Kriti Sanon (born 27 July 1990) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi and Telugu-language films. She has received a National Film Award and two Filmfare Awards, and has appeared in Forbes India Celebrity 100 list of 2019.
After pursuing a degree in engineering from the Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Sanon briefly worked as a fashion model. She began her acting career by playing the leading lady in the 2014 action films 1: Nenokkadine and Heropanti. The latter earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Her career progressed with starring roles in the commercially successful romantic comedies Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017) and Luka Chuppi (2019), and her highest-grossing releases came with the ensemble comedies Dilwale (2015) and Housefull 4 (2019).
Sanon won the National Film Award and the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for playing the title role of a surrogate mother in the comedy-drama Mimi (2021). This success was followed by a series of commercially unsuccessful films, such as the controversial big-budget film Adipurush (2023), though the comedy horror film Bhediya (2022) was well-received.
In addition to acting, Sanon has launched her own line of clothing, a fitness company, and a skin-care brand. She also serves as the ambassador of several brands and products.
Early life
Sanon was born on 27 July 1990 in New Delhi to Rahul Sanon, a chartered accountant and Geeta Sanon, a physics professor at the University of Delhi. She hails from a Punjabi Hindu family. She attended Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram and later secured a Bachelor of Technology degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida. She briefly worked as a model before becoming an actress. Her younger sister, Nupur Sanon, is also an actress.
Career
Early work (2014–2020)
Sanon made her acting debut in 2014 with the Telugu psychological action thriller 1: Nenokkadine, playing the love interest of Mahesh Babu's character. The part required her to participate in action sequences filmed at sea; she has said that the experience made her nervous as she did not know how to swim. Reviewers for The Times of India and Sify took note of her beauty and were encouraging of her acting prowess. After completing the first schedule of 1: Nenokkadine, Sanon was signed on for Heropanti, a Hindi action film opposite newcomer Tiger Shroff; she divided her time between both films. Trade journalist Taran Adarsh opined that Sanon "has the trappings of a star", but critic Srijana Das of The Times of India criticised her emoting, calling it "more cheesy than sharp". Heropanti emerged as a commercial success. Sanon won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut and the IIFA Award for Star Debut of the Year – Female for Heropanti.
The following year, Sanon had her second Telugu film release in the crime drama Dohchay, co-starring Naga Chaitanya. She was next cast in Rohit Shetty's action comedy Dilwale with Varun Dhawan, Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, which emerged as one of the highest-grossing Indian films at that time, grossing more than worldwide. Anupama Chopra disliked the film and wrote that Sanon and Dhawan "work as bait, meant to bring in the critical youth segment".
After a yearlong absence from the screen, Sanon teamed with Maddock Films producer Dinesh Vijan, in their first of many collaborations, in his directorial debut Raabta (2017), which featured her and Sushant Singh Rajput as star-crossed lovers. In a scathing review, Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com labelled the film "embarrassingly daft" but took note of Sanon's "statuesque, spirited presence". The film failed commercially. Sanon's starring role as a headstrong small-town woman aspiring to a better life in Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari's romantic comedy Bareilly Ki Barfi was better received. Co-starring Ayushmann Khurrana and Rajkummar Rao as her love interests, the film was an adaptation of French writer Nicholas Barreau's novel The Ingredients of Love. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV noted that "the burden of making Bareilly Ki Barfi work rests upon Kriti Sanon and she doesn't put a foot wrong", but Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express thought that despite Sanon's effort, her performance lacked naturalism.