Product Code Database
Kartik Aaryan (born Kartik Tiwari; 22 November 1990) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over 14 years, he has been a recipient of several accolades, including a Filmfare Awards and an International Indian Film Academy Award. He has been cited in the media as one of the most popular and commercially successful actors in India.
While pursuing a degree in engineering, he made his acting debut with Luv Ranjan's buddy film Pyaar Ka Punchnama (2011). He went on to star in the romances Akaash Vani (2013) and Kaanchi (2014), but these failed to propel his career forward. Aaryan had commercial successes in Ranjan's comedies Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 (2015) and Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (2018), his breakthrough film, as well as the romantic comedies Luka Chuppi and Pati Patni Aur Woh (both 2019). He also played against type in the thrillers Dhamaka (2021) and Freddy (2022), and the romantic drama Satyaprem Ki Katha (2023), and gained praise for portraying Murlikant Petkar in the biopic Chandu Champion (2024) which earned him a Filmfare Award for Best Actor. His highest-grossing releases came with the comedy horror films Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (2022) and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 (2024).
In addition to his acting career, Aaryan endorses several brands and products, and has co-hosted award ceremonies.
Aaryan began a modelling career while in university and after three years of unsuccessfully auditioning for films, he did an acting course from the Kreating Charakters institute. He informed his parents of his desire to become an actor only after he signed his first film. He later completed his engineering degree at the insistence of his mother, after the release of his first film.
His next film release came two years later when he collaborated once again with Ranjan and Bharucha in the romance Akaash Vani (2013), which is about the titular lovers who are separated when Vani is married off to an abusive husband. Sudhish Kamath of The Hindu praised the film for exploring chauvinism in India, a rare concept for Hindi film, and praised the chemistry between the two stars, writing that "you can tell how much they are in love, even when they don't have any lines". Sudhir Chaudhary, the cinematographer in Aaryan's previous films, showed his work to Subhash Ghai, who was impressed by Aaryan and cast him in his directorial Kaanchi (2014). It is a drama about a woman's quest for justice when her husband is murdered by politicians, in which Aaryan played the love interest of the title character (played by Mishti). Despite a brief role, Aaryan agreed to the project to work with Ghai. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV disliked the film but wrote that Aaryan "exudes strong screen presence and shows flashes of qualities needed to be a mainstream Bollywood lover boy". Both Akaash Vani and Kaanchi did not perform well commercially, leading Aaryan to question his career prospects.
In 2015, Aaryan starred in Ranjan's comedy sequel Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2, which retained some of the original's cast, including him and Bharucha, and added the actors Omkar Kapoor and Sunny Nijar. In it, he delivered an even longer, seven minute single-shot monologue. Mike McCahill of The Guardian criticised the film's poor handling of female roles, but considered the banter between Aaryan and Bharucha's characters to be its highlight. Shubha Shetty-Guha of Mid-Day too took note of the misogynistic themes but found parts of it "uproariously funny". When asked about the sexism in the film, Aaryan said that as a proponent of gender equality his character did not reflect his personal beliefs. With earnings of over against a budget of , Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 emerged as a major financial success. For his performance, Aaryan won a Stardust Award for Best Actor In A Comic Role.
The following year, Aaryan featured as a young Muslim boy who falls in love with an older woman in Tanuja Chandra's short film Silvat, which was made as part of the Zeal For Unity initiative to bridge cultural barriers between India and Pakistan. As he enjoyed working in comedies, Aaryan next starred alongside Paresh Rawal and Kriti Kharbanda in Guest iin London (2017), which is about a young couple troubled by unwelcome guests. A few scenes between Rawal and him were improvised on set. In a scathing review, Rohit Vats of Hindustan Times criticised the film's reliance on flatulence humour, and wrote that Aaryan "looks good, dances well, does his gags well, but eventually ends up playing the second fiddle to Rawal. Kartik has a likeable vibe, but that gets drowned in Rawal's perennial farting." It did not perform well commercially.
Imtiaz Ali's romantic drama Love Aaj Kal, a spiritual successor to Ali's 2009 film of the same name was Aaryan's sole film release of 2020. He played dual roles of young men in 1990 and 2020, opposite Arushi Sharma and Sara Ali Khan, respectively, after working on the mannerisms and body language of the characters to differentiate them from each other. In a negative review of the film, Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in wrote that Aaryan "nails the diffidence and callowness of his characters" but bemoaned that he lacked "brooding quality and simmering intensity" in certain scenes. It emerged as a box office bomb.
