Vicky Kaushal

Vicky Kaushal married actress Katrina Kaif on 9 December 2021 in a traditional Hindu ceremony at Six Senses Resort, Fort Barwara, in Rajasthan. They first met in early 2019, and their wedding attracted substantial media coverage in India.

The couple's son, Vihaan Kaushal, was born on 7 November 2025.

Kaushal was raised in Mumbai in a family originally from Hoshiarpur, Punjab. His father, Sham Kaushal, is an action director in Indian films, his mother is Veena Kaushal, and his younger brother Sunny Kaushal is also an actor. He studied electrical engineering at Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology and graduated in 2009.

During an industrial visit to an IT company, Kaushal realised that he did not want an office career. He trained at Kishore Namit Kapoor's acting academy and performed with Manav Kaul's Aranya theatre group and Naseeruddin Shah's Motley Productions. His first acting performance was in the stage production Laal Pencil in 2011.

Kaushal entered the film industry as an assistant director to Anurag Kashyap on Gangs of Wasseypur in 2012. He later had minor roles in Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana and Bombay Velvet, as well as the short film Geek Out.

Kaushal's first leading film role was Deepak Kumar Chaudhary in Neeraj Ghaywan's independent drama Masaan (2015). He spent time in Benaras observing local men while preparing to play a young man from a low socio-economic background. The film screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival and won two awards, including the FIPRESCI Prize.

His performance in Masaan earned him the IIFA and Screen Awards for Best Male Debut. He had filmed Zubaan before Masaan, playing a grieving man who develops a stammer after his father's suicide. Kaushal worked with a speech therapist for the part and spent time with patients to study speech patterns.

In Anurag Kashyap's Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016), Kaushal played a drug-addicted police officer pursuing a serial killer portrayed by Nawazuddin Siddiqui. He prepared by living in isolation for five days, repeating lines from the script, and undertaking significant physical changes.

Kaushal's breakthrough came in 2018, when he appeared in Love per Square Foot, Raazi, Lust Stories, Sanju and Manmarziyaan. Love per Square Foot was Netflix's first Indian original film. In Raazi, directed by Meghna Gulzar, he played a Pakistani army officer opposite Alia Bhatt.

His role as Kamlesh "Kamli" Kanhaiyalal Kapasi in Rajkumar Hirani's Sanju brought him the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. The character was a fictionalised amalgamation of several of Sanjay Dutt's real-life friends, and Kaushal met Paresh Ghelani, the primary inspiration for the role, while preparing for it.

Kaushal established himself as a leading actor with Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), in which he played Major Vihaan Singh Shergill. He gained muscle, followed a ketogenic diet and completed five months of military and mixed martial arts training. The performance won him the National Film Award for Best Actor, shared with Ayushmann Khurrana, and the film became his biggest leading-role success at that point.

Kaushal played freedom fighter Udham Singh in Shoojit Sircar's Sardar Udham (2021). He lost more than 15 kilograms in two months to portray the younger version of the character. The performance earned him the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor and the IIFA Award for Best Actor.

He followed the film with the comedy thriller Govinda Naam Mera and the romantic comedy Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, which starred Sara Ali Khan. He also appeared in The Great Indian Family, played field marshal Sam Manekshaw in Meghna Gulzar's Sam Bahadur, and made a special appearance as Sukhi in Dunki. His performance in Dunki won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.

In Bad Newz (2024), Kaushal played Akhil Chadha alongside Triptii Dimri and Ammy Virk. He then portrayed Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Sambhaji in the historical action film Chhaava (2025). For the role, he trained in sword, stick and spear fighting, gained 25 kilograms and learned Marathi. During filming, he and co-star Akshaye Khanna avoided interacting in order to intensify their characters' on-screen rivalry.

Kaushal has pursued varied roles across drama, romance, comedy, horror, biography and action. Critics have particularly noted his ability to avoid typecasting and to shift between physically demanding parts and emotionally complex characters. His preparation has included major physical transformations for Sanju, Uri: The Surgical Strike, Sardar Udham, Sam Bahadur and Chhaava.

In addition to acting, Kaushal has co-hosted televised Filmfare, Zee Cine and Screen Awards ceremonies and performed at the 2019 Femina Miss India grand finale. He has also supported environmental protection, women's rights, gender equality and children's football training initiatives, and participated in charity efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.