Sidharth Malhotra (; born (16 January 1985) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He began his career in Bollywood as an assistant director to Karan Johar for Dharma Productions My Name Is Khan, released in 2010. Sidharth credits his passion for filmmaking and subsequent aspirations to be an actor to this movie project. An aspiring actor from Delhi, Sidharth Malhotra auditioned for the coming-of-age romantic teen drama Student Of The Year in 2012, produced by Karan Johar.
Sidharth Malhotra subsequently appeared in several commercially successful films such as the romantic comedy Hasee Toh Phasee (2014), the thriller Ek Villain (2014), and the drama Kapoor & Sons (2016). He received critical acclaim for his portrayal of the Late Captain Vikram Batra in the patriotic war drama Shershaah (2021), which also earned him several prestigious awards for his acting process. Sidharth Malhotra earned critical acclaim for his portrayal of a RAW agent in the 2023 film, Mission Majnu. He married his co-star in the film, Kiara Advani, in 2023.
Career
Debut and breakthrough (2012–2016)
Sidharth Malhotra started his career as an assistant director to Karan Johar on the 2010 film My Name Is Khan. In 2012, he made his film debut with Johar's teen drama Student of the Year alongside newcomers Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt. He was cast as Abhimanyu Singh, a scholarship student, who competes with his wealthy best friends to win an annual school championship. Film critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN considered his performance to be "earnest", adding that he had "a pleasing presence." Student of the Year was a financial success, grossing ₹1.09 billion (US$14 million) worldwide.
Malhotra promoting Hasee Toh Phasee in 2014
Sidharth Malhotra starred opposite Parineeti Chopra in the 2014 romantic comedy Hasee Toh Phasee, which tells the love story of a scientist and an under-confident aspiring businessman. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV praised his screen presence and compared it to the early work of Amitabh Bachchan. The film performed moderately well at the box office, with global revenues of ₹620 million (US$7.8 million). In the Mohit Suri-directed romantic thriller Ek Villain, he played Guru Divekar, a hardened criminal whose terminally-ill wife (played by Shraddha Kapoor) is murdered by a serial killer (played by Riteish Deshmukh). Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express reviewed his performance as "watchable even if he has a hard time doing menace — he just seems so nice and wholesome all the time, even when he is crunching bones." The film became a commercial success with worldwide revenues of over ₹1.7 billion (US$21 million). The box office performance of the film established him as one of the most promising new actors of Hindi cinema.
Malhotra next appeared in a 2015 remake of the 2011 American film Warrior, titled Brothers, directed by Karan Malhotra and co-starring Akshay Kumar. The film received positive reviews and went on to be the third-best opening of the year. Malhotra's next release, the Shakun Batra-directed family drama Kapoor & Sons, proved to be a critical and commercial success, grossing ₹ 1.53 billion worldwide. Featuring an ensemble cast including Fawad Khan, and Alia Bhatt, the film tells the story of two brothers of contrasting personalities (Malhotra and Khan) who return home to their dysfunctional family after their grandfather suffers from a cardiac arrest. Namrata Joshi of The Hindu wrote that "he holds his own with his solid presence and vulnerable glances".
Post-breakthrough (2016–2020)
Malhotra followed the success of Kapoor & Sons with a starring role in the romantic comedy Baar Baar Dekho alongside Katrina Kaif, playing a time-travelling mathematician. Directed by Nitya Mehra, the film was poorly received. Later in 2017, he starred in dual roles for the first time in the action comedy A Gentleman with Jacqueline Fernandez from the writer-director duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K., which was produced by Fox Star Studios; although highly anticipated, it opened to a poor reception. Both films were box-office bombs.
Malhotra with his co-star Jacqueline Fernandez at a promotional event for their film A Gentleman in 2017
In a 2017 remake of the 1969 mystery film Ittefaq, Malhotra starred opposite Sonakshi Sinha. Released in 2017, the was positively received by critics. Neeraj Pandey's Aiyaary (2018) featured Malhotra along with Manoj Bajpayee and Rakul Preet Singh. The film opened on a note of ₹ 30 Million and collected ₹ 183.1 million. The Times of India, in a positive review by film critic Neil Soans, said that, "He (Sidharth Malhotra) brings a methodical calm and collected demeanor to Jai Bakshi and is suitably convincing as a soldier whose skills put him one step ahead of his superiors."
In 2019, Sidharth Malhotra went on to star in two movies. He first starred in the romantic-comedy Jabariya Jodi, his second collaboration with Parineeti Chopra. His second appearance was in Milap Milan Zaveri's action film Marjaavaan, co-starring Ritesh Deshmukh and Tara Sutaria.
Shershaah and beyond (2021–present)
In 2021, Malhotra had a lead role in the biographical war film Shershaah, based on the life of the Indian army officer Vikram Batra. After several delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film premiered on Amazon Prime Video. It received fairly positive reviews from critics and went on to earn critical acclaim. Praise was directed at Malhotra's performance in particular, with Saibal Chatterjee writing that he "has what it takes to flesh out a real-life martyr who has left behind a larger-than-life aura". Shershaah was the most-watched film on Prime Video in India at the time of its release.
Malhotra's sole film release of 2022 was the fantasy comedy Thank God, co-starring Ajay Devgn. The following year, he played an Indian spy stationed in Pakistan before the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 in the thriller Mission Majnu. Following several delays from its planned theatrical release, the film was ultimately released on Netflix. Monika Rawal Kukreja of Hindustan Times compared it unfavourably to Shershaah and stated that Malhotra was let down by the script despite being in "top form, with a charming onscreen presence".
Malhotra will next star in the action film Yodha, and in Indian Police Force, a web series for Amazon Prime Video from director Rohit Shetty.
Other work
In 2013, Malhotra collaborated with PETA for a campaign to spread awareness about dogs sterilization. Later that year, he participated in a stage show in Hong Kong alongside Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt and performed at a charity event with Dhawan, Bhatt, Aditya Roy Kapur, Shraddha Kapoor and Huma Qureshi to raise funds for the flood-affected victims of Uttarakhand. In August 2016, he performed in various cities of America for the "Dream Team 2016" tour, alongside Karan Johar, the actors Dhawan, Bhatt, Roy Kapur, Katrina Kaif, Parineeti Chopra, and the singer Badshah.
Personal life
Malhotra with wife Kiara Advani at their wedding reception in Mumbai
Sidharth Malhotra was born and raised in Delhi, India into a Punjabi Hindu family, to Sunil Malhotra, a former captain in the Merchant Navy, and Rimma Malhotra, a homemaker. He was schooled at Delhi's Don Bosco School and Naval Public School, and graduated from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, University of Delhi. Rumours of him dating actress Kiara Advani began in 2020, but he did not publicly speak about the relationship. On 7 February 2023, they married in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan in a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony. Their wedding received widespread media attention, resulting in their official wedding pictures being the most liked Instagram post in India till date.