Aaryan was cast by Dharma Productions in the comedy sequel Dostana 2, but after filming for 20 days, he was fired. Bollywood Hungama reported that it was due to creative differences between him and producer Karan Johar. In 2021, Aaryan starred in Ram Madhvani's thriller Dhamaka, a remake of the Korean film The Terror Live (2013). Filmed entirely in 10 days, it was released on Netflix. Stutee Ghosh of The Quint believed Aaryan's dark, against-type performance to be among the film's positive aspects.
In 2023, Aaryan starred in a remake of the Telugu language action film Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020), titled Shehzada. When the film's producers suffered a financial crisis, Aaryan returned his salary, and was thus credited as producer. The film was a critical and commercial failure. Reacting to its reception, Aaryan said that he would not work in a remake again. He reunited with Kiara Advani in Satyaprem Ki Katha, a romantic drama about a troubled marriage. Although Nandini Ramnath wrote that "Aaryan puts visible effort" into a complex role and Sukanya Verma believed that he "sparkles in certain moments of vulnerability", they both opined that he had been overshadowed by Advani. It emerged as a modest commercial success.
Aaryan starred as Murlikant Petkar, an army man who became a Paralympic Games gold medalist, in Kabir Khan's biographical drama Chandu Champion (2024). In preparation, he underwent extensive diet and exercises, and trained in swimming and boxing. Film Companion's Rahul Desai was pleased with his physical transformation and found his performance to be "nearly bereft of vanity". It did not perform well commercially but earned Aaryan his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor. He reprised his role as Rooh Baba in the spiritual sequel Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3. In a mixed review for The Hindu, Anuj Kumar lauded him as the "lifeline of the franchise" and appreciated his "natural flair for family comedy". Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 grossed worldwide to rank as the second highest-grossing Hindi film of 2024 and Aaryan's highest-grossing release. His performance earned him the IIFA Award for Best Actor.
Aaryan will next star in an as-yet untitled romantic drama film directed by Anurag Basu and co-starring Sreeleela.
In 2016, Aaryan became a member of the All Stars Football Club, which organises football matches for charity. He participated with several other celebrities, including Ranbir Kapoor, for a tournament held in New Delhi the following year. Aaryan was scheduled to take part in the club's next tournament, held in Singapore in 2018, but had to back out after dislocating his toe during practice. In 2018, Aaryan raised awareness on plastic pollution during World Environment Day. The following year, the Election Commission of India appointed him to raise awareness on voter participation in his home state of Madhya Pradesh.
Aaryan is one of the highest paid actors in India. He was placed eighth in The Times of Indias listing of the country's most desirable men of 2018. He held the 12th spot in the next two years. In 2019, he appeared in Forbes India Celebrity 100 list, ranking 67th with an estimated annual income of . In 2020, Eastern Eye featured him in their listing of the dynamic dozen for the decade. In 2021, he ranked 20th in Duff & Phelps's listing of the country's most valuable celebrity brands. In 2022, he was ranked 15th in GQ India's "30 most influential young Indians" list.
| 2011 ! scope="row" | Pyaar Ka Punchnama | Rajat "Rajjo" Mridul | ||
| 2013 ! scope="row" | Akaash Vani | Akaash Kapoor | ||
| 2014 ! scope="row" | Binda Singh | |||
| 2015 ! scope="row" | Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 | Anshul "Gogo" Sharma | ||
| 2016 ! scope="row" | Silvat | Anwar Khan | Short film | |
| 2017 ! scope="row" | Guest iin London | Aryan Shergill | ||
| 2018 ! scope="row" | Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety | Sonu Sharma | ||
| 2019 ! scope="row" | Luka Chuppi | Vinod "Guddu" Shukla | ||
| 2020 ! scope="row" | Love Aaj Kal | Veer Taneja / Raghuvendra Singh | ||
| 2021 ! scope="row" | Dhamaka | Arjun Pathak | | |
| 2022 ! scope="row" | Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 | Ruhan "Rooh Baba" Randhawa | ||
| 2023 ! scope="row" | Shehzada | Bantu | Also producer | |
| 2024 ! scope="row" | Chandu Champion | Murlikant Petkar | ||
| 2025 | Ray | Post-production | ||
| 2026 | Filming |
| 2018 ! scope="row" | 19th IIFA Awards | Co-host | ||
| 2019 ! scope="row" | 2019 Zee Cine Awards | Co-host | ||
| 2022 !scope="row" | Masaba Masaba | Dr. K | Cameo | |
| 2025 ! scope="row" | 25th IIFA Awards | Co-host |
| 2020 | "Muskurayega India" | Himself | Vishal Mishra | |
| "Nachunga Aise" | Arya | Millind Gaba |
|
|
