Sonam Kapoor

Sonam Kapoor Ahuja is a celebrated Indian actress, fashion icon, and devoted wife and mother, born on June 9, 1985, in Mumbai, India, to legendary actor and producer Anil Kapoor. With a career spanning over 15 years, she has captivated audiences with her portrayals of ordinary Indian women on the big screen, earning numerous accolades, including a National Film Award and a Filmfare Award. A devoted family woman, Sonam is married to entrepreneur Anand Ahuja and is a proud mother of two. As a member of Bollywood's esteemed Kapoor family, Sonam has been surrounded by the glamour of showbiz since childhood, but has carved her own path as a talented actress, earning a place on Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list from 2012 to 2016. During the production of Black, Kapoor developed an interest in acting when Bhansali professed that he wanted to cast her in the lead in his next film, Saawariya. She was advised to lose weight; at the time, she weighed about 80 kilograms. Motivated by Bhansali's confidence in her, she lost 35 kilograms in two years. Kapoor studied acting with Roshan Taneja, Jayati Bhatia and Feroz Abbas Khan, and has cited actresses Waheeda Rehman and Nutan as influences, admiring their "path-breaking films ... [and] quality of doing different things". Kapoor made her debut with Saawariya in 2007, playing a Muslim woman awaiting the return of her lover opposite Rani Mukerji, Ranbir Kapoor and Salman Khan. The film was the first Indian feature film produced by a Hollywood studio, Sony Pictures Entertainment, but proved to be a major critical and commercial failure. Despite this, she earned a Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut nomination and the Stardust Award for Superstar of Tomorrow – Female. In 2009, Kapoor played an aspiring singer opposite Waheeda Rehman and Abhishek Bachchan in the Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra-directed social drama Delhi-6, which received mixed reviews from critics and was a box-office failure. CNN-IBN's Rajeev Masand referred to Kapoor as a "revelation", writing that she was "a firecracker, instinctive and uninhibited in what isn't even a conventional female lead". Her next few projects, including I Hate Luv Storys, Aisha, Thank You, Mausam, and Players, received mixed reviews, with some critics praising her performances while others found her "stiff and rehearsed" or "terribly out of sync". Despite doubts about her acting ability, Kapoor showed glimpses of her potential, and her string of poorly received films began to hinder her career. Kapoor's career took a dramatic turn with her breakout role in Anand L. Rai's romantic drama Raanjhanaa, where she played Zoya Haider, a young Muslim student from Varanasi drawn into politics after her Sikh lover's murder. To immerse herself in the character, Kapoor interacted with students, attended workshops, and practiced with theatre groups at Jawaharlal Nehru University, while also studying Jaya Bachchan's iconic performance in Guddi. Her hard work paid off as critics praised her nuanced portrayal, with Rajeev Masand noting she did some of her best work, effortlessly transitioning from innocence to manipulation to cynicism. The film's commercial success, with over ₹ 1 billion in worldwide earnings, earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Kapoor continued her momentum with a brief but impactful appearance in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, a biopic on athlete Milkha Singh, and later starred in Yash Raj Films' comedy-drama Bewakoofiyaan and the romantic comedy Khoobsurat, for which she received a Filmfare Best Actress nomination. Despite divided critical responses, Kapoor proved her versatility with her varied roles, and her personal life made headlines with a brief romance with entrepreneur Sahir Berry. In 2015, she appeared in Dolly Ki Doli, a heist comedy, and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, a romantic drama with Salman Khan, which became one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films of all time, with critics praising her credibility as a royal. However, her performance in Dolly Ki Doli earned her a Golden Kela Award for Worst Actress. Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, the epitome of glamour and style, is a celebrated actress who has delivered exceptional performances in films like Neerja and Khoobsurat. Her decision to follow PETA's lead and switch to vegetarianism in 2015, later reversing her choice, highlights her commitment to social causes. Following a brief relationship with director Punit Malhotra, Kapoor was linked to businessman Anand Ahuja, whom she later tied the knot with in a traditional Sikh ceremony in Mumbai in May 2018. Their first child, a baby boy, arrived in August 2022. Kapoor, who has expressed her desire to prioritise motherhood while maintaining a reduced acting career, is set to welcome her second child in March 2026. Kapoor Ahuja, a mother of two, showcases her acting abilities and style, a combination that has made her a significant figure in the Indian film industry. Born into a storied acting dynasty, Kapoor has been a media fixture since childhood and now ranks among Bollywood’s highest‑paid actresses; her breakout hits Raanjhanaa and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag earned her a nod from critic Subhash K. Jha as one of India’s top talent, even as Rediff.com pointed out a string of box‑office misfires. In 2009 she shattered ground as the first Indian actress on The Hollywood Reporter’s “Next Generation: Asia Class” list, and her unapologetic outspokenness has sparked periodic controversy—she confessed in a 2015 interview that “I believe it pays to be honest in the longer run,” even as it lands her in hot water. A digital powerhouse since 2009, she commands massive followings on Twitter and Facebook, landed on The Huffington Post’s “100 Most Influential Women on Twitter” in 2015, and is repeatedly hailed as a style icon—featured on Rediff.com’s “Bollywood’s Best Dressed Actresses” (2012‑13), crowned Style Icon (Reader’s Choice) by Hindustan Times and Beauty of the Year by Vogue India in 2013, though some critics have balked at her penchant for traditional Indian attire. She topped The Times of India’s “Most Desirable Woman” list at #7 in 2010, hovered at #14, #28 and #14 over the next three years, and consistently placed in Eastern Eye’s “World’s Sexiest Asian Women” top‑ten (2011‑14). Forbes India’s Celebrity 100 ranked her 48th (2012) and 45th (2013); GQ India crowned her Woman of the Year in 2013, and she climbed from #31 (2014) to #26 (2015) to a peak #18 in 2016 with an annual earnings haul of ₹200 million (≈US$2.1 million). At the Filmfare Glamour & Style Awards she swept Most Stylish Star (Female) and the Absolut Elyx Style & Substance Award in 2015, then repeated as Most Stylish Star (Female) and added Red Carpet Royalty in 2016. Her endorsement roster reads like a luxury catalog—Colgate, Electrolux, Lux, Mont Blanc, Oppo Mobile, Salvatore Ferragamo, Signature—and she serves as L’Oréal’s Indian ambassador, bagging Brand Ambassador of the Year at the NDTV Good Times Gadget Guru Awards (2011). Rediff.com reported ₹30 million per deal in 2012, cementing her status as one of India’s highest‑paid brand faces. Yet 2020 saw her scrutinized for posting Black Lives Matter solidarity messages despite a past slate of skin‑lightening ads, and in October 2023 she faced backlash after serving a legal notice on a 7,000‑subscriber YouTuber for a joke, a move many deemed excessive.