Aditya Roy Kapur

Kapur was initially a VJ on the music channel Channel V India, where his comic timing and "unique style of hosting" was appreciated.[4] He starred in a show titled Pakao and also hosted the popular show, India's Hottest with VJ Bruna Abdullah till 2008.

Kapur made his Hindi film debut with a supporting role in the 2009 musical drama London Dreams starring Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn and Asin Thottumkal.[10] The series of supporting roles continued with his two films released in 2010–the Akshay Kumar-starrer Action Replayy and the Hrithik Roshan-starrer Guzaarish. However, none of these films performed well at the box office but made Kapur a prominent actor .[11] For his performance in Guzaarish, Khaleej Times stated, "Kapur is natural and vivacious and in-sync with the film’s spirit of celebrating life."[12]

In 2013, Kapur found his breakthrough role as Rahul Jaykar in the musical romance Aashiqui 2 co-starring Shraddha Kapoor.[13] Premiering on 26 April 2013, Aashiqui 2 emerged as a commercial success at the box-office and was one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films of 2013, earning ₹1.45 billion (US$18 million) worldwide within the first four weeks.[14] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama praised his performance, writing that "...Aditya Roy Kapur's depiction of the intense character is outstanding... [which] clearly demonstrates his potency as an artist of caliber and competence."[15] Hindustan Times critic Anupama Chopra noted that Kapur "gives Rahul's angst a certain charm... He is earnest and broken."[16] The same year, Kapur played Avinash Arora in the coming-of-age romantic comedy-drama Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, which not only became one of the highest grossing Indian films but also the highest grossing film of his career.[17][18] Praising him, Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN stated, "Aditya Roy Kapur is entirely likeable as the goofy Avi."[19] While Rachit Gupta of Filmfare opined, "Aditya seems to be picking up where he left off in Aashiqui 2 and it works for him."[20]

In 2014, he played Tariq Haider in the romantic comedy film Daawat-e-Ishq alongside Parineeti Chopra. The film released to average reviews by critics, and was financially unsuccessful.[21][22] Sarita A. Tanwar of Daily News and Analysis stated, "Aditya play his part well and manages to hold his own but the film belongs to the leading lady."[23] In 2016, Kapur starred as Noor Nizami in the romantic drama film Fitoor alongside Tabu and Katrina Kaif based on Charles Dickens' 1861 novel Great Expectations.[24] Sweta Kaushal of Hindustan Times found Tabu and Aditya as "undoubtedly the best bets" in Fitoor.[25] Kapur also made cameo appearances in films Dear Zindagi and Welcome To New York.[26]

In 2017, Kapur starred as Aditya Gunjal in the romantic drama film Ok Jaanu alongside Shraddha Kapoor[27] which received mixed reviews from critics, Bollywood Hungama wrote, "Aditya Roy Kapur plays his part well, though he struggles with the emotional scenes. His portrayal of an urban career oriented boy is very believable."[28] In 2019, he starred as Dev Chaudhry in the romantic drama film Kalank alongside Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Sonakshi Sinha. The film received mixed reviews upon release, and was unsuccessful at the box office.[29][30] Shomini Sen of WION wrote, "Aditya, is pitch perfect as the righteous, lonesome Dev who is stuck between his two wives."[31]

Kapur with Disha Patani promoting their film Malang

Kapur had three releases in 2020. He first starred as Adavit Thakur in the romantic action thriller Malang alongside Disha Patani.[32] Kapur's performance got positive reviews from critics. Harshada Rege of The Times of India wrote, "Aditya impresses in the role of a guy whose life goes through a major upheaval. He shows restraint and finesses in his performance. The actor's physical transformation adds weight to all the kicks and punches he pulls in the film."[33] Bollywood Hungama called his performance as "very convincing as a fearless man with a vengeance who can take on dozens of goons.[34]

He then starred as Vishal Agnihotri in the road film Sadak 2 alongside Sanjay Dutt and Alia Bhatt, which released on the streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar. The film was universally panned by critics, with criticism for its performance, script, dialogues and use of clichés.[35] Anupama Chopra of Film Companion wrote, "The storytelling, performances dialogue, cinematography, songs, background music – all seem to belong to the 90's".[36] He starred in the black comedy crime film Ludo as Aakash Chauhan alongside Sanya Malhotra which released on Netflix as his last film of the year.[37][38] Tanul Thakur of The Wire noted, "Kapur is easily the best of the lot, assured, funny, relaxed, lending Ludo the breeziness it badly needs."[39]

Kapur and Sanjana Sanghi starred in the action thriller film Rashtra Kavach Om.[40][41] It released theatrically in 2022 with received negative response from critics towards the storyline eventually became Box office bomb.[42][43] Nairita Mukherjee of India Today wrote "Aditya Roy Kapur's glistening biceps, though impressive, may not be strong enough to hold the weight of this strictly average actioner".[44]

In 2023, Kapur starred in The Night Manager, a remake of the British television series of the same name, playing the part originally played by Tom Hiddleston.[45] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV opined, "Kapur's performance isn't a patch on Hiddleston's. But the adaptation allows him to be himself. That works to his advantage."[46] In April 2023 he starred in Gumraah alongside Mrunal Thakur, which was the Hindi remake of the 2019 Tamil film Thadam.[47] Zinia Bandyopadhyay of India Today noted, "Aditya Roy Kapur is earnest in playing both the characters and tries to make you feel how they are starkly different from each other with his performance."[48] The film underperformed commercially, becoming a box-office disaster.[49]

Kapur will be next seen in Metro… In Dino in 2024 alongside Sara Ali Khan, directed by Anurag Basu.[50]