Arjun Kapoor is an Indian actor who works primarily in Hindi-language films. He is the son of film producer Boney Kapoor and the late Mona Shourie Kapoor, and a member of the Kapoor film family that includes his uncle Anil Kapoor and cousins Sonam Kapoor, Rhea Kapoor, Harshvardhan Kapoor and Janhvi Kapoor. He made his acting debut in 2012 with the action drama Ishaqzaade, directed by Habib Faisal and produced by Yash Raj Films.
| Full name | Arjun Kapoor |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | 26 June 1985 |
| Place of birth | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Occupation | Actor, film producer |
| Years active | 2012–present (as actor) |
| Debut film | Ishaqzaade (2012) |
| Father | Boney Kapoor |
| Mother | Mona Shourie Kapoor |
| Sister | Anshula Kapoor |
| Half-sisters | Janhvi Kapoor, Khushi Kapoor |
Arjun Kapoor was born in Mumbai into a prominent Bollywood family. His paternal grandfather, Surinder Kapoor, was a film producer. Before facing the camera, Arjun worked behind the scenes on films produced by his father's company, including assistant production roles on projects such as No Entry (2005) and Wanted (2009). He underwent significant weight loss and a physical transformation prior to his acting debut.
Arjun Kapoor made his acting debut opposite Parineeti Chopra in Ishaqzaade (2012), produced under the Yash Raj Films banner. The film was a commercial success and earned him the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut. He followed it with Aurangzeb (2013) and the multi-starrer ensemble Gunday (2014), in which he appeared with Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra.
His subsequent releases included 2 States (2014), based on Chetan Bhagat's novel and co-starring Alia Bhatt; Finding Fanny (2014), directed by Homi Adajania; Tevar (2015); and Ki & Ka (2016), directed by R. Balki, in which he played a househusband opposite Kareena Kapoor Khan. He featured in Half Girlfriend (2017), another Chetan Bhagat adaptation, with Shraddha Kapoor.
Kapoor played the Maratha warrior Sadashivrao Bhau in Ashutosh Gowariker's historical drama Panipat (2019), which depicted the Third Battle of Panipat (1761). He featured in India's Most Wanted (2019), Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar (2021) directed by Dibakar Banerjee, and Bhoot Police (2021). He has also appeared in Ek Villain Returns (2022) and The Lady Killer, and made his streaming debut in the Netflix series The Night Manager (2023), the Indian adaptation of the BBC series, in which he played the antagonist Shelly Rungta.
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Ishaqzaade | Parma Chauhan |
| 2013 | Aurangzeb | Ajay/Vishal |
| 2014 | Gunday | Bala |
| 2014 | 2 States | Krish Malhotra |
| 2014 | Finding Fanny | Savio |
| 2016 | Ki & Ka | Kabir Bansal |
| 2017 | Half Girlfriend | Madhav Jha |
| 2017 | Mubarakan | Karan/Charan |
| 2019 | India's Most Wanted | Prabhat Kapoor |
| 2019 | Panipat | Sadashivrao Bhau |
| 2021 | Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar | Pinky Dahiya |
| 2022 | Ek Villain Returns | Bhairav Purohit |
| 2023 | The Night Manager (series) | Shelly Rungta |
Arjun Kapoor has been associated with charitable initiatives, including campaigns related to women's safety and mental health awareness. He has spoken publicly about his own experiences with body image and mental health.
As a third-generation member of the Kapoor film family, Arjun Kapoor represents a continuity of one of Hindi cinema's most established lineages, while his career has spanned commercial entertainers, ensemble dramas, period films and streaming content during the 2010s and 2020s.