Kriti Sanon at 36: How an outsider became one of Bollywood’s most bankable leading ladies

In an industry where surnames often play a big role, Kriti Sanon has spent the last twelve years establishing that talent, hard work and wise decisions can help make one’s own way. From being an engineering graduate from Delhi with no ties to the film industry, she became an award-winning star in Bollywood.

Kriti was born on July 27, 1990. After completing her graduation in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, she explored the field of modelling from where she moved on to acting. Although acting was not a part of her initial plan, she went on to enter Bollywood soon after her successful modelling career. She got her first acting role opposite Mahesh Babu in the Telugu film 1: Nenokkadine before entering Bollywood that same year with Heropanti alongside Tiger Shroff. Her confidence reaped her the Filmfare award for Best Female Debut.

Instead of looking for stereotypical roles, Kriti has increased her list of projects comprising box office successes as well as artistic films. She stood out in her roles in Dilwale, Bareilly Ki Barfi, Luka Chuppi and participated in successful movies like Housefull 4 and Bhediya.

After 2021’s Mimi, Kriti has taken on bigger challenges while displaying her versatility as an actress. Although Mimi featured her as a surrogate mother requiring great emotional depth along with physical transformation in the role, she performed the part with maturity that led her to winning the National Film Award for Best Actress. Such performance led many critics to change their opinion who had previously called her as just another pretty actress. Even five years after 2021, the role of Mimi is still one of the best performances in her film career.

Since that time, she has taken on new projects displaying her versatility as an actress. In Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya she appeared as an AI-powered robot Sifra. Kriti also starred in a comedy titled Crew and for the last movie – Do Patti – she played both lead roles along with being a producer.

Kriti has earned reforms within her business portfolio. She is one of the co-founders of Hyphen, which is a skincare brand, while also being involved in fitness business through The Tribe. Such business activity shows that Kriti has serious plans for the future beyond being an actress.

At 36, Kriti Sanon signifies a different kind of self-made star in Bollywood. While she has not had the luxury of the support provided by a famous surname, Kriti has risen to become one of the most popular actresses of the Hindi film industry. Her success stems from a long list of noteworthy and awarded performances, a string of box-office hits, many entrepreneurial projects in the pipeline, and various other achievements.