Anushka Sharma

Anushka Sharma has been married to cricketer Virat Kohli since 11 December 2017, when they married in a private ceremony in Italy. They have two children, a daughter named Vamika, born in January 2021, and a son named Akaay, born in February 2024.

Sharma is the daughter of retired army officer Colonel Ajay Kumar Sharma and homemaker Ashima Sharma. Her elder brother, Karnesh Sharma, is a film producer and later became the sole owner of Clean Slate Filmz after Sharma stepped away from the company in 2022. She has practiced vegetarianism since 2015, supports animal-rights causes and has undergone treatment for an anxiety disorder.

Raised in Bangalore after being born in Ayodhya, Sharma studied at Army School in Bangalore and graduated in arts from Mount Carmel College. She initially planned to pursue modelling or journalism rather than acting. After moving to Mumbai, she joined Elite Model Management and was mentored by style consultant Prasad Bidapa.

Sharma made her runway debut at Lakme Fashion Week in 2007 for Wendell Rodricks's Les Vamps Show and was selected as the finale model for his Spring Summer 2007 collection. She made her film debut the following year in Aditya Chopra's romantic drama Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, opposite Shah Rukh Khan. The film was a major commercial success and earned her Filmfare nominations for Best Actress and Best Female Debut.

Sharma gained wider recognition with Band Baaja Baaraat (2010), in which she played ambitious wedding planner Shruti Kakkar opposite Ranveer Singh. She learned to speak in a Punjabi dialect for the role, and the film became a sleeper hit after receiving positive reviews. She later appeared with Singh again in Ladies vs Ricky Bahl (2011).

In Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012), Sharma played reporter Akira Rai alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif. Her performance earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. She followed this with roles in Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola (2013) and Rajkumar Hirani's PK (2014), in which she played television journalist Jagat Janini Sahni, known as Jaggu, opposite Aamir Khan.

Sharma received praise for playing strong-willed women in NH10 (2015), Dil Dhadakne Do (2015), Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016) and Sui Dhaaga (2018). For NH10, she underwent three months of interval training to build stamina. In Sultan (2016), she trained for six weeks as a wrestler, researched wrestling weight categories and worked on a Haryanvi dialect for her role as Aarfa Hussain.

Her other prominent roles included jazz singer Rosie Noronha in Bombay Velvet, Alizeh Khan in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, a friendly ghost in Phillauri, Rukhsana in Pari and biographer Winnie Diaz in Sanju. For Zero (2018), she played NASA scientist Aafia Yusufzai Bhinder, a character with cerebral palsy, and consulted an occupational therapist and an audiologist while preparing for the part. She made a cameo appearance in Qala (2022) and filmed the role of cricketer Jhulan Goswami in Chakda 'Xpress.

Sharma launched Clean Slate Filmz with her brother Karnesh Sharma in 2013. The company's first release was NH10 (2015), which Sharma also headlined. She subsequently produced Phillauri and Pari, combining her work as an actress with a growing focus on film production.

The company also produced the horror film Bulbbul and the crime thriller series Paatal Lok, released in 2020. The projects were associated with recurring themes of feminism and the paranormal. In 2022, Sharma announced that she was stepping away from her producing duties so that Karnesh Sharma would become the company's sole owner.

Sharma has supported gender equality, equal pay for actresses, girls' education and the Right to Education campaign. She has participated in fundraising and awareness initiatives connected with the Mijwan Welfare Society, the Nepal earthquake response and the Mumbai Film Festival. She also supported India's first transgender band, the 6-Pack Band, by providing a voice-over for its single "Hum Hain Happy."

Her animal-rights work has included calling for a ban on horse-drawn carriages in Mumbai, opposing the Yulin Dog Meat Festival and launching the Pawsitivity campaign about pollution's effects on animals. In 2017, she introduced Nush, a clothing line for women. She has also appeared in the documentary series The Romantics and on the music video "Kudi Nu Nachne De."