Sunny Kaushal (born 28 September 1989) is an Indian actor who works in

Hindi films Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Hollywood". The industry, producing films in th ...

. Born into the Kaushal family, he worked as an assistant director on the films ''

My Friend Pinto ''My Friend Pinto'' is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language musical film, musical comedy film written and directed by Raaghav Dar, in his feature-length directorial debut. It stars Prateik Babbar as Michael Pinto, a well intentioned simpleton and follow ...

'' (2011) and ''

Gunday ''Gunday'' () is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language period action drama film written and directed by Ali Abbas Zafar and produced by Aditya Chopra under Yash Raj Films. The film stars Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, and Irrfan Khan i ...

'' (2014). He made his acting debut in the comedy-drama '' Sunshine Music Tours and Travels'' (2016), and gained recognition for his supporting part in the sports biopic ''

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

'' (2018). Kaushal has since starred in the streaming series ''

The Forgotten Army - Azaadi Ke Liye ''The Forgotten Army – Azaadi Ke Liye'' is a television series which premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 24 January 2020. The series is directed by Kabir Khan, and is based on true events about the men and women in the Indian National Army (IN ...

'' (2020) and films '' Shiddat'' (2021), ''

Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga ''Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga'' () is a 2023 Indian Hindi heist thriller film directed Ajay Singh produced by Amar Kaushik. It stars Yami Gautam and Sunny Kaushal with Sharad Kelkar, Indraneil Sengupta and Barun Chanda appears in pivotal roles. The ...

'' (2023) and ''

Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba '' Aayi Hasseen Dillruba'' () is a 2024 Indian Hindi-language romantic thriller film directed by Jayprad Desai and written by Kanika Dhillon. Produced by Colour Yellow Productions and T-Series Films. A sequel to the 2021 film '' Haseen Dillruba' ...

'' (2024).

Early life

Kaushal was born on 28 September 1989 in a suburban chawl in

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 Sham Kaushal, an action director in Indian films and Veena Kaushal. His older brother is actor

Vicky Kaushal Vicky Kaushal (; born 16 May 1988) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards, and has appeared in ''Forbes India'' Celebrity 100 list of ...

. His family is

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

. Kaushal initially enrolled at

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Abbreviation, abbreviated as ICAI, is India's largest professional accounting body under the administrative control of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India. It was established on ...

but later dropped out to pursue acting. He then started his acting career playing small roles in theatre plays and skits.

Career

Kaushal made his Bollywood debut by playing the leading role in the 2016 comedy-drama road film '' Sunshine Music Tours and Travels'' and the TV Mini-Series ''Official Chukyagiri.'' He was also part of the short film ''Love at First Sight.'' In 2018, Kaushal featured in

Reema Kagti Reema Kagti (born Reema Kakati) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Hindi film industry. She made her debut as a director in the critically acclaimed '' Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.'' (2007), which was followed by the neo-no ...

's period sports film ''

'' which is based on the national hockey team's title at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

. He portrayed the role of Himmat Singh, a character inspired by Balbir Singh Sr. For his role in ''Gold'', he received critical recognition and also received a nomination at the 25th Screen Awards for Best Supporting Actor. That same year, he appeared in the TV Mini-Series ''Official CEOgiri'', a spin-off of the 2016 series ''Official Chukyagiri.'' The short film ''The Embrace'' in which Kaushal plays the role of Siddharth was nominated in the Drama Short Film category at the

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Times G ...

Kaushal's next was the dance based film ''

Bhangra Paa Le ''Bhangra Paa Le'' () is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film, directed by Sneha Taurani and produced by Ronnie Screwvala. It stars Sunny Kaushal and Rukshar Dhillon. Initially planned to release on 13 September 2019 and then 1 Nov ...

'' alongside

Rukshar Dhillon Rukshar Dhillon (born 12 October 1993) is a British actress who primarily works in Telugu films. Dhillon was born in London and raised in India. She made her debut in 2016 with the Kannada '' Run Antony.'' She went on to star in Telugu films su ...

which released on 3 January 2020 in selected screens. Later that same year, Kaushal headlined

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

's original series ''

''. The series was directed by Kabir Khan based on true events of the

Indian National Army The Indian National Army (INA, sometimes Second INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a Empire of Japan, Japanese-allied and -supported armed force constituted in Southeast Asia during World War II and led by Indian Nationalism#An ...

fight for Indian Independence during World War II. ''

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naidu ...

'' found his performance to be "splendid". A year later, he starred in the romantic drama film '' Shiddat'' where he played the role of Jaggi Dil, a man who desperately tries to reach London to be with his love who is going to marry another man. After being indefinitely delayed due to 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 ...

, the film premiered on 1 October 2021 on

Disney+ Hotstar Disney+ Hotstar, also known as JioHotstar or simply Hotstar, is an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Disney Star. The brand was introduced as Hotstar for a streaming service carrying content from Di ...

. Samriddhi Srivastava of ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

'' commented: "Kaushal’s dialogue deliveries and convincing performance will win your heart". In 2022, Kaushal featured alongside

Nushrratt Bharuccha Nushrratt Bharuccha (born Nushrat Bharucha; 17 May 1985) is an Indian actress who mainly works in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. After working in television, she made her film debut with ''Jai Santoshi Maa'' (2006). She gained recognition for her r ...

and

Vijay Varma Vijay Varma is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Hindi films and series. He graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India, before gaining recognition with the crime drama film ''Pink'' (2016). This was followed by supportin ...

in ''

Hurdang ''Hurdang'' is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film written and directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat. The film stars Sunny Kaushal, Nushrratt Bharuccha, and Vijay Varma. It was released theatrically on 8 April 2022. Set against the back ...

'', a love story set in the backdrop of the student agitation of 1990 in

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

. Then he was seen in the survival film '' Mili'' alongside

Janhvi Kapoor Janhvi Kapoor (born 6 March 1997) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi and Telugu language, Telugu films. Born to film actress Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor, she made her acting debut in 2018 with the romantic drama ''Dhadak'', which w ...

and

Manoj Pahwa Manoj Pahwa (born 8 December 1963), is an Indian film and television actor who is noted for his role as Bhatia in the comedy series '' Office Office'' (2001). Pahwa has acted in over 70 films as a character actor, including '' 7½ Phere'' (2005 ...

. In 2023, he featured opposite

Yami Gautam Yami Gautam Dhar ( Gautam; born 28 November 1988) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. A daughter of film director Mukesh Gautam, she began her career as a model, and starred in television soap operas such as '' Chand Ke Paar Chalo' ...

in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

suspense thriller film '' Chor Nikal Ke Bhaaga''. He was then seen in the romantic thriller sequel ''

'', alongside

Taapsee Pannu Tapasee Pannu (born 1 August 1987), professionally known as Taapsee Pannu, is an Indian actress who works in Hindi, Telugu language, Telugu and Tamil language, Tamil films. Pannu is the recipient of two Filmfare Awards and a Filmfare OTT Award ...

and

Vikrant Massey Vikrant Massey (born 3 April 1987) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi films and television. Noted for his versatility, Massey is the recipient of a Filmfare Award. After completing his education from R. D. National College, Massey ...

In the media

Kaushal was ranked in The Times Most Desirable Men at number 45 in 2018, at No. 38 in 2019.

Filmography

Films

Television

Music videos

Discography

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaushal, Sunny 21st-century Indian male actors Indian male film actors Male actors in Hindi cinema People of Punjabi descent Living people 1989 births