Anushka Sharma (born 1 May 1988) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. She has received several awards, including a Filmfare Award. One of the highest-paid actresses in India as of 2018, she has appeared in Forbes India‘s Celebrity 100 since 2012 and was featured by Forbes Asia in their 30 Under 30 list of 2018.

Born in Ayodhya and raised in Bangalore, Sharma had her first modeling assignment for the fashion designer Wendell Rodricks in 2007 and later moved to Mumbai to pursue a full-time career as a model. She made her acting debut opposite Shah Rukh Khan in the top-grossing romantic film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008) and rose to prominence with starring roles in Yash Raj Films‘ romances Band Baaja Baaraat (2010) and Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012); winning the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for the latter. Sharma went on to earn praise for playing strong-willed women in the crime thriller NH10 (2015), and the dramas Dil Dhadakne Do (2015), Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016), and Sui Dhaaga (2018). Her highest-grossing releases came with the sports drama Sultan (2016), and Rajkumar Hirani‘s films PK (2014) and Sanju (2018). This was followed by a hiatus from acting.

Sharma was the co-founder of the production company Clean Slate Filmz, under which she produced several films and web series, including NH10 and Paatal Lok (2020). She is the ambassador for multiple brands and products, has designed her own line of clothing for women, named Nush, and supports various charities and causes, including gender equality and animal rights. Sharma is married to the cricketer Virat Kohli, with whom she has a daughter.

Early Life and modeling career (Anushka Sharma Biography)

Anushka Sharma was born on 1 May 1988 in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Her father, Colonel Ajay Kumar Sharma, is an army officer, and her mother, Ashima Sharma, is a homemaker. Her ancestral home is in Dehradun town of Uttarakhand on Nashville road, her father lived here before joining the Indian army. Anushka Sharma‘s grandmother Urmila still lives in their house. Sharma lived in Sheela Bhawan on Naishvilla Road in her childhood.

Her father is a native of Uttar Pradesh, while her mother is a Garhwali. Her elder brother is film producer Karnesh Sharma, who earlier served in the Merchant Navy. Sharma has stated that being a military brat played an important role in shaping her as a person and contributing to her life. In an interview with The Times of India in 2012, she said, “I take pride in saying that I am an army officer’s daughter even more than being an actor.”

Sharma was raised in Bangalore. But she did her primary schooling at St. Mary’s School, Margherita, Assam. Sakshi Dhoni, the wife of M.S Dhoni, was her classmate in that school. She completed her schooling at Army School, Bangalore. Then she did her graduation in arts from Mount Carmel College, Bangalore.

She originally intended to pursue a career in modeling or journalism and had no aspirations to be an actress. After graduation, Sharma moved to Mumbai to further her modeling career. She enrolled herself at Elite Model Management and was groomed by the style consultant Prasad Bidapa. In 2007, Sharma made her runway debut at the Lakme Fashion Week for designer Wendell Rodricks’s Les Vamps Show and was picked to be his finale model at the Spring Summer 2007 Collection. Since then she has done campaigns for the brands Silk & Shine, Whisper, Nathella Jewelry, and Fiat Palio. Sharma later said, “I think I was born to emote and act. I would walk down the ramp and smile and they used to say, ‘Give us a blank look.’ It was really difficult, not to smile”. Whilst modeling, Sharma also joined an acting school and began auditioning for film roles.

Acting career (Anushka Sharma Biography)

Breakthrough (2008–2013)

Sharma made her acting debut in Aditya Chopra‘s romantic drama Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008), opposite Shah Rukh Khan. She took a day to prepare for her screen test at the Yash Raj Films studio and refused to do an impromptu one. She was signed for a three-film deal with the company and landed the leading role of Tani Sahni, a young bride to a middle-aged man, portrayed by Khan. Khalid Mohamed of Hindustan Times found her to be “assured and upright” in the film, but Nikhat Kazmi thought that she “lacks all chutzpah and can barely hold your attention”. The film was a major commercial success, emerging as the second-highest-grossing Hindi film of that year, and earned Sharma Filmfare Award nominations for Best Actress and Best Female Debut. Two years later, Sharma played the leading lady in the crime-comedy Badmaash Company, directed by Parmeet Sethi and co-starring Shahid Kapoor, Vir Das, and Meiyang Chang. The film, which tells the story of four underachieving friends who begin a scam business enterprise, received mixed reviews.

