Shraddha Kapoor

Shraddha Kapoor born 3 March 1987 is an Indian actress and singer who works in Hindi-language films. She has been featured in listings of the most popular and the highest-paid actresses in India and is one of the most followed Indian actresses on Instagram. She has been featured in Forbes India‘s Celebrity 100 list since 2014 and was featured by Forbes Asia in their 30 Under 30 list of 2016.

The daughter of actor Shakti Kapoor, she began her acting career with a brief role in the 2010 heist film Teen Patti, and followed it with her first leading role in the teen drama Luv Ka The End (2011). Kapoor gained wide recognition for playing a singer in the commercially successful romantic drama Aashiqui 2 (2013), for which she received a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. The following year, she portrayed a character based on Ophelia in Vishal Bhardwaj’s critically acclaimed drama Haider (2014), an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet. Kapoor established herself with starring roles in the romantic thriller Ek Villain (2014), the dance drama ABCD 2 (2015) and the action drama Baaghi (2016). Following a series of poorly received films, her highest-grossing releases came with the comedy horror Stree (2018), the action thriller Saaho (2019), and the comedy-drama Chhichhore (2019).

In addition to acting in films, Kapoor has sung several of her film songs. She is the celebrity endorser for several brands and products, and in 2015, she launched her own line of clothing.

Early life and background

Kapoor was born and raised in Mumbai. On her father’s side, Kapoor is of Punjabi descent, and on her mother’s side, she is of Marathi and Konkani ancestry. Her maternal grandfather Pandharinath Kolhapure, (the nephew of Deenanath Mangeshkar) belonged from Kolhapur and her maternal grandmother hailed from Panaji, Goa. In an interview with The Hindustan Times, Kapoor revealed that, she was raised as a Marathi as her maternal relatives lived in Maharashtra. She has said that she went through a tomboyish phase as a child and described herself as having a strong attitude, because of which she was deliberately picking fights with boys.

Kapoor’s family members include her father Shakti Kapoor and mother Shivangi Kapoor, her elder brother Siddhanth Kapoor, her two aunts Padmini Kolhapure and Tejaswini Kolhapure are all actors in Indian Cinema. She is the great-niece of Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Meena Khadikar, Usha Mangeshkar and Hridaynath Mangeshkar. Hailing from a family of actors, Kapoor desired to become an actress since a young age. Wearing her parent’s clothes, she used to rehearse film dialogues and dance to Bollywood songs in front of the mirror. She also accompanied her father to various shooting locations in her childhood. During one of David Dhawan’s shoots, Kapoor befriended actor Varun Dhawan, to play with him, and they were holding a torch pretending it to be a camera while delivering film lines to each other, and they were also dancing to Govinda’s film songs.

Kapoor did her schooling at Jamnabai Narsee School and at the age of 15, she shifted to the American School of Bombay, where she was schoolmate with actress Athiya Shetty and actor Tiger Shroff. In an interview with The Times of India, Shetty revealed that they all used to participate in dance competitions. Believing herself to be competitive at the age of 17, Kapoor played soccer and handball as she thought these games were challenging. When interviewed by The Hindustan Times in 2016, both Kapoor and Shroff admitted that they had a crush on each other in school, but never proposed to each other.

Kapoor then enrolled in Boston University to major in psychology, but she left in her freshman year to appear in her debut film after she was seen on Facebook by producer Ambika Hinduja, who cast her for a role in Teen Patti. In an interview with the Filmfare magazine, Shakti Kapoor revealed that Kapoor was barely 16 years old when she was offered her first film by Salman Khan, after he saw one of her school play performances, but she rejected the proposal as she was aspiring to become a psychologist. Kapoor was trained as a singer since her childhood as her maternal grandfather and mother are classical singers.

Career

Acting debut, struggles and breakthrough (2010–2016)

