Sonam Kapoor Ahuja (born 9 June 1985) is an Indian versatile actress.
Kapoor, the daughter of actor Anil Kapoor, began her career as an assistant director on filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2005 drama Black.
She later made her acting debut in Bhansali’s romantic drama Saawariya (2007), a box office flop,
And had her first commercial success with the romantic comedy I Hate Luv Storys (2010).
Further, the 2013 box office hit Raanjhanaa marked a turning point in Kapoor’s career.
Garnering her praise and Best Actress nominations at several award ceremonies.
Finally, Kapoor had her biggest commercial successes with supporting roles in the biopics Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013) and Sanju (2018), and a leading role in the romance Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015); the latter two rank among the highest-grossing Bollywood films.
Life and Career
Early Life(1985–2006):
Kapoor was born in the Bombay suburb of Chembur on 9 June 1985. Her father is actor and producer Anil Kapoor, the son of the late filmmaker Surinder Kapoor and the founder of the Anil Kapoor Films Company.
Also her mother, Sunita, is a former model and designer. Kapoor has two younger siblings: film producer Rhea and brother Harshvardhan.
Not only but also, she is the niece of film producer Boney Kapoor and actor Sanjay Kapoor; actress Sridevi and producer Mona Shourie (Boney’s wives) are her aunts.
Kapoor’s paternal cousins are actors Arjun Kapoor and Mohit Marwah, and maternal second cousin is actor Ranveer Singh.
Further, She was educated at the Arya Vidya Mandir school in Juhu, where she confessed to being a “naughty” and “carefree” child who would bully the boys.
She excelled at sports such as rugby and basketball, and trained in Kathak, classical music and Latin dance. Kapoor, who practices Hinduism, states that she is “quite religious”, and that it is a way of “reminding myself that I need to be thankful for so much”.
As a teenager, she struggled with her weight. Kapoor was diagnosed with insulin resistance and polycystic ovarian disease.
And has since begun an initiative to increase awareness of diabetes.
Kapoor enrolled at the United World College of South East Asia in Singapore for her pre-university education, where she studied theatre and arts.
She said that after returning from University of East London,
She started courses in economics and political science through University of Mumbai correspondence programme.
Debut and career fluctuations (2007–2012)
During the production of Black, Kapoor developed an interest in acting when Bhansali professed that he wanted to cast her in the lead in his next film, Saawariya. She was advised to lose weight; at the time, she weighed about 80 kilograms.
Motivated by Bhansali’s confidence in her, she lost 35 kilograms in two years.
Kapoor studied acting with Roshan Taneja, Jayati Bhatia and Feroz Abbas Khan, and has cited actresses Waheeda Rehman and Nutan as influences, admiring their “path-breaking films … and quality of doing different things”.
Released in 2007, Saawariya saw Kapoor play a Muslim woman.
Consequently awaiting the return of her lover opposite Mukerji and Ranbir Kapoor. Saawariya proved to be a major critical and commercial failure.
Further in 2009, Kapoor played an aspiring singer opposite Waheeda Rehman and Abhishek Bachchan in the Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra-directed drama Delhi-6 in which she proved that she is a versatile actress. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was not a box-office success.
Kapoor’s first release in 2010 was Punit Malhotra’s romantic comedy I Hate Luv Storys, opposite Imran Khan. She played an engaged woman who develops a one-sided attraction to her commitment-phobic co-worker.
I Hate Luv Storys was Kapoor’s first commercial success, earning ₹725.2 million (US$10 million) worldwide.
Kapoor next played the eponymous role in Aisha, a romantic comedy adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Emma, which was produced by her sister Rhea.
In addition to this only she described her role opposite Abhay Deol, Ira Dubey.
And Amrita Puri as “a meddlesome busybody with a passion for matchmaking and playing Cupid”.
Furthermore in 2011, Kapoor starred in Thank You, a comedy about three women who teach a lesson to their philandering husbands. The film, along with Kapoor’s performance, received poor reviews.
Establishing with Raanjhanaa (2013–2015)
Further, Kapoor’s role in the Anand L. Rai-directed romantic drama Raanjhanaa (2013) marked a turning point in her career.
In the film Sonam Kapoor role was of Zoya Haider, a young Muslim student from Varanasi.
Later on, who is drawn into politics after the murder of her Sikh lover. To prepare for her part, Kapoor interacted with students, attended workshops and practised with theatre groups associated with Jawaharlal Nehru University.
With worldwide earnings of over ₹1 billion (US$14 million), Raanjhanaa was a commercial success.
Kapoor followed the success of Raanjhanaa with a brief appearance in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013), a biopic on athlete Milkha Singh. In fact Bhaag Milkha Bhaag was one of the top-grossing Bollywood films of the year.
