Q1063412

Biography

Ranbir Raj Kapoor (pronounced [ɾəɳˈbiːɾ kəˈpuːɾ]; born 28 September 1982) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi-language films. He has received several accolades, including seven Filmfare Awards, and is known for his work across a range of film genres. Kapoor has featured in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list and was included in the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world in 2026 The son of actors Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh, and the grandson of actor-director Raj Kapoor, Kapoor pursued filmmaking and method acting at the School of Visual Arts and the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, respectively. He subsequently assisted Sanjay Leela Bhansali on the film Black (2005) and made his acting debut with Bhansali's tragic romance Saawariya (2007), a critical and commercial failure. He rose to prominence with the coming-of-age film Wake Up Sid, the romantic comedy Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (both 2009), and the political drama Raajneeti (2010). Kapoor's performances as a troubled musician in Rockstar (2011) and a cheerful deaf-and-mute man in Barfi! (2012) earned him two consecutive Filmfare Awards for Best Actor. The romantic comedy Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) further established him as a star. This was followed by a series of commercial failures, with Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016) and Sanju (2018) being the exceptions. His portrayal of Sanjay Dutt in the latter won him another Filmfare Award. Following a hiatus, he had further commercial success in the fantasy film Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva (2022) and the action drama Animal (2023), with the latter emerging as his highest-grossing release and winning him a fourth Best Actor award at Filmfare. In addition to his acting career, Kapoor supports charities and causes. He is also a co-owner of the Indian Super League football team Mumbai City FC. He is married to the actress Alia Bhatt, with whom he has a daughter, Raha.

== Early life and background == Ranbir Kapoor was born on 28 September 1982 in Bombay to Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh, both actors in Hindi cinema. He is the great-grandson of Prithviraj Kapoor and the grandson of actor-director Raj Kapoor. His elder sister, Riddhima Kapoor Sahni (born 1980), is an interior and fashion designer. Kapoor is of Punjabi descent on both sides, born to a Hindu father and a Sikh mother. He grew up in a secular environment. He was educated at the Bombay Scottish School, Mahim. The actor Randhir Kapoor is his paternal uncle, and his daughters, actresses Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor, are his paternal first cousins.

Kapoor has been vocal about how his parents' troubled marriage affected him as a child: "Sometimes the fights would get really bad. I would be sitting on the steps, my head between my knees, till five or six in the morning, waiting for them to stop". These experiences led to a "reservoir of emotions building up inside [him]", which he said compelled him to develop an interest in film. In his early years, Kapoor was close to his mother but had a dysfunctional relationship with his father. After completing his tenth standard examinations, he worked as an assistant director to his father on the film Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1999), during which he developed a closer bond with him. After completing his pre-university education at the H.R. College of Commerce and Economics, Kapoor relocated to New York City to learn filmmaking at the School of Visual Arts and subsequently pursued method acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. In film school, Kapoor directed and starred in two short films, entitled Passion to Love and India 1964. The loneliness of living alone in New York City coupled with his experience in film school, which he described as "useless", inspired him to pursue a career in Hindi cinema. Upon returning to Mumbai, Kapoor was hired as an assistant director to Sanjay Leela Bhansali on the 2005 film Black. He described the experience: "I was getting beaten up, abused, doing everything from cleaning the floor to fixing the lights from 7 a.m. to 4 a.m., but I was learning every day." He later remarked that his motive for working on Black was to get Bhansali to offer him an acting job.