Kapoor made her acting debut in the 2010 drama Teen Patti, alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Ben Kingsley and R. Madhavan. She played the role of a college girl. The film received generally negative reviews, though her performance was better received. Preeti Arora, writing for Rediff.com stated that: “hough a bit raw, she has a lot of potential.” Nikhat Kazmi reviewed: “Shraddha Kapoor makes an interesting debut as the edgy youngster who sheds her specs for sleaze, with alacrity.” Kapoor was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut, but the film failed to do well at the box office. After her debut, she signed a three-film deal with Yash Raj Films and featured in their 2011 teen comedy Luv Ka The End, with Taaha Shah. Kapoor portrayed the lead role of a teenage student who plots against her boyfriend after he cheats on her. The film underperformed at the box office and received mixed reviews from critics. However, Kapoor’s performance received a positive critical reception. Taran Adarsh wrote: “Shraddha is a revelation, catching you unaware with a confident performance. She’s electrifying in the sequence when she breaks down after getting to know the true intentions of her lover.” For her performance, Kapoor received the Stardust Searchlight Award for Best Actress. Kapoor was subsequently offered the lead female role in Aurangzeb as a part of her deal with Yash Raj Films. However, she signed on to Vishesh Films’ Aashiqui 2 instead, thereby cancelling the three-film contract with Yash Raj Films.

In 2013, Kapoor found her breakthrough role in Mohit Suri’s romantic musical drama Aashiqui 2, the sequel to the 1990 film Aashiqui. She was cast as Aarohi Keshav Shirke, a small-town bar singer who becomes a successful playback artist with the help of a popular male singer (played by Aditya Roy Kapur). The film was a major box office success with a global revenue of ₹1.09 billion (US$15 million). Film critic Anupama Chopra called Kapoor a “real triumph” and added that her “porcelain face has a haunting vulnerability.” However, Vinayak Chakravorty of India Today wrote that she “looks pretty fails to add spark.” Kapoor received several nominations in the Best Actress category, including one at the Filmfare Awards. That year, she also appeared in a guest appearance for the romantic comedy Gori Tere Pyaar Mein, playing the fiancée of Imran Khan’s character.

Kapoor next reunited with Suri for the thriller Ek Villain (2014), for which she also sang the song “Galliyan”. The film tells the story of a hardened criminal (played by Sidharth Malhotra) whose terminally ill wife (played by Kapoor) is brutally murdered by a serial killer. The film was generally perceived to be plagiarised from the Korean film I Saw the Devil, although Suri claimed that it was an original film. In her review, Raedita Tandon of Filmfare called the film a “gritty, engaging thriller”, and stated that Kapoor was a revelation in it. The film eventually emerged as a major commercial success with domestic revenues of over ₹1 billion (US$14 million). Her second release that year was Vishal Bhardwaj’s critically acclaimed drama Haider, an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, set during the Kashmir conflict of 1995. She played the Ophelia-based character, a journalist named Arshia, opposite Shahid Kapoor and Tabu. Writing for Deccan Chronicle, critic Kusumita Das praised Kapoor’s effort in capturing the varied nuances of her character and noted that her portrayal was “surprisingly composed”. Also that year, Kapoor performed an item number in the Karan Johar-produced thriller Ungli.

In 2015, Kapoor starred in a sequel to the dance film ABCD: Any Body Can Dance, entitled ABCD 2, she portrayed the role of a hip-hop dancer who competed in an international hip-hop competition alongside her childhood friend Suresh Mukund (essayed by Varun Dhawan). In preparation for her role, she learned different genres of dance form from choreographers Prabhudeva and Remo D’Souza. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, the film earned ₹1.57 billion (US$22 million) worldwide to become her most widely seen film to that point.

Kapoor began 2016 by featuring as star Tiger Shroff’s love interest in the action drama Baaghi, about a pair of rebellious lovers set against the backdrop of a martial arts school. The role required her to practice Kalaripayattu (a martial art originating in the south of India). Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express considered her character in it to be dated, but thought that she played the romantic and action sequences “well enough”. Commercially, the film performed well and collected a total of ₹1.26 billion (US$18 million).

Commercial struggles (2016-2017)

