Sidharth Malhotra (born 16 January 1985) is an Indian actor who works primarily in Hindi films. He began his career as a fashion model before switching to acting. He began his career in television before working with director Karan Johar on the 2010 film My Name Is Khan. In Johar's teen film Student of the Year, he played his first lead role (2012).
Malhotra later appeared in commercially successful films such as the romantic comedy Hasee Toh Phasee (2014), the thriller Ek Villain (2014), and the drama Kapoor & Sons (2015). (2016). Following a career slump, he received critical acclaim for his role as Vikram Batra in the war film Shershaah (2021), for which he was nominated for a Filmfare Award for Best Actor. In 2023, he married his co-star in the film, Kiara Advani.
Childhood and family
Malhotra was born and raised in Delhi, India, into a Punjabi Hindu family, the son of Sunil Malhotra, a former Merchant Navy captain, and Rimma Malhotra, a homemaker. He attended Don Bosco School in Delhi and Naval Public School before graduating from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College at the University of Delhi. He began modeling at the age of 18. Despite his success, he decided to leave after four years because he was dissatisfied with his job.
Career
First appearance and breakthrough (2012–2016)
Malhotra's first acting role was in the 2009 television series Dharti Ka Veer Yodha Prithviraj Chauhan, in which he played the minor character Jaichand. In order to further his acting career, he successfully auditioned for a film directed by Anubhav Sinha. However, the film was canceled, and he went on to work as an assistant director on Karan Johar's 2010 film My Name Is Khan. He made his film debut in 2012, alongside newcomers Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt, in Karan Johar's teen drama Student of the Year. He played Abhimanyu Singh, a scholarship student who competes against his wealthy best friends in an annual school championship. According to CNN-IBN film critic Rajeev Masand, his performance was "earnest," and he had "a pleasing presence." Student of the Year was a financial success, grossing $1.09 billion (US$14 million) worldwide.
Malhotra returned to the big screen after a year away, starring alongside Parineeti Chopra in the 2014 romantic comedy Hasee Toh Phasee, which tells the love story of a scientist and an insecure aspiring businessman. NDTV's Saibal Chatterjee praised his screen presence, comparing it to Amitabh Bachchan's early work. The film did moderately well at the box office, grossing 620 million (US$7.8 million) worldwide. He played Guru Divekar, a hardened criminal whose terminally ill wife (played by Shraddha Kapoor) is murdered by a serial killer in the Mohit Suri-directed romantic thriller Ek Villain (played by Riteish Deshmukh). The Indian Express' Shubhra Gupta described 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 was a commercial success, grossing over 1.7 billion (US$21 million) worldwide. The film's box office success established him as one of the most promising new actors in Hindi cinema.
Malhotra then starred in Brothers, a 2015 remake of the 2011 American film Warrior directed by Karan Malhotra and co-starring Akshay Kumar. The film received mixed reviews and performed poorly at the box office. Malhotra's next film, the family drama Kapoor & Sons, directed by Shakun Batra, was a critical and commercial success, grossing 1.53 billion worldwide. The film, which stars Fawad Khan and Alia Bhatt, tells the story of two brothers with opposing personalities (Malhotra and Khan) who return home to their dysfunctional family after their grandfather suffers a cardiac arrest. Malhotra was overshadowed by Khan in the film, according to an India Today reviewer, but The Hindu's Namrata Joshi wrote that "he holds his own with his solid presence and vulnerable glances."
Career ups and downs (2016–2020)
Following the success of Kapoor & Sons, Malhotra starred alongside Katrina Kaif in the romantic comedy Baar Baar Dekho as a time-traveling mathematician. The film, directed by Nitya Mehra, was met with critical acclaim. Later that year, he co-starred in the action comedy A Gentleman with Jacqueline Fernandez from writer-director duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K., which was produced by Fox Star Studios; despite being highly anticipated, it received a lukewarm reception. Both films were flops at the box office.
