Kartik Aaryan

Kartik Aaryan, born Kartik Tiwari, is an Indian actor who works mainly in Hindi cinema and is best known for romantic comedies, horror comedies and, more recently, the sports biopic Chandu Champion.^[1] Born on 22 November 1990 in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, he trained as an engineer before making his acting debut while still in college, and he went on to build a career outside the film family system that dominates much of Bollywood.^[1] His breakout came with Luv Ranjan's comedies, especially Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 (2015) and Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (2018), and he later became a top-billed lead with Luka Chuppi, Pati Patni Aur Woh and the two Bhool Bhulaiyaa sequels.^[1]

In 2026 he reached the biggest honour of his career: he won the National Film Award for Best Actor for Chandu Champion (2024), sharing the prize with the Malayalam star Mammootty, who was recognised for Bramayugam.^[1][3] The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting announced the 72nd National Film Awards on 18 July 2026, and Aaryan received his trophy at a ceremony held for the first time in Kevadia, Gujarat, saying the moment left him "speechless".^[1][3] He has also won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for the same film and the IIFA Award for Best Actor for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3.^[1][2]

Outside films, Aaryan is a prominent brand ambassador, a co-host of award shows and a donor to flood and pandemic relief funds, and in 2026 he is working on Naagzilla, Captain India and a romantic musical directed by Anurag Basu.^[1][4]

Aaryan was born Kartik Tiwari on 22 November 1990 in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, into a family of doctors: his father, Manish Tiwari, is a paediatrician and his mother, Mala Tiwari, is a gynaecologist.^[1] He studied at St. Paul's School in Gwalior and then moved to Mumbai to study Biotechnology Engineering at D.Y. Patil University.^[1] He has said that he secretly harboured ambitions of becoming an actor throughout college, and that he would skip classes and travel for around two hours to attend auditions.^[1]

While studying, he started modelling, and after three years of unsuccessful film auditions he enrolled in an acting course at the Kreating Charakters Institute.^[1] He told his parents about his decision to pursue acting only after he had signed his first film, and at his mother's insistence he completed his engineering degree after his debut was released.^[1] In 2013 he changed his screen name from Kartik Tiwari to Kartik Aaryan.^[1]

His early years in Mumbai were modest. He found a casting call for Pyaar Ka Punchnama on Facebook and got the part after auditioning for six months; because he had limited money, he shared an apartment with 12 other aspiring actors and earned his keep by cooking for them.^[1] The film, directed by Luv Ranjan and released in 2011, became a sleeper hit, and his character's four-minute single-shot monologue about women was one of the longest uninterrupted shots in Hindi cinema up to that point.^[1] He received a Producers Guild nomination for Best Male Debut for the performance.^[1]

After Pyaar Ka Punchnama (2011), Aaryan's next two films, Akaash Vani (2013) and Subhash Ghai's Kaanchi (2014), both performed poorly and led him to question his future in films.^[1] The turnaround came in 2015 with Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2, in which he delivered a seven-minute monologue; the film earned over Rs 880 million against a budget of Rs 220 million and brought him a Stardust Award for Best Actor in a Comic Role.^[1] A less successful phase followed with Guest iin London (2017), but his 2018 comedy Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety earned about Rs 1.5 billion and became his breakthrough film, winning him a Zee Cine Award.^[1]

The success opened the door to bigger roles. Luka Chuppi (2019), shot in his hometown of Gwalior with Kriti Sanon, and Pati Patni Aur Woh (2019), with Bhumi Pednekar and Ananya Panday, each earned over Rs 1 billion worldwide, and he won a second consecutive Zee Cine Award for Best Actor in a Comic Role.^[1] Imtiaz Ali's Love Aaj Kal (2020), in which he played a dual role opposite Sara Ali Khan and Arushi Sharma, was a box-office bomb.^[1] In 2021 he was removed from Dharma Productions' Dostana 2 after about 20 days of filming, a decision reported to stem from creative differences with producer Karan Johar, though the two have since reunited professionally.^[1][7]

He then moved into darker territory with the Netflix thriller Dhamaka (2021), shot in just 10 days, and Freddy (2022), in which he gained 14 kg to play a socially awkward dentist with a violent secret.^[1] Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (2022), a horror comedy directed by Anees Bazmee, became his biggest hit to that point with over Rs 2.67 billion worldwide and earned him a Filmfare Best Actor nomination.^[1] The remake Shehzada (2023) was a critical and commercial failure, after which he said he would not work in another remake, and the romantic drama Satyaprem Ki Katha (2023) did modest business.^[1]

2024 was the most important year of his career. In Chandu Champion, directed by Kabir Khan, he played the army man and Paralympic gold medallist Murlikant Petkar, training in swimming and boxing and undergoing a long period of diet and exercise; critics praised a performance described as nearly free of vanity, and although the film did not perform well commercially, it won him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor and the National Film Award.^[1] He then reprised the role of Rooh Baba in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, which earned about Rs 4.17 billion worldwide, became the second highest-grossing Hindi film of 2024 and his own highest-grossing release, and won him the IIFA Award for Best Actor.^[1]

His 2025 holiday release, the Dharma Productions romantic comedy Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri with Ananya Panday, was a box-office bomb, and critics noted that it followed a pattern from his earlier comedies.^[1][6] Commentators also argued that he had leaned heavily on franchises and sequels and had yet to prove he could carry a standalone hit.^[6]

His 2026 slate is busy. Naagzilla, a fantasy comedy produced by Dharma Productions, wrapped shooting in March 2026 with Preity Mukhundhan as the female lead and is listed for a 2027 release.^[1][4] He is also filming Anurag Basu's romantic musical with Sreeleela, a Kabir Khan sports drama inspired by the kickboxer Tajamul Islam, and Shimit Amin's Captain India, for which he began shooting in London in September 2026 after recovering from an injury and reportedly learning to fly a plane.^[1][4] A new film with his mentor Luv Ranjan is reportedly planned to start in October 2026.^[5]

Aaryan keeps his private life largely out of the media. He has said that he does not talk about his relationships and expects the same discretion from his partner, despite frequent public speculation.^[1] He is an eggetarian and is known for his strict diet, especially during the preparation for Chandu Champion, when he followed a long sugar-free regimen.^[1]

Away from the screen he has built a large endorsement portfolio. He has been the face of the sportswear brand Hummel, Emami's Fair And Handsome range and the ethnic-wear brand Manyavar, and a long-time brand ambassador for House of McDowell's Soda, whose latest campaign, announced in September 2026, features him.^[1][3] He co-hosted the 2018 IIFA Awards with Ayushmann Khurrana, the 2019 Zee Cine Awards with Vicky Kaushal and the 25th IIFA Awards in 2025.^[1] He has said in interviews that rumours that he charged Rs 50 crore for a single film are exaggerated, and he has been listed among India's highest-paid actors, including in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list in 2019, where he ranked 67th.^[1]

He joined the All Stars Football Club in 2016, a celebrity team that plays matches for charity, spoke about plastic pollution on World Environment Day in 2018 and was named a state icon for voter awareness in Madhya Pradesh by the Election Commission of India in 2019.^[1] During the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 he donated Rs 1 crore to the PM CARES Fund, and in July 2026 he contributed Rs 1 crore to the Assam Chief Minister's Relief Fund for flood relief.^[1] In August 2026 he was invited by President Droupadi Murmu to the Independence Day At Home reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan.^[1]

He turns 36 on 22 November 2026. Estimates of his wealth vary greatly between websites, from around Rs 45 crore to over Rs 250 crore, depending on how film fees, endorsements and real estate are valued; because these are unaudited estimates, they should be treated as approximate.^[8]