Praneet Bhat (born 26 September 1980) is an Indian television actor best known for his role as

Shakuni Shakuni ( sa, शकुनि, , ) plays a key role in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is one of the main antagonists of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He was the prince of the kingdom of Gandhara when introduced, later becoming its king ...

in the epic TV series ''

Mahabharat The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuru ...

'' (2013–2014).

Life and career

Bhat hails from Srinagar,

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

. After completing his engineering, he worked with a software company,

Wipro Wipro Limited (formerly, Western India Palm Refined Oils Limited) is an Indian multinational corporation that provides information technology, consulting and business process services. Thierry Delaporte is serving as CEO and managing directo ...

. Bhat shifted to Mumbai in 2002, and after modelling, he started his television career in 2004, and went on to appear on the television programs ''Kitni Mast Hai Zindagi'', ''Hotel Kingston'', ''Kituu Sabb Jaantii Hai'', '' Ssshhhh..Phir Koi Hai'' and '' Kaajjal''. He played the geeky character Aditya in '' Geet''(2010–2011). He appeared in the role of

in the mythological saga ''

'', which earned him worldwide fame. In September 2014, he became one of the contestants of eighth season of reality show ''

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 ...

''. In November 2015, he married his longtime girlfriend, Kanchan Sharma. His Mahabharat and Bigg Boss close friends attended the wedding. He also portrayed a negative role in ''Star Plus's Rishton Ka Chakravyuh.'' Bhat then played

Darius III Darius III ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; c. 380 – 330 BC) was the last Achaemenid King of Kings of Persia, reigning from 336 BC to his death in 330 BC. Contrary to his predecessor Artaxerxes IV Arses, Dar ...

in '' Porus''. Since 2018, Bhat is portraying a

genie Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic m ...

in the show ''

Aladdin - Naam Toh Suna Hoga Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...

'' and in 2021 in he will feature as the magician Jafar in the upcoming story ''Aladdin and the Magic Lamp'' on ''Alif Laila in

Dangal TV Dangal is a Hindi language Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and ...

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhat, Praneet Indian male television actors Living people People from Srinagar Male actors from Jammu and Kashmir Year of birth missing (living people)