Athiya Shetty (born 5 November 1992) is an Indian former actress who worked 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 ...
films. The daughter of actor Suniel Shetty, she made her acting debut with the romantic action ''
Hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...
Shetty was born on 5 November 1992 to actor Suniel Shetty and director Mana Shetty in
Bombay
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
(now Mumbai). While her father hails from the Tulu-speaking Bunt community, her mother was born to
Punjabi Hindu
Punjabi Hindus are adherents of Hinduism who identify ethnically, linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Punjabis and are natives of the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. Punjabi Hindus are the third-largest religious g ...
mother and a
Gujarati Muslim
The term Gujarati Muslim is usually used to signify an Indian Muslim from the state of Gujarat on the western coast of India. Most Gujarati Muslims have the Gujarati language as their mother tongue, but some communities have Urdu as their moth ...
father. She has a younger brother, Ahan Shetty, who also became an actor after debuting in the film '' Tadap'' (2021).
Shetty studied at the
Cathedral and John Connon School
The Cathedral and John Connon School is a co-educational private school founded in 1860 and located in Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra.American School of Bombay. While there, she participated in school plays alongside
Shraddha Kapoor
Shraddha Kapoor (born 3 March 1987)Rishita Roy Chowdhury (3 March 2022)"Happy Birthday Shraddha Kapoor! Tiger Shroff to Anushka Sharma, celebs wish the actress" ''India Today''. said she turned 35 on 3 March 2022"Happy Birthday Shraddha Kap ...
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
to enroll at the
New York Film Academy
New York Film Academy – School of Film and Acting (NYFA) is a Private college, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit film school and Drama school, acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles metropolitan ar ...
, as she wanted to act in films.
Career
Shetty made her acting debut in 2015 with the Nikhil Advani-directed romantic action film ''
Hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...
'', a remake of co-producer
Subhash Ghai
Subhash Ghai (born 24 January 1945) is an Indian film director, producer, actor, lyricist, music director and screenwriter, primarily known for his work in Hindi cinema. He was one of the most prominent Hindi filmmakers in the 1980s and 1990s. ...
Salman Khan
Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; born 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who predominantly works in Hindi films. In a career spanning over three decades, his awards include two National Film Awa ...
and co-written by Advani and Umesh Bist, the film earned a total revenue of . She portrayed the role of Mumbai-based aspiring dancer Radha Mathur, who falls in love with her kidnapper Sooraj ( Sooraj Pancholi), a gangster trying to extort her police chief father, IG Shrikant Mathur.
Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is an Indian entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000.
The website provides n ...
, a leading website of India, wrote that ″Shetty needs some more time to improve her acting skills″. After her debut, she became the brand ambassador for the Indian franchise of Maybelline New York and featured in the Indian edition of high-profile magazine covers such as
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Internationalism
* World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship
* Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community
* Cosmopolitan ...
Harper's Bazaar
''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...
and many more.
After a brief period of 2 years, Shetty appeared in Anees Bazmee's romantic comedy '' Mubarakan'' opposite
Anil Kapoor
Anil Kapoor (born 24 December 1956) is an Indian actor and producer who works primarily in Hindi cinema, Hindi films, in addition to Indian television and international films. In a career spanning over 40 years as an actor and since 2005 as a ...
,
Arjun Kapoor
Arjun Kapoor (born 26 June 1985) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. Born to the Surinder Kapoor family, he is the son of film producers Boney Kapoor and Mona Shourie. Kapoor made his acting debut in 2012 with the drama '' Ishaqzaade ...
and
Ileana D'Cruz
Ileana D'Cruz (born 1 November 1986) is a Portuguese actress who primarily appears in Telugu and Hindi films. She is the recipient of several accolades including a Filmfare Award and a Filmfare Awards South.
D'Cruz made her screen debut in 2 ...
. The film, shot in
Punjab
Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
and
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 ...
, was a box office hit, though perceived to be a failure, and earned 93.59 crores. In the film, she played the role of a simple Punjabi girl named Binkle Sandhu who falls in love with Charan (
Arjun Kapoor
Arjun Kapoor (born 26 June 1985) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. Born to the Surinder Kapoor family, he is the son of film producers Boney Kapoor and Mona Shourie. Kapoor made his acting debut in 2012 with the drama '' Ishaqzaade ...
) but her wedding is instead fixed with Charan's twin brother Karan, who wants to marry his love interest Sweety (D'Cruz). Shetty received positive to mixed reviews for her performance in the film, though the film received mixed to negative reviews. She then appeared in a song, " Tere Naal Nachna", in 2018, composed, written and sung by Badshah, and featuring newbie singer
Sunanda Sharma
Sunanda Sharma (born 30 January 1992) is an Indian people, Indian singer and film actress. She made her debut with the song "Billi Akh". Sharma began her acting career with the film ''Sajjan Singh Rangroot'' with co-stars Diljit Dosanjh and Yog ...
Remo D'Souza
Remo D'Souza (born Ramesh Gopi Nair; 2 April 1974) is an Indian choreographer, film director, and producer. Over the course of his career spanning more than 25 years, D'Souza has choreographed more than 100 films. He is considered the most suc ...
and directed by choreographer Jayesh Pradhan, starring Raghav Juyal, Dharmesh Yelande and Punit Pathak.
Later on, in 2019, Shetty was cast as Anita "Ani" Awasthi, a young woman who is desperate to settle abroad by marrying an NRI, in Debamitra Biswal's comedy drama '' Motichoor Chaknachoor'', opposite
Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Nawazuddin Siddiqui (; born 19 May 1974) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a National Film Award, an IIFA Award, and two Filmfare Awards, as well as a nomination for an ...
. The film opened to mixed reviews.
Personal life
Shetty married her long time partner, Indian cricketer KL Rahul on 23 January 2023. Shetty gave birth to a girl, on 24 March 2025, and named her Evaarah.