Malhotra co-starred with Sonakshi Sinha in a 2017 remake of the 1969 mystery film Ittefaq. The film, which was released in 2017, was well received by critics but bombed at the box office, earning only $500 million in total. Malhotra appeared in Neeraj Pandey's Aiyaary (2018) alongside Manoj Bajpayee and Rakul Preet Singh. The film debuted at 30 million and grossed 183.1 million dollars. In a negative review, Bollywood Hungama stated, "On the whole, Aiyaary misses the mark and is a huge letdown due to its flawed script and the lengthy run time."
Malhotra's two 2019 releases were critically panned and deemed box office failures. His second collaboration with Parineeti Chopra was the romantic comedy Jabariya Jodi. The film received negative reviews and was deemed a flop. His second appearance was in Ritesh Deshmukh and Tara Sutaria's action film Marjaavaan, directed by Milap Milan Zaveri.
Shershaah and further afield (2021–present)
Malhotra starred in the biographical war film Shershaah, based on the life of Indian army officer Vikram Batra, in 2021. The film premiered on Amazon Prime Video after several delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Critics had mixed feelings about it. Malhotra's performance in particular received praise, 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." At the time of its release, Shershaah was the most-watched film on Prime Video in India.
The fantasy comedy Thank God, co-starring Ajay Devgn, was Malhotra's sole film release in 2022, and it failed commercially. In the thriller Mission Majnu the following year, he played an Indian spy stationed in Pakistan prior to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The film was eventually released on Netflix after several delays from its planned theatrical release. The Hindustan Times' Monika Rawal Kukreja compared it to Shershaah and stated that Malhotra was let down by the script despite being in "top form, with a charming onscreen presence."
Malhotra's next projects include the action film Yodha and Indian Police Force, a web series for Amazon Prime Video directed by Rohit Shetty.
Other assignments
Malhotra collaborated with PETA in 2013 on a campaign to raise awareness about dog sterilisation. Later that year, he appeared in a stage show in Hong Kong with Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt, as well as a charity event with Dhawan, Bhatt, Aditya Roy Kapur, Shraddha Kapoor, and Huma Qureshi to raise funds for Uttarakhand flood victims. In August 2016, he joined Karan Johar, the actors Dhawan, Bhatt, Roy Kapur, Katrina Kaif, Parineeti Chopra, and the singer Badshah on the "Dream Team 2016" tour in various cities across America.
Private life
Malhotra was rumored to be dating actress Alia Bhatt in the late 2010s. He confirmed the relationship after they had broken up in 2019. Rumors of him dating actress Kiara Advani first surfaced in 2020, but he has yet to publicly address the relationship. They married on February 7, 2023, in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, in a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony. Their wedding received widespread media coverage, and their official wedding photos became the most liked Instagram post in India to date.
In the news
• 2014: #11 on the Times of India's list of the Most Desirable Men of 2013.
• 2013: #12 on the list of the Times of India's Most Desirable Men of 2012.
