Aftab Shivdasani

Aftab Shivdasani (born 25 June 1978) is an Indian actor, producer and model known for his works in Hindi and also working for Tamil and Kannada film industry.

Shivdasani was selected as the Farex baby at the age of 14 months and eventually appeared in many TV commercials for the product.

He started his career as a child artist in films like Mr. India (1987), Shahenshah (1988), ChaalBaaz (1989), Awwal Number (1990), C.I.D. (1990) and Insaniyat (1994).

He made his Bollywood debut as a child actor in Mr. India (1987), then appearing in films such as Awwal Number, Shahenshah, ChaalBaaz and Insaniyat.

He also played the child role for Inspector Vijaykumar Srivastav in the 1988 film 'Shahenshah', who would later be played by Amitabh Bachchan for the remainder of the film.

Shivdasani continued appearing in commercials until the age of 19 when he was offered a lead role in director Ram Gopal Varma's Mast opposite Urmila Matondkar while still studying at H.R. College.

Shivdasani made his debut as an adult opposite Matondkar in Mast.

The film became an instant flop although Shivdasani won the Zee Cine Award for Best Male Debut and the Star Screen Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male for his performance in Mast.

He earned critical acclaim for his performance.

Mohammad Ali Ikram of Planet Bollywood praised his performance and wrote: "Newcomer Aftab Shivdasani comes across as a bit young and aimless when the movie opens, but as you watch the proceedings, you'll learn that this bit of casting makes perfect sense considering Kittu's immaturity and innocence."

In 1999, he made his adult debut in Ram Gopal Varma's Mast, for which he received the Zee Cine Award for Best Male Debut and Star Screen Award for Most Promising Newcomer- Male.

Subsequently, he featured in several commercially successful films, including, Kasoor (2001) for which he received Zee Cine Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role and a nomination for Filmfare Best Villain Award, Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai (2002), Awara Paagal Deewana (2002), Hungama (2003), Masti (2004).

In 2001, Shivdasani made his comeback to acting with his second film, Vikram Bhatt’s Kasoor opposite the debutant Lisa Ray.

Shivdasani played a negative role and shot to instant fame with his portrayal of Shekhar Saxena, a well-known journalist, who murders his wife.

His performance in the film earned him a nomination for the Filmfare Best Villain Award and a Zee Cine Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role.

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama noticed the improvement in his acting and praised his performance.

"Aftab, as the suave publishing magnate, catches you unaware with a performance that is first-rate. His characterisation is dissimilar from the one he played in his debut-making venture Mast. His work should catapult him to the league of genteel artists."

His next release of that year saw him paired with Ram Gopal Varma again after Mast in Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega, in which Shivdasani starred in a supporting role opposite Saif Ali Khan, Fardeen Khan, Twinkle Khanna and Sonali Bendre.

Shivdasani's performance was applauded by Taran Adarsh and considered to be better than the other two heroes.

Taran Adarsh wrote "Aftab plays to the gallery and gives a good account of himself. Aftab has an edge over the other two heroes because his character is mass appealing. His scenes with Johny Lever are simply superb."

However, the film failed at the box office.

His last release of the year was Rajiv Rai's Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat, in which Shivdasani played Taj Bharadwaj, one of the three lead roles with the debutant Arjun Rampal and Suniel Shetty opposite Kirti Reddy.

Shivdasani was praised by Taran Adarsh.

"Aftab Shivdasani has an edge thanks to his lovable characterization. He is natural."

Pankaj Shukla of SmasHits wrote "Aftab is impressive as usual and is fast maturing as an actor."

In 2002, Shivdasani's first two films Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe opposite debutant Esha Deol was a failure but Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai opposite Ameesha Patel was successful at the box office.

His third release of that year was Rajkumar Kohli's multi-starrer supernatural horror Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahani that was a disaster.

His fourth film of 2002 was the multi-starrer action comedy Awara Paagal Deewana, that proved to be a successful movie and became the seventh highest grosser movie of that year.

It was an average grosser.

His final release of that year was Pyaasa.

In 2012, he was engaged to Nin Dusanj, a London-based Punjabi who grew up in London and later moved to Hong Kong, working within the advertising and luxury branding industries in Asia.

On 5 June 2014, he married Nin Dusanj at a private ceremony attended only by both their families.

His debut film in Tamil cinema was Bhaskar Oru Rascal (2018).

He made his debut in Kannada cinema with the commercial hit movie Kotigobba 3 (2021).

Shivdasani was born in Mumbai in a Sindhi Hindu Family to Prem and Putli Shivdasani.

His mother is an Irani Zoroastrian.

He studied at St. Xavier's High School, (Fort) located at Lokamanya Tilak Marg in Mumbai.

He then graduated from H. R.College of Commerce in Mumbai.

They have a daughter Nevaeh born in 2020.

Shivdasani was selected as the Farex baby (baby food brand) at age 14 months and from that point on he appeared in many TV commercials.