with no spice." With a worldwide gross of , it emerged as a commercial success. Panday won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for her performance in both ''Student of the Year 2'' and ''Pati Patni Aur Woh''.

In 2020, Panday appeared in the action film ''Khaali Peeli'', starring Ishaan Khatter. The film was released digitally on Zee Plex. She next appeared alongside Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Dhairya Karwa in the 2022 romantic drama ''Gehraiyaan'', which released on Amazon Prime Video. Her performance was well-received, with Anna M. M. Vetticad from ''Firstpost'' writing, "The surprise in this ensemble is Panday who brings a gravitas to Tia's confusion and innocence that makes you wonder why she chose to debut with the hollow gloss of ''Student of the Year 2''". Her final release of the year came with Vijay Deverakonda in Puri Jagannadh's action film ''Liger'', a bilingual production in Hindi and Telugu. Panday's father revealed that she was initially hesitant to accept the film, as she felt she was too young for the role, but he convinced her to take on the project. The film was a critical and commercial failure, with Panday's performance being panned.

Recognition in streaming projects (2023–present)

In the spiritual sequel '' Dream Girl 2'' (2023), Panday played the brief role of the love interest of Ayushmann Khurrana's character. ''The Times of India''s Dhaval Roy dismissed her role and accent. ''The Indian Express'' Shubhra Gupta concurred that Panday didn't "have much to do" but observed that she is "getting better when there’s not too much pressure on her to deliver". It emerged as one of the year's highest-grossing Hindi films. She then starred in ''Kho Gaye Hum Kahan'', a coming-of-age drama about the negative effects of social media, alongside Chaturvedi and Adarsh Gourav. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV wrote that she "does a fair enough job of a character stuck in a single-note loop", while Scroll.in's Udita Jhunjhunwala found her "highly convincing as the jilted obsessive stalker seeking social media validation". ''The Indian Express'' evaluated that her urban roles in ''Gehraiyaan'' and ''Kho Gaye Hum Kahan'' suited the actress better than the ones she performed in commercial cinema such as ''Dream Girl 2''. Panday was awarded a Filmfare OTT Award for Best Actor in a Film – Critics (Female) for her performance in ''Kho Gaye Hum Kahan''.

In September 2024, she portrayed an ostracised fashion influencer in the Amazon Prime Video comedy series ''Call Me Bae'', produced by Johar. Panday expressed how her foray into the comedic genre was "challenging", and emphasised the difficulty in having to headline a project rather than play a "reacting" role to the lead star. The series had a mixed reception from critics, but her performance was better received. Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com praised her comic timing in a role that mirrored the actress' own privilege. ''The Hindu'' Shilajit Mitra analysed that her privileged characters in ''Gehraiyaan'', ''Kho Gaye Hum Kahan'' and ''Call Me Bae'' were all "in her proximate wheelhouse". The following month, Panday starred in Vikramaditya Motwane's screenlife thriller '' CTRL'' for Netflix, which is about an influencer targeted by a malicious AI app. Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in believed that after ''Kho Gaye Hum Kahan'', she was once again "wholly convincing" as a Gen Z woman negatively affected by technology. Acknowledging it as her third consecutive urban-set, social media-centred project, Panday has expressed a desire for further career progression and to return to more commercial cinema.

Panday returned to commercial cinema in 2025 with Dharma Production's sequel ''Kesari Chapter 2'', starring Akshay Kumar as C. Sankaran Nair. Set against the backdrop of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919, she portrayed a lawyer who assists Nair in his legal battle against the British Raj. In preparation, she took dialect classes in Punjabi for over a year and shadowed female lawyers in practice. A critic for ''Filmfare'' wrote that Panday "surprises with her restraint and grace" in an against-type role. ''Kesari Chapter 2'' emerged as a moderate commercial success. She will next star opposite Lakshya in the romance ''Chand Mera Dil''.

Media image

Panday has frequently combated negative attention and online trolling, for being a beneficiary of nepotism within the Hindi film industry. She said, "It isn't as easy as people say it is. If you have access and don't have the talent to back it up, people won't invest their money in you. Having said that, I do believe nepotism exists and it exists in all industries, not just Bollywood." She received backlash for comments made during CNN's 2019 Newcomers Roundtable, where she spoke about her struggles as a star kid, noting that her father had never been on Johar's talk show ''Koffee with Karan'' as a sign of his limited success. Her remarks prompted a now-viral response from actor Siddhant Chaturvedi, in which he highlighted the disparity between insiders and outsiders in the film industry. ''The Hollywood Reporter India'' reported that after the intense social media trolling she received for being a nepo baby, "all the noise and early backlash faded once she proved herself with films like ''Gehraiyaan'' (2022) and ''CTRL'' (2024)". ''The Print'' noted that she has carved a niche for herself as Bollywood’s Gen Z star by portraying characters that resonate deeply with her generation.

In 2019, she launched an initiative named So Positive to create awareness about social media bullying, prevent negativity and build a positive community. At the Economic Times Awards in 2019, the project was named Initiative of the Year.

Panday has featured in ''The Times of India'' "50 Most Desirable Women" list. She ranked 37th in 2019, and 31st in 2020. In 2025, ''Forbes Asia'' featured her in their 30 Under 30 list. The same year, ''GQ India'' listed her among the nation's most influential young people. Panday is a celebrity endorser for several brands, such as Puma, Lakmé, Maybelline, TRESemmé, Garnier, Skechers, Vega, Esprit, Fastrack, Gillette and Timex. She is the brand ambassador for international brands like Swarovski and Jimmy Choo. In 2025, she was named the first Indian global ambassador for the luxury brand Chanel.

Filmography

Films

* ''All films are in Hindi unless otherwise noted.''

Television

Music video

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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1998 births
Living people
Actresses from Mumbai
Indian film actresses
Indian web series actresses
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Filmfare Awards winners
International Indian Film Academy Awards winners
Zee Cine Awards winners
21st-century Indian actresses
People of Punjabi descent