In 2012, Sharma played a supporting role alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif in Yash Chopra’s “swan song”, the romance Jab Tak Hai Jaan, which marked her fifth collaboration with Yash Raj Films and her second with Khan. She was cast as Akira Rai, a Discovery Channel reporter who harbors ambitions of being a documentary filmmaker. Rajeev Masand wrote that Sharma “brings a spark to the film”, but Raja Sen disagreed and said that “while Anushka can indeed play spunky, she needed here to tone it down several notches”. For her role, she won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. Jab Tak Hai Jaan proved to be the third highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2012.

Sharma next appeared in Vishal Bhardwaj‘s Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola (2013), a political satire set in a village in Haryana. Co-starring alongside Pankaj Kapur, Imran Khan, and Shabana Azmi, Sharma played the titular role of Bijlee Mandola, a strong-headed girl who engages in a romantic affair with Khan’s character despite being engaged to another man. The film received positive to mixed reviews from critics and underperformed at the box office. Several critics noted that Sharma was being stereotyped as a loud and loquacious girl; Raja Sen noted that she “is great in a couple of scenes near the climax,” though Kanika Sikka of Daily News and Analysis was more critical and found her “unconvincing”.

Established actress and expansion into film production (2014–2016)

In 2014, Sharma played a television journalist who befriends an alien (played by Aamir Khan), in Rajkumar Hirani’s religious satire PK. Critic Saibal Chatterjee wrote that Sharma plays “a feisty poetry-loving girl who knows her mind far more than most Hindi film heroines are allowed to” and praised her for “hold[ing] her own” against Khan. Critically acclaimed, PK emerged as the highest-grossing Bollywood film with a worldwide revenue of over ₹7 billion (US$88 million). Sharma launched a production company named Clean Slate Filmz, whose first release was Navdeep Singh’s thriller NH10 (2015), in which she also played the lead role. Screened at the 5th Beijing International Film Festival, it tells the story of a married couple whose lives are endangered after an encounter with a group of criminals. In preparation, Sharma underwent interval training for three months to build her stamina. Saibal Chatterjee found the film to be a “taut and riveting thriller” and praised Sharma for “conveying a range of moods as she moves from the vulnerable to the fearless in a battle in which the odds are stacked heavily against her”, and Prarthana Sarkar of International Business Times credited her for breaking away from her romantic comedy image. The film also emerged as a box office success.

Sharma achieved further success later that year when she played the lead female role of Alizeh Khan, a free-spirited girl in a loveless relationship in Karan Johar‘s romantic drama Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, alongside Ranbir Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai. Mike Maccahil of The Guardian took note of how much Sharma’s “terrific spikiness” and her chemistry with Kapoor helped a mediocre picture. In another typical mixed review, Sweta Kaushal of Hindustan Times praised Sharma’s empowered female lead. The film earned over ₹2 billion (US$25 million) worldwide, and Sharma received the Best Actress nomination at the 62nd Filmfare Awards. With two top-grossing films in 2016, Bollywood Hungama ranked Sharma as the most successful Bollywood actress of the year.

Career fluctuations, production focus, and hiatus (2017–present)

The 2017 fantasy comedy Phillauri, co-starring Suraj Sharma and Diljit Dosanjh, featured Sharma as a friendly ghost who wants to reunite with her lover. In addition to acting and producing, Sharma also sang a song in it. She next collaborated with Shah Rukh Khan for the third time in Imtiaz Ali‘s Jab Harry Met Sejal, a romance about a Gujarati tourist (Sharma) in Europe who falls in love with her tour guide. Commenting on Sharma’s performances in Phillauri and Jab Harry Met Sejal, Uday Bhatia of Mint praised her ability for “straight-faced com[edy]”. Bhatia, however, criticized her pairing with Khan, 22 years her senior, in the latter film. Unlike her 2016 releases, both these films were box office flops.

