Annu Kapoor is an Indian film and television actor, presenter, and voice artist. With a career spanning more than four decades, he is widely recognised for his work in Hindi cinema and for hosting the long-running musical talent show Antakshari on Zee TV. A graduate of the National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi, he has worked across theatre, television, and films, and has received the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Vicky Donor (2012).
| Name | Annu Kapoor |
|---|---|
| Born | 20 February 1956, Itarsi, Madhya Pradesh, India |
| Education | National School of Drama, New Delhi |
| Occupation | Actor, television presenter, voice artist |
| Years active | 1980s – present |
| Known for | Antakshari (Zee TV), Vicky Donor, Mr. India, Dream Girl |
| Notable award | National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor (2013, for Vicky Donor) |
Annu Kapoor was born in Itarsi in Madhya Pradesh and spent his early years in Bhopal. He trained as an actor at the National School of Drama in New Delhi, one of India's premier theatre training institutions, where he developed the strong stagecraft that later defined his screen work. Before becoming widely known on television, he performed extensively in theatre.
Kapoor made his feature film debut with Shyam Benegal's Mandi (1983), an ensemble film notable for its parallel cinema sensibility. He appeared in supporting roles in mainstream Hindi films through the late 1980s and 1990s, including Shekhar Kapur's Mr. India (1987), where he played a memorable comic role.
Kapoor became a household name in India as the host of Antakshari, a Hindi film-song-based musical game show that premiered on Zee TV in 1993. The programme ran for several years and is regarded as one of the earliest hit shows of Indian satellite television. His warm, anecdotal hosting style, drawing on extensive knowledge of Hindi film music and Urdu poetry, was central to the show's popularity.
Kapoor returned to wider critical attention with Shoojit Sircar's Vicky Donor (2012), in which he played Dr. Baldev Chaddha, a Punjabi fertility specialist. The role won him the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor as well as the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. He subsequently appeared in films such as Jolly LLB (2013), The Shaukeens (2014), Dream Girl (2019) and its sequel Dream Girl 2 (2023), and Hamare Baarah (2024).
Kapoor has hosted radio programmes on Hindi cinema and music history, drawing on his archival knowledge of the industry. He has also continued to undertake television projects and stage appearances.
Annu Kapoor occupies a distinctive position in Indian popular culture as both a character actor in Hindi cinema and a pioneering television host of the satellite era. His hosting of Antakshari helped popularise format-driven musical reality programming in India during the 1990s, while his later character roles, particularly in Vicky Donor, demonstrated the continuing relevance of trained character actors in mainstream Bollywood.