Vicky Kaushal

Vicky Kaushal (born 16 May 1988) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films.

Kaushal was born on 16 May 1988 in a suburban chawl in Mumbai to Sham Kaushal, an action director in Indian films, and Veena Kaushal, a homemaker.

His younger brother, Sunny, is also an actor.

His family is Punjabi Hindu who hail originally from Hoshiarpur.

Kaushal has described himself as a "regular kid who was interested in studying, playing cricket and watching movies".

His father was keen on his son having a stable career away from show-business and thus, he graduated with an engineering degree in Electronics and Telecommunications from Mumbai's Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology in 2009.

During an industrial visit to an IT company in his graduation year, he realised that he had no real interest in an office job and began aspiring to have a career in film.

He studied acting at Kishore Namit Kapoor's academy while simultaneously participating in theatre with Manav Kaul's Aranya group and Naseeruddin Shah's Motley Productions; doing everything from backstage and announcements to stand-ins.

Kaushal would spend the next two years going for various kinds of auditions, but did not get any good opportunities.

His first attempt at acting was in a theatrical production titled Laal Pencil in 2011.

After graduating with an engineering degree from Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Kaushal began his career by assisting Anurag Kashyap in the crime drama Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) and played minor roles in films.

Kaushal started his career in films by working as an assistant director to Anurag Kashyap in the two-part crime drama Gangs of Wasseypur (2012).

Kaushal has described fond memories of working with Kashyap, whom he considers as his mentor.

He then played minor roles in Kashyap's productions Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana (2012) and Bombay Velvet (2015), and the short film Geek Out (2013).

His first leading role was in the independent drama Masaan (2015), following which he starred in Kashyap's psychological thriller Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016).

Kaushal's first leading role was in the independent drama Masaan (2015), directed by Neeraj Ghaywan.

Kaushal and Ghaywan were both assistants on Gangs of Wasseypur, and he was cast through an audition after Rajkummar Rao backed out.

To play a young man from a low socio-economic class yearning for a better life, Kaushal spent time in Benaras, where the film is set, and observed the mannerisms of local men.

The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard segment at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, where it won two awards, including the FIPRESCI Prize.

Masaan earned critical acclaim and The New York Times considered it to be a leading example of increased realism in Indian cinema.

Nikhil Taneja of HuffPost termed Kaushal's performance "poignant and memorable" and Anuj Kumar of The Hindu wrote that "he effortlessly conveys both the inferiority complex and the attitude of breaking through the caste cauldron".

His performance won him the IIFA and Screen Award for Best Male Debut, and a nomination for the Asian Film Award for Best Newcomer, among other accolades.

Zubaan, which Kaushal had filmed before Masaan, was screened at the 2015 Busan International Film Festival.

His role was that of a grieving man who starts stammering after the suicide of his father.

He worked with a speech therapist to learn stammering patterns and spent time with some of the doctor's patients.

After completing work on the film, Kaushal found it difficult to distance from the character and began to stammer in real life.

His performance led Justin Chang of Variety to label him a "charismatic, naturally engaging talent".

In Kashyap's psychological thriller Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016), Kaushal played a chain-smoking, drug-addicted police officer in pursuit of a serial killer portrayed by Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

The troubled and unbalanced character had little in common with Kaushal's own personality, and to convince Kashyap to cast him, he lived in isolation for five days and kept repeating lines from the script.

He also severely dehydrated himself and smoked heavily, impacting his health.

Kaushal chose the role because he was eager to avoid typecasting from his first two films.

The film premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, in the Directors' Fortnight section to a positive response.

Writing for Rediff.com, Aseem Chhabra found Kaushal's performance "brave" and "surprising".

Kaushal gained wider recognition in 2018 with supporting roles in the top-grossing dramas Raazi and Sanju, winning the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for the latter.

He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards, and has appeared in Forbes India Celebrity 100 list of 2019.

A starring role as a military officer in the 2019 war film Uri: The Surgical Strike established Kaushal as a leading actor and won him the National Film Award for Best Actor.

He earned further praise for his portrayal of Udham Singh in the biopic Sardar Udham (2021), winning the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor, and had commercial success in the romantic comedy Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, the biopic Sam Bahadur and the comedy-drama Dunki (all 2023).

The last of these won him another Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.

In addition to his acting career, Kaushal endorses several brands and products, and has co-hosted and performed at award ceremonies.

He is married to actress Katrina Kaif.