Sanjay Kapoor

Sanjay Surinder Kapoor (born 17 October 1965) is an Indian actor and producer who works primarily in Hindi film and television. Born to producer Surinder Kapoor, Kapoor made his acting debut with Prem (1995) and had his breakthrough with Raja, in the same year.

Kapoor went onto appear in several films as a lead, most successful of which was Sirf Tum (1999). Following unsuccessful films and a hiatus, Kapoor earned praises for his portrayal in the television series Dil Sambhal Jaa Zara (2017–2018) and the web series, The Gone Game (2020–2022) and The Fame Game (2022). Kapoor's other notable films include Shakti: The Power (2002), Luck by Chance (2009), Seetharama Kalyana (2019), Mission Mangal (2019), Merry Christmas (2024) and Murder Mubarak (2024).

Kapoor is the founder and director of Sanjay Kapoor Entertainment Private Limited. He is married to entrepreneur Maheep Kapoor, with whom he has two children.

Kapoor was born on 17 October 1965 in Mumbai, to Nirmal Kapoor and film producer Surinder Kapoor, into a Punjabi Hindu family which embraces Arya Samaj teachings. He is the youngest of four children. His elder brothers are Boney Kapoor, a film producer and Anil Kapoor, an actor. Actress Sridevi and the producer Mona Shourie Kapoor, both Boney's wives, were his sisters-in-law, and Sandeep Marwah, founder of the Noida Film City and owner of Marwah Studios, is his brother-in-law, married to his sister Reena Marwah. Actors Sonam Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Janhvi Kapoor, Khushi Kapoor, Mohit Marwah and Harshvardhan Kapoor, and film producer Rhea Kapoor are his nephews and nieces. Prithviraj Kapoor, patriarch of the Kapoor family, was his father's cousin.

Kapoor made his debut in Hindi cinema in 1995 with the movie Prem, opposite newcomer Tabu. Although both debutants rendered fairly decent performances, the movie was delayed for many years as it was in production since 1989. Sanjay was 30 when it finally released, the press then dismissively calling him Hindi industry's "oldest newcomer." It bombed at the box office. Kapoor's next movie was Raja (1995) opposite Madhuri Dixit which was a box office success. He went on to star in several films as a lead actor such as Auzaar (1997), Mohabbat (1997) and Sirf Tum (1999). Apart from the moderately successful Chhupa Rustam: A Musical Thriller (2001) he didn't have much success as a lead actor as most of his films failed at the box office. In 2002, he appeared as a villain playing the psychotic husband of Esha Deol in Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe. His performance was praised by critics.

He started playing supporting roles in films like Qayamat: City Under Threat (2003), Julie (2004), Luck By Chance (2009) and Shaandaar (2015).

He turned to producing with his first production Tevar starring his nephew Arjun Kapoor releasing in 2015. He played a cameo appearing alongside his brother Anil for the first time in Mubarakan (2017).

In early 2018, Sanjay was cast in the anthology film Lust Stories as a lead character opposite actress Manisha Koirala. In the same year, he was cast in the movie The Zoya Factor as his real life niece Sonam Kapoor's on screen father, and in 2019 in the Kannada film Seetharama Kalyana. In 2020, he appeared in a short film Sleeping Partner opposite actress Divya Dutta.