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 an Asiavision Award.
Kapoor started his career as an assistant director, and made his acting debut with the 2004 film Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities. 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 long hiatus, Kapoor earned critical praises for his portrayal of Babur, in The Empire (2021).
The actor will be seen next in the magnum opus Ramayan along with Ranbir Kapoor and Sai Pallavi. Next he will be seen in the Sidharth Anand Netflix film Jewel thief co starring Saif Ali Khan. He has finished a film for Aamir khan productions which will release in 2025. And will also make his Telugu debut in Vishwambara The film slated to be one of the most expensive Telugu films will see him joining forces with Chiranjeevi. He will also star in an action series to be shot in Lucknow, which he has co written. He has started a writers room to create scripts he wants to act in and produce.
Along with his acting career, Kapoor is a writer, entrepreneur and co-founder of Ketto, Asia’s largest crowdfunding platform. The platform has raised over 150 million dollars for social and medical causes. Kapoor is married to Naina Bachchan, with whom he has a son.
The actor is also a trained pilot and races rally and formula 3 cars. He is also prolific angel investor, having invested in several future tech companies.
Early life
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.
Career
Debut and breakthrough (2004-2011)
Kapoor trained for an acting career under Barry John, and became a part of Motley, a theatre group run by acting legend Naseeruddin Shah. He began his career as an assistant director of Aks,[1] 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."[2]
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.[7] Kapoor reunited with Sen Sharma in Aaja Nachle, where he played Imran, a ring master who is forced to play Manju in a play.[8]Khalid Mohammed from Hindustan Times found him a bit "confused".[9]
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".[12] 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.[13]Bollywood Hungama found Kapoor to be "decent" but thought that he doesn't really get the scenes to prove his credentials.[14]
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.[15]Live Mint's Sanjukta Sharma stated, "Kapoor is not the cynosure, but he pulls off the silliness and sensitivity of Omi’s character capably."[16] Post a two year hiatus, Kapoor appeared in Kaun Kitne Paani Mein, in 2015. He played Raj, an upper caste boy alongside Radhika Apte.[17] Renuka Vyavahare of Times of India found him to be "aptly cast", but his love story with Apte was termed to "digresses from the core subject".[18]
In 2016, Kapoor played Raghuvendra, a film producer opposite Alia Bhatt in Dear Zindagi. It emerged as a commercial success.[19] Sweta Kaushal of Hindustan Times noted, "Kunal Kapoor, gets an edge among the youngsters and essays his part with finesse."[20] That same year, Kapoor voiced for Rama in Mahayoddha Rama, an animation film by Raizada Rohit Jaising Vaid.[21] In her final work of the year, Kapoor appeared in the trilingual film, Veeram, directed by Jayaraj. He played a sixteenth century warrior Chandu Chekavar, in his Malayalam debut.[22] His performance won him an Asiavision Award. G. Ragesh of Onmanorama praised his "exceptional skills in kalari" and said that Kapoor "looks every bit" the masculine Chandu.[23]
Kapoor played a hockey player, Samrat in his first release of 2018, Gold. The film is based on the journey of India's national hockey team to the 1948 Summer Olympics.[25] It was a critical and commercial success.[26] Devesh Sharma of Filmfare noted, "Kunal Kapoor as the strict coach lend gravitas."[27] Kapoor played David in his Telugu debut, Devadas, another major box office success that earned him SIIMA Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role – Telugu nomination.[28] His final release that year was the English film Noblemen, where he played Murali, a drama teacher.[29] Sreeparna Sengupta of Times of India found him to be "charming and effective".[30]
Recent work and web expansion (2021-present)
Kapoor returned to films in 2021. His first release was Koi Jaane Na, opposite Amyra Dastur, where he played Kabir, a writer and vigilante.[31] Aditya Mani Jha of Firstpost found his performance "underwhelming".[32] Kapoor then made his web debut, playing Mughal emperor Babur opposite Sahher Bambba, who played his wife, in The Empire.[33] Vibha Maru of India Today praised Kapoor and noted, "The actor breathes life into the character of Babur. Instead of making him a larger-than-life figure, Kunal shows Babur's vulnerability and everything else that makes him human."[34] While Pradeep Menon of Firstpost added, "Kunal cuts an impressive figure as Babur, but he is caricatures at the end of the day."[35]Netflix's anthology Ankahi Kahaniya, marked his final work of the year. The Quint's Stutee Ghosh noted, "The film is quite bizzare, though, Kunal Kapoor is effortlessly charming and one sure wants to see more of him."[36]
Personal life
A year after getting engaged, Kapoor married Naina Bachchan, niece of Amitabh Bachchan in a private family ceremony in Seychelles on 9 February 2015.[37] A celebration dinner was held on 11 April 2015 in New Delhi. Bachchan is a banker by profession.[38][39] The couple announced the birth of their baby boy on 31 January 2022.[40]
Other work and media image
Kapoor in 2015
Filmfare termed Kapoor an "interesting actor" and added, "Kapoor may not feature in many films, but there is something about him that makes the audience sit back and take notice of him."[41]
In 2009, Kapoor started writing weekly columns for HT City, the lifestyle supplement of the Hindustan Times. These columns ended in November 2009 but still appear online on the social network Desimartini.[42]
He is a trained pilot and rally car driver.[43][44] In 2014, he started training for the Formula Three. He co-founded Asia's largest crowdfunding platform called Ketto,[45] which raises money for social and individual causes. To date, the platform has raised close to 120 million dollars and is one of the largest crowdfunding platforms in the world. He is also known to be an avid investor in early stage tech companies with investments ranging from FMCG companies to robotics [citation needed]
He is also known for his style and has been voted amongst the most stylish men in the country. He was on GQ's list of the top ten stylish men in the country.