In the same year, Sharma teamed with Yash Raj Films for the eighth time in Sui Dhaaga, a comedy-drama co-starring Varun Dhawan, about a poor, young couple who begin their own small-scale clothing industry. Ronak Kotecha of The Times of India praised the subtle chemistry between the leads and credited Sharma for playing the restrained role effortlessly. She received a nomination for the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress. Sharma’s final film appearance of the year was in Zero, a drama about a dwarf’s romantic tribulations involving two women, which reunited her with Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif. She played a NASA scientist with cerebral palsy, for which she met with an occupational therapist and an audiologist; she also stayed in character and chose to use a wheelchair between shots. Anupama Chopra considered her portrayal of the condition to be “inconsistent and clumsy” but Namrata Joshi of The Hindu found her “earnest and invested”. As with her previous collaboration with Khan, Zero was a commercial failure.

In 2020, Sharma served as executive producer for her company’s crime thriller series Paatal Lok, which was released on Amazon Prime Video, and produced the horror film Bulbbul for Netflix. Anna M. M. Vetticad found recurring themes of “feminism and the paranormal” in several of her company’s projects, and credited Sharma for her “courageous, non-conformist” choices as a producer. In 2022, Sharma announced that she would step away from her producing duties for her banner Clean Slate Films, and that her brother would be the sole owner of the company.

Sharma will return to acting after four years with a biopic of cricketer Jhulan Goswami, named Chakda ‘Xpress, which will release on Netflix.

Personal life and off-screen work (Anushka Sharma Biography)

Sharma started practicing vegetarianism in 2015. The Times of India has listed her as one of “Bollywood’s hottest vegetarian celebrities”. She has also been named “The Person of the Year” by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on multiple occasions. She is an avid practitioner of Transcendental Meditation. Sharma has confessed to being a victim of anxiety disorder and seeking treatment for it.

Apart from acting, Sharma supports a number of charities and causes. She walked the ramp to support Shabana Azmi‘s Mijwan Welfare Society, a Non-governmental organization that helps empower women. In 2013, alongside other Bollywood actors, she pledged to support the education of India’s young girls as part of NDTV‘s “Our Girls, Our Pride” fundraiser. That same year, she appeared alongside other celebrities in a commercial, produced by the National Film Development Corporation of India, to create awareness about the ‘Right to Education’ for children. In December 2014, Sharma auctioned the leather jacket she wore in Jab Tak Hai Jaan on eBay, with proceeds going to the redevelopment of the flood-ravaged states of Kashmir and Assam. Sharma also fronted a campaign to collect donations for the victims of the April 2015 Nepal earthquake. She supports the annual Mumbai Film Festival and donated money to its cause in 2015. Sharma has been vocal about the disparity in the pay that actresses command, in comparison with their male counterparts in the film industry. In 2016, she supported India’s first transgender band, the 6-Pack Band (initiated by Y-Films), by providing a voice-over in their first single, “Hum Hain Happy.”

Sharma has also spoken up for animal rights on social media. In April 2014, she took to Twitter to ask for a ban on horse-drawn carriages in Mumbai. In June 2015, she condemned the Yulin Dog Meat Festival in China and urged her fans to sign an online petition aimed at stopping it. In October 2015, she launched ‘Pawsitivity’, a campaign aimed at sensitizing people about the adverse effects of noise, air, water, and soil pollution on animals. In October 2017, Sharma launched her own clothing line, named Nush.

Media image (Anushka Sharma Biography)

Priya Gupta of The Times of India has said that “the best part of [Sharma’s] stardom is that she does not have the trappings of a star.” Kalpana Nair of Firstpost stated: “Actresses like Sharma command the respect they do in a largely conservative and male-dominated industry and the fact that their fan base grows when they take on roles that are not conventional is good reason for us to beam widely and walk with a spring in our step”. Samar Srivastava, writing for Forbes, called her “unafraid”, and added: “you would be hard-pressed to associate Sharma with the stereotype of a mainstream leading lady.” The Times of India published that “..she never shies away from putting [her opinion] across.”

Sharma maintains a Twitter account and has an official Facebook page. She is cited as one of the most popular Indian celebrities on social media. In 2015, she appeared on The Huffington Post‘s list of “100 most influential women on Twitter“. The same year, she also topped the Times Celebex list of Bollywood stars, in terms of highest box-office collection. In 2016, she was featured on The Times of India‘s ‘Most Engaging on Twitter‘ list of Hindi film actors. Filmfare magazine’s fashion poll of 2015 voted her as being “Amazing with Androgyny” and said that “…[she] has carved a niche for her easy breezy high street style.” She also featured on Verve magazine’s “Best Dressed 2015” list. In 2018, she was featured in Fortune India’s “50 Most Powerful Women in Business”. In 2019, she was featured on Fortune India’s “50 Most Powerful Women in Business” list again. Sharma is a celebrity endorser for various brands and products, including TVS Scooty, Nivea, Elle 18 cosmetics, Bru coffee, and Pantene.

