Vicky Kaushal is an Indian actor who works primarily in Hindi-language films. He came to mainstream attention with his lead role in Masaan (2015) and went on to deliver commercially successful and critically acclaimed performances in films such as Sanju (2018), Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), and Sardar Udham (2021). He is widely regarded as one of the leading actors of his generation in Hindi cinema.
| Full name | Vicky Kaushal |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 May 1988, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Father | Sham Kaushal (action director) |
| Brother | Sunny Kaushal (actor) |
| Spouse | Katrina Kaif (married December 2021) |
| Education | Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Mumbai (Engineering) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2012–present |
| Notable awards | National Film Award for Best Actor (2019); Filmfare Award for Best Actor (Critics) |
Vicky Kaushal was born on 16 May 1988 in Mumbai to Sham Kaushal, a veteran Hindi-film stunt and action director originally from Punjab, and Veena Kaushal. He grew up in the Malad neighbourhood of Mumbai. He completed a degree in electronics and telecommunication engineering from the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology in Mumbai before pursuing acting. He trained at the theatre group Manish Chaudhari's Acting Truck and at Kishore Namit Kapoor's acting school in Mumbai.
Kaushal began his on-screen career with small appearances and as an assistant director on Anurag Kashyap's two-part film Gangs of Wasseypur (2012). He also appeared in short films and worked in theatre during this period.
His debut as a lead came with Neeraj Ghaywan's Masaan (2015), set in Varanasi, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section and won the FIPRESCI Prize. The role earned him several debut awards. He followed this with Zubaan (2016) and supporting roles in Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016) and Raazi (2018), in which he played a Pakistani Army officer opposite Alia Bhatt.
In 2018, Kaushal appeared in Rajkumar Hirani's biographical film Sanju, playing Kamlesh, the best friend of Sanjay Dutt; the role earned him the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. In January 2019, he played Major Vihaan Singh Shergill in Aditya Dhar's Uri: The Surgical Strike, a fictionalised account of the 2016 Indian Army surgical strikes against militant launch pads in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The film was a major box-office success and the dialogue "How's the josh?" became a popular catchphrase. For his performance, he received the National Film Award for Best Actor (shared with Ayushmann Khurrana for AndhaDhun).
He played the title role in Shoojit Sircar's biographical drama Sardar Udham (2021), portraying revolutionary Udham Singh, who assassinated Michael O'Dwyer in London in 1940 in retaliation for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The film, released on Amazon Prime Video, received wide critical praise and was India's official entry consideration in several award categories. Subsequent films include Govinda Naam Mera (2022), Zara Hatke Zara Bachke (2023), Sam Bahadur (2023), in which he played Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, and Chhaava (2025), in which he portrayed the Maratha king Sambhaji.
Kaushal married actress Katrina Kaif on 9 December 2021 at Six Senses Fort Barwara in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan. His younger brother Sunny Kaushal is also an actor in Hindi films.
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Masaan | Deepak Kumar |
| 2016 | Zubaan | Dilsher Singh |
| 2018 | Raazi | Iqbal Syed |
| 2018 | Sanju | Kamlesh Kapasi |
| 2018 | Manmarziyaan | Vicky Sandhu |
| 2019 | Uri: The Surgical Strike | Major Vihaan Singh Shergill |
| 2021 | Sardar Udham | Udham Singh |
| 2022 | Govinda Naam Mera | Govinda Waghmare |
| 2023 | Sam Bahadur | Sam Manekshaw |
| 2025 | Chhaava | Sambhaji Maharaj |
Kaushal is recognised for moving between independent, art-house cinema and large commercial productions. His selection of biographical and historical roles—covering figures from Indian military history (Vihaan Shergill, Sam Manekshaw), the freedom struggle (Udham Singh), and Maratha history (Sambhaji)—has positioned him as a leading performer in the patriotic and historical-drama segment of contemporary Hindi cinema.