== Career ==

=== Early work and success (2007–2010) ===

Following the release of Black, Bhansali cast Kapoor as the protagonist of his 2007 tragic romance Saawariya, alongside Sonam Kapoor and Rani Mukerji. The film tells the story of a tramp, played by him, who falls obsessively in love with a woman awaiting the return of her lover. In an interview with the news and entertainment portal Rediff.com, Kapoor stated that his character was written as a tribute to his grandfather's iconic roles as a tramp. Saawariya was the first Indian film to be produced by a Hollywood studio (Sony Pictures Entertainment), and was a highly anticipated release. However, film critics were disappointed with the picture with BBC's Jaspreet Pandohar calling it a "misfire on a massive scale". CNN-IBN's Rajeev Masand considered it "contrived and fake", but was impressed by Kapoor's "affable charm" and wrote that "he's got that star quality to him which is so rare to find." At the box office, Saawariya failed to earn profits. However, at the annual Filmfare Awards ceremony, Kapoor was awarded a Best Male Debut trophy. Despite the commercial failure of Saawariya, Kapoor was contracted by Yash Raj Films for a primary role in the Siddharth Anand-directed romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008). The film was his first commercial success, in which his role was that of a womaniser who is romantically involved with three women, played by Bipasha Basu, Minissha Lamba, and Deepika Padukone, at different stages of his life. Rachel Saltz of The New York Times expressed mixed views on his performance, but predicted that his "puppy-dog sweetness" would "serve him well as a Bollywood leading man". In 2009, Kapoor had three film releases. In Dharma Productions's Wake Up Sid, a coming of age film from director Ayan Mukerji, Kapoor portrayed Siddharth "Sid" Mehra, a rich, lazy teenager whose life undergoes a series of changes after interacting with an ambitious journalist (played by Konkana Sen Sharma). When Mukerji narrated the then-untitled script of the film to him, Kapoor came up with the title himself. The media expressed doubt on the film's financial prospect as it depicted a romantic relationship between a younger man and an older woman. It eventually emerged as a sleeper hit and garnered acclaim from the critics. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama reviewed that Kapoor's performance in the film proved that he was "amongst the best in the business today". Kapoor next starred opposite Katrina Kaif in Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, a slapstick comedy from director Rajkumar Santoshi, that emerged as the fourth highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2009. Film critic Gaurav Malani praised Kapoor's flair for comedy, but criticised his "over-excited husky baritone". His final release that year was the Shimit Amin-directed Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year, a drama about a sardar who aspires to be a salesman. Film critic Mayank Shekhar praised the film and found Kapoor's performance to be "astonishingly sincere", but the film earned little at the box office. Kapoor later professed to being highly disappointed by the film's commercial failure. At the 55th Filmfare Awards, he was awarded the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor for his performances in all three of his 2009 releases, and he also received two Best Actor nominations at the ceremony for Wake Up Sid and Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani.

Prakash Jha's big-budget ensemble political drama Raajneeti was Kapoor's first release of 2010. The film, which starred Nana Patekar, Ajay Devgn, Arjun Rampal, Manoj Bajpayee, Katrina Kaif and Sarah Thompson in prominent roles, was inspired by the Indian epic Mahabharata and Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather. Kapoor's role was of Samar Pratap (based on the characters of Arjuna and Michael Corleone), the younger heir of an Indian political dynasty, who is reluctantly drawn to politics after the assassination of his father. Kapoor described it as his first complex role and considered it a departure from the "lover boy roles" that he had previously played. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India reviewed: "The film finally belongs to Ranbir Kapoor who perfects the art of minimalism—and literally grows before your eyes—as the simmering volcano that cannot be held back, once it erupts." Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times, however, was more critical of his performance which he considered "stony rather than calculating—especially jarring compared to the histrionic turns around him". Indian trade journalists were apprehensive of the film recovering its ₹600 million (US$6.2 million) investment. The film, however, proved to be a major commercial success with worldwide earnings of over ₹1.43 billion (US$15 million). Kapoor received a third Best Actor nomination at Filmfare for the film. Later that same year, Kapoor collaborated with Priyanka Chopra on Anand's Anjaana Anjaani, a comedy-drama involving two strangers who decide to commit suicide on New Year's Eve. The film was a moderate financial success but garnered little praise from the critics. Rajeev Masand noted that Kapoor "struggles with a badly-defined role" and NDTV's Anupama Chopra concluded: "Ranbir tries hard to salvage the film, dropping his shirt several times but even his lovingly shot chest can't save the film."

=== Rise to prominence (2011–2013) === Following an item number in the children's film Chillar Party (2011), Kapoor took on the role of Janardhan "Jordan" Jakhar in Imtiaz Ali's Rockstar (2011), a drama that follows the journey of an aspiring musician from a humble background to international stardom. In preparation for the role, Kapoor lived with a Jat family in Pitam Pura and studied their mannerisms. He additionally learned to play the guitar and practised extensively at composer A.R. Rahman's music studio. As part of the film's promotional activity, Kapoor performed at a live concert in Mumbai. Film critics were polarised on their view of the film, but were unanimous in their praise for Kapoor; Aniruddha Guha of Daily News and Analysis was particularly impressed with the film and thought that Kapoor's portrayal was one of "Hindi cinema's most accomplished performances by a lead actor". For the role, he won both the Best Actor and Best Actor (Critics) trophies at the 57th Filmfare Awards ceremony, along with Best Actor awards at Screen and IIFA. With a gross revenue of ₹1.07 billion (US$11 million), Rockstar was one of the top-grossing Hindi films of the year.