Filmography (Anushka Sharma Biography)

Films

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi	Taani Sahni
2010	Badmaash Company	Bulbul Singh
	Band Baaja Baaraat	Shruti Kakkar
2011	Patiala House	Simran Chaggal
	Ladies vs Ricky Bahl	Ishika Desai
2012	Jab Tak Hai Jaan	Akira Rai
2013	Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola	Bijlee Mandola
2014	PK	Jagat “Jaggu” Janini
2015	NH10	Meera	Also producer
	Bombay Velvet	Rosie Noronha
	Dil Dhadakne Do	Farah Ali
2016	Sultan	Aarfa Hussain
	Ae Dil Hai Mushkil	Alizeh Khan
2017	Phillauri	Shashi Kumari	Also producer and playback singer for the song “Naughty Billo”
	Jab Harry Met Sejal	Sejal Zaveri
2018	Pari	Rukhsana	Also producer
	Sanju	Winnie Diaz
	Sui Dhaaga	Mamta Sharma
	Zero	Aafia Yusufzai Bhinder
2020	Bulbbul	—	Producer only
2022	Qala	Devika	Cameo
2023	Chakda ‘Xpress	Jhulan Goswami	Completed

Television

Music video

Awards and Nominations (Anushka Sharma Biography)

Film awards

Other awards and recognitions (Anushka Sharma Biography)

Other honors (Anushka Sharma Biography)

2009

• Listed in Super Cinema’s list of Best Debut Actress of the Decade (2000-2009)
• Listed in Femina (India) List of “India’s Most Beautiful Women“

2010

• Listed in Rediff.com’s list of “Bollywood Best Actors “
• Listed in Femina (India) List of India’s “Most Beautiful Women”

2011

• Listed in The Times of India as “Most Desirable Woman“
• Listed in Femina (India) List of India’s “Most Beautiful Women”
• Listed in Times Celebex List of Bollywood Stars
• 9th Most Searched Female Actor on Google India

2012

• Debut in India Forbes Celebrity 100
• Listed in Femina (India) List of India’s “Most Beautiful Women“
• Listed in Times Celebex List of Bollywood Stars
• Listed in The Times of India as “Most Desirable Woman”

2013

• Listed in Femina (India) List of India’s “Most Beautiful Women”
• Listed in Vogue India List of Best-Dressed Celebrities
• Listed in The Times of India as “Most Desirable Woman”
• Listed in Times Celebex List of Bollywood Stars
• 2nd Most Searched Female Actor on Google India
• Listed in India’s Forbes Celebrity 100

2014

• Listed in Bollywood Hungama List of Highest Grossing Bollywood Actress
• Listed in Forbes Celebrity 100 India
• Listed in Femina (India) List of India’s”Most Beautiful Women”
• Listed in The Times of India as “Most Desirable Woman”
• Listed in Time’s Celebrex List of Bollywood Stars

2015

• Listed in Rediff.com’s List of “Bollywood Best Actors”
• Listed in Huffington Post’s List Of Most Influential Women on Twitter
• Listed in Forbes Celebrity 100 India
• Listed in Times Celebex List of Bollywood Stars
• Listed in The Times of India’s “Times Most Desirable Women”
• Listed in Verve (magazine) For Best Dressed Actress
• Listed in IMDb List of “Most Beautiful Women”
• Listed in Filmfare Magazine Fashion Poll “Amazing with Androgyny”
• Listed in the List of Maxim Hot 100
• Listed in Femina (India) List of India’s Most Beautiful Women
• Listed in Bollywood Hungama List of Highest Grossing Bollywood Actress
• Listed in Vogue India List of Best-Dressed Celebrities
• Listed in IMDb List of Top 10 Stars Of Indian Cinema

