Paras Kalnawat

Paras Kalnawat (born 9 November 1996) is an Indian model and actor best known for portraying Sanjay Singh Ahlawat in Meri Durga, Faraz Sheikh in Ishq Aaj Kal, and Samar Shah in Anupamaa.

Kalnawat belonging to a Brahmin family, was born on 9 November 1996, to a Nagpur-based businessman Bhushan Kalnawat and Anita Kalnawat in Bhandara, a district near Nagpur and has an elder sister named Pragati Kalnawat Sharma.

He completed his schooling from a local school in Nagpur, and later joined S. K. Somaiya College to earn his Bachelor of Commerce degree.

Later he moved to Mumbai in 2014 to become an actor and completed his dance diploma from Terence Lewis Dance Academy, and took formal training in acting from Barry John's Acting Classes.

In 2021, Kalnawat revealed that he is in a serious relationship with someone outside the entertainment industry.

On 27 March 2021, while shooting for Holi sequence in Anupamaa, he got the news of his father's sudden demise due to heart attack.

In November 2022, he revealed about him being diagnosed with Spondylitis during his stint on Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 10.

Kalnawat begun his career with modelling in 2016, and later started his acting career in 2017 by appearing in an episodic role as Dhruv in Aye Zindagi.

In July 2017 he made his television debut opposite Srishti Jain in StarPlus's Meri Durga where he portrayed the lead role of Sanjay Singh Ahlawat until the show went off-air in March 2018.

In May 2018, he was cast to play Rehaan Thakur opposite Priyanka Kandwal in Mariam Khan - Reporting Live by the same channel Star Plus, however he quit the show in September 2018 due to some personal reasons.

Later in the same year he portrayed episodic roles in Kaun Hai? and Laal Ishq.

In 2019, he made his digital debut by portraying Shivam Noon in ALT Balaji's Dil Hi Toh Hai 2 opposite Palak Purswani.

He went on to play antihero Faraz Sheikh in Ishq Aaj Kal alongside Ankitta Sharma, Angad Hasija and Puneett Chouksey in the same year, and reprised his role as Shivam in Dil Hi Toh Hai 3 opposite Poulomi Das in early 2020.

In March 2020, he signed to portray the role of Samar Shah in Anupamaa opposite Anagha Bhosale and Alma Hussein.

It turned out to be a turning point in his career as he became a household name as Samar due to show's immediate success.

He subsequently appeared in music videos like Tere Naal Rehna, Akhaa Vich, Khumariyaan, Yaar Ki Mehfil and Baadal Barse.

In July 2022, he announced his participation in dance-based reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 10.

However it led to the termination of his three-years-long contract by Anupamaa's producer Rajan Shahi and he termed the actor unprofessional as the show was scheduled to air on rival channel Colors TV.

To which Kalnawat revealed that he already informed the makers about the same and in return they asked him to chose between both and he chose Jhalak for his career growth claiming his ouster to be a PR Tactic supporting his former co-actor Anagha's allegations of set politics on makers, and later revealed many dark secrets of the production house.

He later confirmed about pairing up with choreographer Shweta Sharda for the reality show.

On 6 November 2022, he was eliminated in season's first double elimination, finishing at 10th place.

Since March 2023, he is portraying protagonist Rajveer Arora Luthra opposite Sana Sayyad post generation leap in Zee TV's Kundali Bhagya.

On Indian Independence Day 2022, he took an initiative for Clean India Campaign and asked his fans to join and support him for the same.

Apart from being an actor, Kalnawat is also a poet, dancer and sneakerhead.