In 2014, Sonam worked in film Bewakoofiyaan, portrayed as banker Mayera opposite Ayushmann Khurrana and Rishi Kapoor.
She next starred with Fawad Khan in the romantic comedy Khoobsurat in 2015.
Neerja, Marriage and Further(2016-2018)
Kapoor starred in Ram Madhvani’s biographical thriller Neerja (2016) in which she proved that she is a versatile actress. She was cast as the eponymous air hostess Neerja Bhanot, who died while saving the passengers of the hijacked Pan Am Flight 73 in 1986.
Kapoor felt responsible towards the project because it is about real events, and met Bhanot’s family as a preparation for her role.The film garnered wide critical acclaim, and several commentators considered Kapoor’s performance to be her best to date.
With a worldwide gross over ₹1.35 billion (US$19 million).
Neerja emerged as one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films featuring a female protagonist.
After taking a long break of 2 years, from screen Sonam Kapoor played a social worker in R. Balki’s comedy-drama Pad Man (2018). Based on a short story in Twinkle Khanna’s book “The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad”.
The film is based on the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham, who campaigned for menstrual hygiene in rural India. Furthermore Co-starring Akshay Kumar and Radhika Apte.
On 8 May 2018, Kapoor married Indian businessman Anand Ahuja in a traditional Sikh ceremony in Bandra. The following month, she featured in Shashanka Ghosh’s Veere Di Wedding, a female buddy film co-starring Kareena Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania.
With earnings of over ₹1.34 billion (US$19 million), the film proved to her second top-grossing Hindi film not featuring a well-known male star.
Later that month, Kapoor featured in Rajkumar Hirani’s biopic of the actor Sanjay Dutt, entitled Sanju, as one of Dutt’s love interests.
Kapoor said that despite her brief role, she agreed to the project to work with Hirani.
And to reunite with Ranbir Kapoor after her debut.
Sanju broke several box-office records, becoming one of the highest-grossing Indian films.
Films of 2019:
In 2019, Kapoor starred in the coming-of-age film Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (as Sonam K Ahuja), co-starring her father, Juhi Chawla, and Rajkummar Rao. She played a closeted lesbian who has trouble coming out to her conservative family.
Sonam then worked in Abhishek Sharma’s film adaptation of Anuja Chauhan’s romantic comedy novel The Zoya Factor in which,
She played the titular character of a clumsy woman who becomes a lucky charm for the Indian cricket team.
Philanthropy
Kapoor has supported charitable organisations for various causes which shows that she is not just a versatile actress but also a socialist. In 2009, she participated in the International Indian Film Academy Awards fashion show, which supports widows and orphans of Indian film-industry workers.
In addition to this only on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) she wrote to Maharashtra Home Minister R. R. Patil, protesting against the use of glass-coated manja (used on fighter kites), which kills birds who become entangled in it.
In 2018, however, she attracted some controversy when she declared her support for,
Salman Khan upon his conviction for hunting an endangered blackbuck, despite her previous criticism of trophy hunting.
In 2012, the versatile actress Kapoor asked fans to donate to the Ogaan Cancer Foundation for her birthday, and collaborated with the foundation to increase awareness of breast cancer.
She is also the brand ambassador for the Elle Breast Cancer Campaign.
Kapoor auctioned some of her clothes on stylist Pernia Qureshi’s online fashion boutique, Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop, in 2012. The proceeds were donated to Smile Foundation, a child-welfare organisation.
In 2014, she attended a charitable art exhibition organised by the Rouble Nagi Art Foundation,[166] and donated clothing and accessories to a website raising funds for In Defense of Animals.
Kapoor is a versatile actress and also walked the ramp in a 2015 fashion show by Manish Malhotra for the Mijwan Welfare Society, a non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering girls.
The same year, she appeared with Hrithik Roshan in the music video for,
“Dheere Dheere”, whose profits were donated to charity.
Watch Sonam Kapoor talking about breast cancer.
In 2017, she hosted a dinner to raise funds for children suffering from cancer.
Awards:
- In 2008 Stardust awards for Saawariya as Superstar of Tomorrow – Female.
- Further, in 2015 Stardust awards for Khoobsurat as Best Actress in Comedy or Romance.
- BIG Star Entertainment Awards for Prem Ratan Dhan Payo as Most Entertaining Actor in a Romantic Role – Female in 2015.
- Furthermore Indian Film Festival of Melbourne as Best Actress for Neerja in 2016.
- Asiavision Awards as Icon of the Year for Neerja in 2016.
- Similarly Asiavision Awards as Best Actress for Neerja in 2016.
- Stardust Awards as Editor’s Choice Best Actress of the Year for Neerja in 2016.
- Filmfare Awards as Best Actress (Critics) for Neerja in 2017.
- Lokmat Maharashtra Awards as Best Actress for Neerja in 2017.
- Also National Film Awards for Neerja in 2017.
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