2016

• Listed in IMDb Top 10 Stars Of Indian Cinema
• Listed in Forbes Celebrity 100 India
• Topped Bollywood Hungama’s List of Highest-Grossing Bollywood Actress
• Listed in Times Celebex List of Bollywood Stars
• Listed in Rediff.com List of “Bollywood Best Actors”
• 6th Most Searched Female Actor on Google India
• Listed in Vogue India List of Best-Dressed Celebrities
• Listed in Verve (magazine) for Best Dressed Actress
• Listed in The Times of India “Most Engaging” on Twitter
• Listed in IMDb List of “Most Beautiful Women”
• Listed in The Times of India’s “Times Most Desirable Women”
• Listed in the List of Maxim Hot 100 India
• Listed in Femina (India) List of India’s Most Beautiful Women

2017

• Listed in Power List Of “Top Actor Producer”
• Listed in IMDb Top 10 Stars Of Indian Cinema
• Grab the Top most Spot in Indias Today Mood Of The Nation Poll As “No 1 Heroine”
• Listed in Femina (India) List of “India’s Most Beautiful Women”
• Listed in Times Celebex List of Bollywood Stars
• 4th Top Most Female Entertainment Handles on Twitter
• Listed in IMDb List of “Most Beautiful Women”
• Listed in the List of Maxim Hot 100 India
• Listed in Vogue India List of “Best Dressed Celebrities”
• Listed in The Times of India as “Most Desirable Woman”
• Listed in India’s Forbes Celebrity 100

2018

• Listed in Verve (magazine) for “Best Dressed Actress”
• Listed in Maxim Hot 100
• Listed in Bollywood Hungama List of Highest Grossing Bollywood Actress
• Listed in Vogue India List of Best-Dressed Celebrities
• Grab the Top most Spot in the Times Celebex List of Bollywood Stars
• Listed in IMDb List of “Most Beautiful Women”
• Grab the Top spot in Indias Today Mood Of The Nation Poll As “No 1 Heroine”
• Listed in Score Trends “Most Influential Star On Social Media”
• Listed in Indias Today Top 50 Power People
• Listed in Femina (India) List of India’s Most Beautiful Women
• Listed in t2 Telegraph List OF “Most Promising Gen-Y Actress”
• 4th Top Most Female Entertainment Handles on Twitter
• Listed in Rediff.com’s List of “Bollywood Best Actors”
• Listed in Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia
• Listed in Fortune India’s List Of “Most Powerful Women in Business “
• Listed in India’s Forbes Celebrity 100

2019

• 2nd top most Female Entertainment Handles on Twitter
• Listed in Fortune India’s List Of “Most Powerful Women in Business”
• Listed in bestofthelist.com List of “Most Beautiful Indian Actress”
• Listed in Femina (India) List of “India’s Most Beautiful Women”
• Listed in IMDb “Most Beautiful Woman”
• Ranked No. 2 in India Today Mood Of The Nation Poll As No 1 Heroine
• Ranked 11th in Celebrity Brand Ranking by “Duff & Phelps”
• Listed in India’s Forbes Celebrity 100

2020

• Listed in Super Cinema List of Top 10 Heroines Of Today
• Listed in Super Cinema List of Highest Grossing Bollywood Actress of the Decade (2010-2019)
• Listed in Ormax Stars India List of “Most Popular Female Stars of the Decade (2010-19)”
• Grab the No. 1 Spot in Score Trend India List of “Most Popular Actress on Twitter 2019”
• Ranked 18th in Celebrity Brand ranking by “Duff & Phelps” in 2019.
• Ranked #2 among actresses in India Today’s Mood of the Nation survey for 2019.
• Featured in BW Businessworld List of “Most Influential Women”
• Listed in Global Woman Powerhouse Producer List of “Most Powerful Woman Producers in the World”
• Ranked #5th in India Today’s Mood of the Nation Survey as “India’s Most Popular Bollywood Actress” in 2020
• Ranked #4th in the List of CEO World Magazine Of “Top 10 Richest Bollywood Actress”
• Ranked 48 in Yahoo India’s List of “50 Most Influential People”
• Listed in Forbes Asia’s 100 Digital Star
• Listed in Fortune India List Of “Most Powerful Women in Business”
• Ranked #25 in the Global List of “100 Instagram Influencers”
• Ranked #45 in the Eastern Eye List of “Top 50 Asian Celebrities”
• Ranked 5th in India Today “Mood of the Nation Poll” A No 1 Heroine.
• Ranked 13 in the List of “Wizikey Rank and Score”

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