Amar Upadhyay Biography: The Man Behind Mihir Virani

Amar Upadhyay (born 1 August 1976) is an Indian actor in Hindi television and film. He is best known for his collaborations with Ekta Kapoor in the television shows Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (2000–2002), Kalash (2000–2002), Kasautii Zindagii Kay (2005), Kkusum (2005) and Molkki (2020–2022). In 2011, he participated in Bigg Boss and emerged as a finalist.

His other television shows include Dekh Bhai Dekh (1993–1994), Viraasat (2006–2007), Chand Ke Paar Chalo (2008–2009), Saath Nibhaana Saathiya (2015–2017), Ek Deewaana Tha (2017–2018), Ishqbaaaz (2019), Kyunkii Tum Hi Ho (2022–2023), and Doree (2023–2025). Apart from television shows, he has appeared in many films like Dhoondte Reh Jaaoge! (1998), Dhund: The Fog (2003), LOC Kargil (2003), 13B (2009), It’s My Life (2020), Kaagaz (2021) and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (2022).

Amar Upadhyay was born on 1 August 1976 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat into a Gujarati family. He grew up in the Malad suburb of Mumbai, and studied chemical engineering in college. After graduation, he attended the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune.

In 1993, photographs of Upadhyay appeared in Stardust magazine, which led to Jaya Bachchan offering him the TV series Dekh Bhai Dekh. This was followed by numerous TV series like Arzoo, Suhana Safar, Tulsi and Aruna Irani’s Mehndi Tere Naam Ki.

Eventually, he became famous in 2000 with the mega TV daily soap, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (2000). When his character Mihir ‘died’ in 2001 there were protests and the television channel’s head office was flooded with phone-calls and letters, and his character was brought back to life.

After his success in television, he ventured into film with Dahshat 2003, followed by a big launch, Dhund – The Fog (2003), along with Aditi Govitrikar, directed by Sham Ramsay, and later he appeared in J.P. Dutta’s war movie, LOC Kargil (2003). He also had a role in R Madhavan starrer 13B (2009). He also appeared in some Bhojpuri films like Dharam Veer (2008), Hum Bahubali (2008), Tu Babuaa Hamaar (2008), E Rishta Anmol Baa (2009).

Subsequently, he returned to television after a two-year hiatus, playing a key role in the serial Chand Ke Paar Chalo (2009) on NDTV Imagine. Then he appeared in many television serials mostly playing recurring or negative roles namely in Doli Saja Ke (2009), Sapna Babul Ka…Bidaai (2009), Police Files (2012), Ek Thhi Naayka (2013) and Savdhaan India (2013). In October 2011 he joined the fifth season of the reality TV series Bigg Boss and finished in fifth place.

In 2015, he entered Star Plus’s long-running series Saath Nibhaana Saathiya as the parallel lead role of Dharam Suryavanshi opposite Tanya Sharma. He played the character till the ending of the show in 2017. For his portrayal of Dharam Suryavanshi, he won the Gold Award for best supporting actor. He also starred in Sony Entertainment Television show Ek Deewaana Tha (2017–18) as Rajan Bedi, the antagonist.

In November 2020, Amar reunited with his Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi producers Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor for a television show titled Molkki. He plays the main lead Virendra Pratapsingh in Molkki which is telecast on Colors TV. In 2021, he appeared in the Satish Kaushik directorial Kaagaz, which stars Pankaj Tripathi in the lead. He played the role of Vidhayak Jaganpal Singh, the main antagonist. The film was released on Zee5 and produced by Salman Khan.

Amar also made a small appearance in the Abhishek Bachchan starrer Bob Biswas (2021), which was directed by Sujoy Ghosh’s daughter Diya Ghosh in her directorial debut. It was released on Zee5. He was also seen in Anees Bazmee directorial Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, starring Kartik Aaryan, Kiara Advani and Tabu in lead.

He was also set to appear as a lead in Nima Denzongpa, but his entry was later scrapped when the show went off-air.

In 2022, he portrayed Rama in Dangal channel television show Jai Hanuman – Sankat Mochan Naam Tiharo. Later that year, he announced his television show Kyunkii Tum Hi Ho, as an actor and a producer. The show aired on Shemaroo Umang. From November 2023 to February 2025, he has been playing the role of Ganga Thakur / Ganga Prasad / Agni Thakur in Colors TV’s Doree season 1 and 2.

Since July 2025, he reprise him role of Mihir Virani in the StarPlus’s spiritual sequel of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, entitled Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2.

Upadhyay married Hetal Upadhyay, an engineer, in 1999. They have a son and a daughter.

He is a black belt holder in Taekwondo.

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