Kapoor’s final release in 2016 was the rock musical drama Rock On 2, a sequel to 2008’s Rock On!!. She was cast alongside Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal and Prachi Desai. She played the role of Jiah Sharma, an introverted singer and keyboard player, who suffers a neglectful relationship with her father. To prepare, she spent time reading books in isolation and undertook vocal training under the singer Samantha Edwards. Namrata Joshi of The Hindu disliked the film and considered Kapoor’s performance “self-consciously meek and submissive”. Rock On 2 did not recoup its ₹450 million (US$6.3 million) investment. In 2017, Kapoor starred in Shaad Ali’s romantic drama Ok Jaanu, reuniting with Aditya Roy Kapur. A remake of Mani Ratnam’s Tamil romantic drama O Kadhal Kanmani, the film was produced by Karan Johar under the banner of Dharma Productions. Kapoor next appeared in the romance Half Girlfriend, in which she was paired opposite Arjun Kapoor. It was based on Chetan Bhagat’s novel of the same name, and reunited her with director Mohit Suri. In a review of the latter film, Raja Sen of NDTV considered it to be a “preposterously dimwitted romance” and criticised Kapoor as “shrill and insubstantial”. Later in 2017, Kapoor appeared in Apoorva Lakhia’s Haseena Parkar, a biopic of terrorist Dawood Ibrahim’s sister, who ran a crime ring of her own. Kapoor played the titular role, alongside her brother Siddhanth Kapoor, who essayed Ibrahim’s character. The film met with negative reviews; Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost considered Kapoor’s performance to be as “bland as the screenplay”, adding that “she tries to appear mature and menacing, but the effort shows too much”. None of her 2017 releases performed well at the box office.

Establishing herself as a leading actress (2018-2020)

Kapoor next starred opposite Rajkummar Rao in the comedy horror film Stree (2018). Based on the Nale Ba legend, the film featured her as a mysterious, unnamed woman who falls in love with Rao’s character. The critic Saibal Chatterjee took note of the film’s feminist subtext and found Kapoor to be “suitably icy as the enigmatic woman”. Rajeev Masand opined that she “blends in nicely as the alluring out-of-towner with an air of mystery around her”. With gross earnings of over ₹1.7 billion (US$24 million), Stree emerged as her highest-grossing release to that point. In the same year, Kapoor reteamed with Shahid Kapoor in Batti Gul Meter Chalu, a social problem film about electricity issues in rural India. She agreed to the project due to the social message she found in the script. Filming was marred with dispute when the studio KriArj Entertainment failed to remunerate the crew. Following a brief hiatus, production resumed after Bhushan Kumar took over the project. Writing for India Today, Charu Thakur noted that Kapoor “needs to go a long way as far as her acting skills are concerned”.

Kapoor was committed to star in a biopic of badminton player Saina Nehwal, directed by Amole Gupte, but after filming for a few days she opted out of the project citing a scheduling conflict. She began 2019 by playing the leading lady opposite Prabhas in Sujeeth’s trilingual action film Saaho. Budgeted at ₹3.5 billion (US$49 million), it is one of the most expensive Indian films produced. In a scathing review for Mid Day, Mayank Shekhar dismissed her part as “rather pale and pointless”. The Tamil and Telugu versions of the film did not perform well but its Hindi version was a commercial success. Her next film release was Nitesh Tiwari’s Chhichhore, a comedy-drama about college life, co-starring Sushant Singh Rajput. Udita Jhunjhunwala of Mint labelled it a “lively homage to hostel life” and added that “in spite of a sketchy role, Kapoor delivers a moving and likeable performance”. With a worldwide gross of over ₹2 billion (US$28 million), the film emerged as one of her most successful.

Kapoor began the new decade by reuniting with Dhawan in the dance film Street Dancer 3D (2020), which Namrata Joshi termed a “compilation of indistinguishable performances”. It did not perform well commercially. She then reteamed with Shroff in the spiritual sequel Baaghi 3. It underperformed commercially as theatres were shut due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She will next star opposite Ranbir Kapoor in Luv Ranjan’s as-yet untitled project.

Other work and media image

In addition to acting in films, Kapoor has supported charitable organisations, performed for stage shows and sang in her films. She has also ramp walked in the Lakme Fashion Week for various fashion designers and has been the cover model for several magazines. Kapoor is the brand ambassador of several products, including Lakmé, Veet, Lipton, Marico’s Hair & Care and many others. Bollywood Hungama named her “one of the most wanted names” in the advertising industry. Later, in March 2015, she launched her own line of clothing for women, named Imara, in association with Amazon.com.

Kapoor has established herself as one of the most popular celebrities in India. In 2013, a poll conducted by the Indian edition of FHM ranked her fifth in their listing of the world’s sexiest actresses. In 2014, she was placed at the sixth position and the following year she was placed at the second position in McAfee’s most searched celebrities poll. Google Trends also noted that Kapoor is one of the most searched Indian actresses between 2014 and 2015. Rediff.com placed her in their listing of the top 10 Bollywood actresses in 2014. Kapoor was placed seventh on The Times of India‘s listing of the Most Desirable Women in 2014 and 2015. In 2015, the Indian edition of the International Business Times press positioned her fourth among the top actresses and Rediff.com featured her among the top earners.

