Janhvi Kapoor (born 6 March 1997) is an Indian actress who works in
Hindi films. Born to film actress
Sridevi and producer
Boney Kapoor, she made her acting debut in 2018 with the romantic drama Dhadak, which was a commercial success. Her subsequent theatrical releases were commercially unsuccessful, but she received nominations for the
Filmfare Award for Best Actress for playing the
titular aviator in Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl (2020) and a woman trapped in a freezer in Mili (2022).
Early life and background
Janhvi Kapoor was born on 6 March 1997.[1][2] Her father is the film producer
Boney Kapoor, the son of the late filmmaker
Surinder Kapoor,[3] and her mother is the actress
Sridevi. She is the niece of film actors
Anil and
Sanjay Kapoor.[4] Her younger sister,
Khushi, is also an actress.[5] She has two half siblings,
Arjun (an actor) and Anshula Kapoor from her father's first marriage.[6] Kapoor lost her mother at age 20, when she was found dead of an accidental drowning in Dubai.[7]
Kapoor made her acting debut in 2018 with the
Shashank Khaitan-directed romance Dhadak, co-starring
Ishaan Khatter. A
Hindi-language remake of the 2016
Marathi film Sairat, it featured her as a young upper-class girl whose life turns tragic after she elopes with a lower-class boy (played by Khatter). The film received predominantly negative reviews,[10] but with a worldwide collection of ₹1.1 billion, it proved to be a commercial success.[11][12] Writing for News18,
Rajeev Masand criticised the film for removing caste-based references and deemed it inferior to the original, but felt Kapoor had "a fragility that makes her instantly endearing, and a soulful quality that makes it hard to take your eyes off her on screen".[13] Conversely,
Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost thought that she "lacks personality and delivers a colourless performance".[14] She won the
Zee Cine Award for Best Female Debut.[15][16]
Kapoor's next screen appearance came in 2020 when she starred in
Zoya Akhtar's segment in the
Netflix horror anthology film Ghost Stories.[17] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express disliked the segments but added that the "only real surprise comes from Janhvi Kapoor in a solid, real act".[18] She then took on the title role of aviator
Gunjan Saxena in the biopic Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, which due to the
COVID-19 pandemic could not be released theatrically and instead streamed on Netflix.[19] In preparation, she spent time with Saxena, underwent physical training, and learned the body language of an air force officer.[20] Saibal Chatterjee of
NDTV described Kapoor's performance as "passably steady" while Rahul Desai of
Film Companion was more appreciative of her "deceptively private performance" which he considered to be "pitch-perfect".[21][22] She received a nomination for the
Filmfare Award for Best Actress.[23]
In 2021, Kapoor played a dual role opposite
Rajkummar Rao in the comedy horror film Roohi.[24] The film was theatrically released after several delays due to the second wave of the
COVID-19 pandemic.[25] The film and Kapoor's performance were panned by critics,[26][27] and it performed poorly at the box-office.[28] The following year, Kapoor starred in Good Luck Jerry, a remake of the 2018 Tamil film Kolamaavu Kokila, produced by
Aanand L. Rai.[29] It was released on the streaming platform
Disney+ Hotstar.[30] In her next film, Mili, a remake of the Malayalam film
Helen, she played a young woman trapped in a freezer, which was played by
Anna Ben in the original.[31]Anupama Chopra was appreciative of the "sweetness and sincerity" she brought to the part but considered it much less accomplished than Ben's performance.[32] It emerged as a
box-office bomb.[33] She received another Best Actress nomination at Filmfare.[34]
2023–present
Kapoor starred opposite
Varun Dhawan in
Nitesh Tiwari's Bawaal (2023), a romantic drama about a feuding couple who learn about
World War II as they travel across Europe. It was released digitally on Amazon Prime Video.[35] The film received backlash for
Holocaust trivialization.[36] Writing for The New York Times, Beatrice Loayza criticised the lack of chemistry between the lead pair and dismissed Kapoor as "devoid of charisma".[37] Leaf Arbuthnot of The Guardian also panned the film and their chemistry but was appreciative of her "still, mature performance".[38]
Kapoor will continue her collaborations with
Dharma Productions by appearing in two upcoming projects: the sports film Mr. & Mrs. Mahi, co-starring Rajkummar Rao, and the romantic comedy Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, opposite Dhawan.[39][40] While playing the role of a cricketer in the former, she twice dislocated her shoulder.[41] She will also portray a young
Indian Foreign Service officer in the political thriller Ulajh and feature opposite
N. T. Rama Rao Jr. in the
Telugu action film Devara from filmmaker
Koratala Siva.[42][43] Kapoor is also set to star opposite
Ram Charan in the tentatively titled RC16.[44]
Media image
Kapoor has been placed in Rediff.com's "Best Actresses" list in 2020 and 2022.[45][46] She is an endorser for several brands and products such as
Nykaa, Drools and
Aldo.[47][48][49] Kapoor has frequently featured in the Times Of India's list of most desirable women, ranking 28th in 2018, 24th in 2019, and 18th in 2020.[50][51][52]