Janhvi Kapoor (born March 6, 1997) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Hindi cinema. She was born to actress Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor and made her acting debut in 2018 with the commercially successful love drama Dhadak.
Janhvi Kapoor’s subsequent theatrical films were commercially unsuccessful, although she garnered Filmfare Award nominations for Best Actress for her roles as the titular aviator in Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl (2020) and a woman locked in a freezer in Mili (2022). In 2024, she appeared briefly in the Telugu action drama Devara: Part 1, which became her highest-grossing film.
Early Life and Background
Janhvi Kapoor was born on March 6, 1997. Her father is film producer Boney Kapoor, son of the late filmmaker Surinder Kapoor, and her mother is actress Sridevi. She is the niece of actors Anil and Sanjay Kapoor. Her father’s first marriage produced two half-siblings: Arjun (an actor) and Anshula Kapoor. Kapoor’s mother died in Dubai from an accidental drowning when she was 20 years old.
Kapoor attended Ecole Mondiale World School in Mumbai. Before making her film debut, she attended an acting class at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in California.
Career
Debut and female-led films of janhvi kapoor (2018–2022)
Kapoor made her acting debut in 2018 with the Shashank Khaitan-directed romance Dhadak, co-starring Ishaan Khatter and produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. It was a Hindi-language version of the 2016 Marathi film Sairat, in which she played a young upper-class lady whose life takes a fatal turn after she elopes with a lower-class male (Khatter). Despite unfavorable reviews, the film was a commercial success, grossing ₹1.1 billion globally. While writing for News18, Rajeev Masand critiqued the film for omitting caste-based references and judged it inferior to the original, but believed Kapoor had “a fragility”.
Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost said she “lacks personality and delivers a colorless performance”.
Kapoor’s next film role occurred in 2020 when she appeared in Zoya Akhtar’s portion of the Netflix horror anthology film Ghost Stories. Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express criticized the segments but stated that the “only real surprise comes from Janhvi Kapoor in a solid, real act”. She later starred as aviator Gunjan Saxena in the biography Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, which was unable to be distributed theatrically owing to the COVID-19 outbreak and was instead streamed on Netflix.
In preparation, she spent time with Saxena, went through physical training, and learned Air Force officer body language. Kapoor’s portrayal was hailed as “passably steady” by Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV, while Rahul Desai of Film Companion praised her “deceptively private performance” as “pitch-perfect”.
Kapoor co-starred with Rajkummar Rao in the 2021 comedic horror thriller Roohi. The film was released in theatres following multiple delays caused by the second wave of the COVID-19 epidemic. The film and Kapoor’s performance were criticized by reviewers, and it did poorly at the box office. The next year, Kapoor acted in Good Luck Jerry, an Aanand L.
Rai-produced version of the 2018 Tamil film Kolamaavu Kokila. It debuted on the streaming service Disney+ Hotstar. In her second film, Mili, a replica of the Malayalam film Helen, she played a young lady locked in a freezer, a role originally played by Anna Ben. Anupama Chopra appreciated the “sweetness and sincerity” she provided to the role but thought it was far less polished than Ben’s portrayal. It debuted as a box office failure. She won another Best Actress nomination from Filmfare.
Career fluctuations (2023–present)
Kapoor was featured alongside Varun Dhawan in Nitesh Tiwari’s romance film Bawaal (2023), which is about a fighting couple who learn about World War II while traveling throughout Europe. It was available digitally through Amazon Prime Video. The film was criticized for trivializing the Holocaust. Beatrice Loayza, writing for The New York Times, critiqued the starring pair’s lack of chemistry and regarded Kapoor as “devoid of charisma”. Leaf Arbuthnot of The Guardian disliked the film and their relationship, but praised her “still, mature performance”.
janhvi Kapoor in Last Years
In 2024, janhvi Kapoor had three film releases. She reunited with Rajkummar Rao for the sports drama Mr. & Mrs. Mahi, which follows a guy who achieves his ambition of becoming a professional cricketer through his wife. Kapoor injured her shoulder twice while filming scenes involving cricket. Despite participating in nine films, Shilajit Mishra of The Hindu said she was yet to develop the “requisite ease in performance”. Following that, she portrayed a young Indian Foreign Service officer accused of rebellion against the government in the political thriller Ulajh.
Janhvi Kapoor claimed to feel “obsessive” about the film since she was so involved in the creative process. Pratikshya Mishra of The Quint praised Kapoor’s performance in “emotionally demanding scenes” in her mixed assessment of the film. Mr. & Mrs. Mahi and Ulajh, like her other theatrical outings, were commercially unsuccessful.
Kapoor also made his Telugu film debut in 2024, appearing briefly opposite N. T. Rama Rao Jr in Koratala Siva’s action flick Devara: Part 1. Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com derided her presence in a rare androcentric production, noting that she “shows up only post interval to pout and preen around NTR’s machismo”. Devara: Part 1 grossed over ₹5 billion (US$58 million), making it Kapoor’s first financial hit since Dhadak and her highest-grossing film.
Kapoor will continue her cooperation with Dharma Productions in the romantic comedy Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, alongside Dhawan, and will also appear opposite Ram Charan in the Telugu film RC16. She will also play alongside Sidharth Malhotra in the romantic drama Param Sundari.
Media image of Janhvi Kapoor
Kapoor has been named to Rediff.com’s “Best Actresses” list in 2020 and 2022. She endorses various companies and products, including Nykaa, Drools, and Aldo. Kapoor has consistently appeared on The Times of India’s list of the most desirable women, placing 28th in 2018, 24th in 2019, and 18th in 2020.
Janhvi Kapoor (born March 6, 1997) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Hindi cinema. She was born to actress Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor and made her acting debut in 2018 with the commercially successful love drama Dhadak.
Her subsequent theatrical films were commercially unsuccessful, although she garnered Filmfare Award nominations for Best Actress for her roles as the titular aviator in Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl (2020) and a woman locked in a freezer in Mili (2022). In 2024, she appeared briefly in the Telugu action drama Devara: Part 1, which became her highest-grossing film.