Kunal Kapoor (actor, born 1977)

Kunal Kishore Kapoor (born 18 October 1977), professionally known as Kunal Kapoor, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Hindi films.

Kapoor is a recipient of several accolades including a Stardust Award and a Asiavision Award.

Kapoor was born in Mumbai on 18 October 1977.

His father, Kishore Kapoor was in the construction business and his mother, Kanan is a singer and homemaker.

His parents are originally from Amritsar, Punjab.

He is the youngest of three children, with two sisters Geeta and Reshma.

Kapoor trained for an acting career under Barry John, and became a part of Motley, a theatre group run by acting legend Naseeruddin Shah.

Kapoor started his career as an assistant director, and made his acting debut with the 2004 film Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities.

He began his career as an assistant director of Aks, Kapoor made his acting debut playing Kameshwar, a car mechanic, opposite Tabu in Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities, which was helmed by painter MF Hussain and released in 2004.

Ronjita Kulkarni of Rediff.com termed him "a pleasant surprise" and added, "His freshness adds appeal to his character, yet he emotes like a seasoned actor."

Following a career breakthrough with Rang De Basanti (2006), Kapoor went onto appear in Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), Welcome to Sajjanpur (2008), Don 2 (2011), Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana (2012), Dear Zindagi (2016), Veeram (2016), Gold (2018) and Devadas (2018).

After a career setback, Kapoor earned critical praises for his portrayal of Babur, in The Empire (2021).

Along with his acting career, Kapoor is a writer, entrepreneur and co-founder of Ketto, an online crowdfunding platform.

Kapoor is married to Naina Bachchan, with whom he has a son.

In 2006, Kapoor had his breakthrough with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Rang De Basanti, where he played a college student who after a tragedy, fights against corruption with his friends.

The film was critically and commercially successful and was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 2007 BAFTA Awards.

Kamlesh Pandey, while writing for The Hindu, praised him and stated that he scores with his "understated performance and intensity".

Kapoor earned a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.

It also became the seventh-highest grossing Hindi film of the year.

Kapoor had three releases in 2007.

Firstly, he played a cricket obsessed man in Hattrick alongside Rimi Sen.

Yash Raj Films subsequently signed Kapoor for a three-film contract, two of which released in the same year.

He played Vivaan in Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, opposite Konkona Sen Sharma.

Kapoor reunited with Sen Sharma in Aaja Nachle, where he played Imran, a ring master who is forced to play Manju in a play.

Khalid Mohammed from Hindustan Times found him a bit "confused".

Kapoor played a Punjabi, Joginder opposite Minissha Lamba in the 2008 film Bachna Ae Haseeno, his third with Yash Raj Films.

It became the eighth-highest grossing Hindi film of the year.

In the same year, he played Bansi Ram, a laborer at a dockyard in Welcome to Sajjanpur, opposite Amrita Rao.

The film was a critical and commercial success.

Taran Adarsh termed his presence as a "surprise".

After this, Kapoor took a break for two years.

In 2010, he then played an aspiring Kashmiri politician in Rahul Dholakia's Lamhaa co-starring Sanjay Dutt.

It was a box office failure, but critics hailed his performance as "one of the most powerful performances of the year".

In 2011, Kapoor played Sameer, a hacker in Shah Rukh Khan starrer Don 2.

The film became the second-highest grossing film of the year.

Bollywood Hungama found Kapoor to be "decent" but thought that he doesn't really get the scenes to prove his credentials.

In 2012, Kapoor appeared in Sameer Sharma's Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana, which he co-wrote.

Alongside Huma Qureshi, he played a Omi, who desire to go to London but is forced to move back home.

Rachel Saltz of The New York Times called Kapoor the Indian Matthew McConaughey.

Live Mint's Sanjukta Sharma stated, "Kapoor is not the cynosure, but he pulls off the silliness and sensitivity of Omi’s character capably."