In 2016, Forbes magazine featured her as one of the most successful Asians under the age of 30 and the previous year, the Indian edition of the magazine featured her in their annual Celebrity 100 list with a total earning of US$1.3 million per year. The same year, she became the third most followed Indian actress on Instagram with a total number of over 10 million followers. Kapoor has also gained recognition for her dressing sense. Various media outlets have praised her sense of style, and has been considered for ramp walks by several fashion designers. In 2016, she was featured among the highest paid actresses of Bollywood with a total earning of ₹50 million (US$700,000) per film. In 2018, Eastern Eye featured her as one of the eight sexiest women in Bollywood. In 2020, Kapoor became the third most followed Indian celebrity on Instagram and she was named the Hottest Vegetarian by Peta India.

Filmography

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2010	Teen Patti	Aparna Khanna
2011	Luv Ka The End	Rhea Dialdas
2013	Aashiqui 2	Arohi Keshav Shirke
2013	Gori Tere Pyaar Mein	Vasudha	Special appearance
2014	Ek Villain	Aisha Verma
2014	Haider	Arshia Lone
2014	Ungli	Basanti	Special appearance in song “Dance Basanti”
2015	ABCD 2	Vinnie
2016	Baaghi	Sia
2016	A Flying Jatt	Herself	Cameo appearance
2016	Rock On 2	Jiah Sharma
2017	Ok Jaanu	Tara Agnihotri
2017	Half Girlfriend	Riya Somani
2017	Haseena Parkar	Haseena Parkar
2018	Nawabzaade	Herself	Special appearance in song “High Rated Gabru”
2018	Stree	Unnamed
2018	Batti Gul Meter Chalu	Lalita “Nauti” Nautiyal
2019	Saaho	Amritha Nair	Trilingual film (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu)
2019	Chhichhore	Maya
2020	Street Dancer 3D	Inayat
2020	Baaghi 3	Sia

Discography

Year	Track	Album	Ref(s)
2014	“Galliyan”	Ek Villain
2014	“Do Jahaan”	Haider
2015	“Bezubaan Phir Se”	ABCD 2
2016	“Sab Tera”	Baaghi
2016	“Tere Mere Dil”	Rock On 2
2016	“Udja Re”
2016	“Woh Jahaan”
2016	“Rock On-Revisited”
2017	“Phir Bhi Tumko Chaahungi”	Half Girlfriend

Awards and nominations

Year	Film	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2011	Teen Patti	Filmfare Awards	Best Female Debut	Nominated
2013	Aashiqui 2	BIG Star Entertainment Awards	Best Romantic Couple	Won
			Most Entertaining Film Actor – Female	Nominated
			Most Entertaining Actor in a Romantic Role – Female	Nominated
2014		Screen Awards	Best Actress	Nominated
			Best Actress (Popular Choice)	Nominated
			Jodi No. 1 (along with Aditya Roy Kapur)	Won
		Star Guild Awards	Jodi of the Year (along with Aditya Roy Kapur)	Won
		Filmfare Awards	Best Actress	Nominated
		Zee Cine Awards	Best Actor – Female	Nominated
	Gori Tere Pyaar Mein		Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female)	Nominated
2015	Haider	Mirchi Music Awards	Upcoming Female Vocalist of the Year (for Do Jahaan)	Nominated
		Screen Awards	Best Ensemble Cast(along with Shahid Kapoor	Nominated
		Stardust Awards	Best Actress in a Drama	Nominated
			Superstar of Tomorrow – Female	Nominated
		BIG Star Entertainment Awards	Most Entertaining Actor in a Romantic Film – Female	Nominated
	Ek Villain		Most Entertaining Actor (Film) – Female	Nominated
			Most Entertaining Actor in a Thriller Film – Female	Nominated
		Global Indian Music Academy Awards	Best Celebrity Singer of the Year	Won
			Best Music Debut	Nominated
		Screen Awards	Best Actor Popular (Female)	Nominated
		Mirchi Music Awards	Upcoming Female Vocalist of the Year (for Galliyan)	Nominated
2016	ABCD 2		Upcoming Female Vocalist of the Year (for Bezubaan Phir Se)	Nominated
		International Indian Film Academy Awards	Best Actress	Nominated
2019	Chhichhore	Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards India	Favorite Movie Actress	Won
2020		Zee Cine Awards	Best Actor – Female	Nominated