• 2013: The Times of India Hotlist Most Promising Newcomer
• 2013: The Times of India's 50 Handsome Hunks in Indian Cinema: #27
See also: List of awards and nominations received by Sidharth Malhotra
 | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | My Name Is Khan | — | Assistant director |
| 2012 | Student of the Year | Abhimanyu Singh | |
| 2014 | Hasee Toh Phasee | Nikhil Bharadwaj | |
| Ek Villain | Guru Divekar | ||
| 2015 | Brothers | Monty Fernandes | |
| 2016 | Kapoor & Sons | Arjun Kapoor | |
| Baar Baar Dekho | Jai Varma | ||
| 2017 | A Gentleman | Gaurav Kapoor/Rishi Purohit | Also singer for song "Bandook Meri Laila" |
| Ittefaq | Vikram Sethi | ||
| 2018 | Aiyaary | Major Jai Bakshi | |
| 2019 | Jabariya Jodi | Abhay Singh | |
| Marjaavaan | Raghuvendra Nath | ||
| 2021 | Shershaah | Vikram Batra/Vishal Batra | |
| 2022 | Thank God | Ayaan Kapoor | |
| 2023 | Mission Majnu | Amandeep Ajitpal Singh / Tariq Ali | |
| Yodha | TBA | Filming |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Get Gorgeous | Himself | |
| 2009 | Dharti Ka Veer Yodha Prithviraj Chauhan | Jaichand | |
| 2023 | Indian Police Force | Kabir Malik | Filming |
| Year | Title | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | "Muskurayega India" | Vishal Mishra |
| "Challon Ke Nishaan" | Stebin Ben | |
| 2021 | "Thoda Thoda Pyaar" |
| Bio/Wiki | |
|---|---|
| Real Name | Sidharth Malhotra |
| Real Name | Sidharth Malhotra |
| Nickname | Sid |
| Profession(s) | Actor, Model |
| Role Model | Shah Rukh Khan |
| Physical Stats & More | |
| Height (approx.) | in centimeters- 185 cm in meters- 1.85 m in feet inches- 6’ 1” |
| Weight (approx.) | in kilograms- 80 kg in pounds- 176 lbs |
| Body Measurements (approx.) | - Chest: 42 inches - Waist: 30 inches - Biceps: 16 inches |
| Eye Colour | Brown |
| Hair Colour | Black |
| Personal Life | |
| Date of Birth | 16 January 1985 |
| Age (as of 2023) | 38 Years |
| Birthplace | Delhi, India |
| Zodiac sign | Capricorn |
| Signature/Autograph |  |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Hometown | Delhi, India |
| School(s) | Don Bosco School, Delhi Navy Children School, Delhi |
| College/University | Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, New Delhi |
| Educational Qualification | B.Com (Hons.) |
| Debut | Film: Student of the Year (2012) TV: Dharti Ka Veer Yodha Prithviraj Chauhan (2006) |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Food Habit | Non-Vegetarian |
| Address | Plush Apartment in Mumbai |
| Hobbies | Gymming, Drawing Cartoons |
| Awards | 2013: Stardust Award for Most Promising Debut Male, South Africa India Film and Television Award for Debut Actor of the Year—Male for Student of the Year 2014: BIG Star Entertainment Award for Entertainer of the Year, Most Entertaining Actor in a Romantic Film – Male for Hasee Toh Phasee |
| Controversies | • He sued his two fans for Rs 10 Crores. Two siblings from Delhi opened a fan club website of Siddharth and started selling merchandise and t-shirts too in the star’s name. • He attracted a controversy when, on a talk show, he commented on Madhuri Dixit that he would love to take her on bed. |
| Girls, Affairs and More | |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Marriage Date | 7 February 2023 |
| Marriage Place | Suryagarh Palace, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan |
| Family | |
| Wife/Spouse | Kiara Advani (actor) |
| Children | None |
| Parents | Father- Sunil Malhotra (Former Captain in Merchant Navy) Mother- Rimma Malhotra (Homemaker) |
| Siblings | Brother- Harshad Malhotra (Elder, Banker) Sister- None |
| Favourites | |
| Food | Jalebi, Hot Chocolate Fudge, Sushi, Biryani and Chicken Roll Munch |
| Actor(s) | Bollywood: Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan Hollywood: George Clooney, Johnny Depp |
| Actresses | Kajol, Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif |
| Film(s) | Bollywood: Agneepath, Andaz Apna Apna, Chupke Chupke, Sholay, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham Hollywood: Indiana Jones, The Lord of the Ring series, Good Will Hunting |
| Director(s) | Imtiaz Ali, Rajukumar Hirani, Zoya Akhtar |
| Colour(s) | Black, White |
| Sport | Rugby |
| Perfume | Fierce by Abercrombie and Fitch |
| Travel Destination(s) | New York, Goa |
| Style Quotient | |
| Cars Collection | Mercedes Benz ML Class ML 250 |
| Money Factor | |
| Salary (approx.) | Rs. 3-5 Crore/film |
| Net Worth (approx.) | Rs. 67 Crore ($10 Million) |
