Biography

Kunal Kapoor was trained for an acting career under Barry John and became a part of Motley, a theatre group run by Naseeruddin Shah. He began his career as an assistant director of Aks, which starred Manoj Bajpayee and in which Amitabh Bachchan played a major character role, but eventually moved on to be a movie actor. Kapoor made his movie debut as the male lead opposite Tabu in Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities (2006) which was helmed by legendary painter MF Hussain. His next film was the 'groundbreaking' Aamir Khan starrer Rang De Basanti (2006), which made him an overnight heartthrob, and Kapoor received a nomination in the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award category (2006). The film was successful both critically and commercially, and it was nominated in the Best Foreign Film category at the 2007 BAFTA Awards. Kapoor subsequently got signed by the prestigious Yash Raj Films (YRF) studio for a three-film contract. And appeared in films like Laaga Chunari Mein Daag (2007), Aaja Nachle (2007) and Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008). After this, Kapoor took a break for two years, and appeared next in Rahul Dholakia's Lamhaa (2010) starring Sanjay Dutt, the film didn't do well but Kunal received accolades for his performance as a young Kashmiri politician. That same year (2010), Kapoor voiced the Indian God Rama in Mahayoddha Rama, an animation film made by Raizada Rohit Jaising Vaid. In 2011, he appeared in the Shahrukh Khan starrer Don 2, where his performance was appreciated. Kapoor's projects also include a film by Anurag Kashyap, where he will play Doga, a popular superhero who features in Raj Comics. He will also appear in Chamkila, a biography of controversial Punjabi singer Amar Singh Chamkila for which he will begin filming in early 2013. He has endorsed popular brands like Thums Up, Indian Terrain, Ray-Ban, Mahindra Logan and Save the Children charity along with Gwyneth Paltrow. He is also a trained pilot and a rally car driver. In 2014, he started training for the Formula Three. He was also a co-founded the most popular crowdfunding platform called Ketto, which raises money for social causes.