Janhvi Kapoor

Debut and female-led films (2018–2022)

Kapoor made her acting debut in 2018 with the Shashank Khaitan-directed romance Dhadak, co-starring Ishaan Khatter and produced under Karan Johar's studio Dharma Productions.^[10] 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).^[11] The film received predominantly negative reviews,^[12] but with a worldwide collection of ₹1.1 billion, it proved to be a commercial success.^[13][14] 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".^[15] Conversely, Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost thought that she "lacks personality and delivers a colourless performance".^[16] She won the Zee Cine Award for Best Female Debut.^[17][18]

Kapoor's next screen appearance came in 2020 when she starred in Zoya Akhtar's segment in the Netflix horror anthology film Ghost Stories.^[19] 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".^[20] 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.^[21] In preparation, she spent time with Saxena, underwent physical training, and learned the body language of an air force officer.^[22] 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".^[23][24] She received a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.^[25]

In 2021, Kapoor played a dual role opposite Rajkummar Rao in the comedy horror film Roohi.^[26] The film was theatrically released after several delays due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[27] The film and Kapoor's performance were panned by critics,^[28][29] and it performed poorly at the box-office.^[30] The following year, Kapoor starred in Good Luck Jerry, a remake of the 2018 Tamil film Kolamaavu Kokila, produced by Aanand L. Rai.^[31] It was released on the streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar.^[32] 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.^[33] Anupama Chopra was appreciative of the "sweetness and sincerity" she brought to the part but considered it much less accomplished than Ben's performance.^[34] It emerged as a box-office bomb.^[35] She received another Best Actress nomination at Filmfare.^[36]

Career setbacks (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.^[37] The film received backlash for Holocaust trivialization.^[38] Writing for The New York Times, Beatrice Loayza criticised the lack of chemistry between the lead pair and dismissed Kapoor as "devoid of charisma".^[39] Leaf Arbuthnot of The Guardian also panned the film and their chemistry but was appreciative of her "still, mature performance".^[40]

In 2024, Kapoor had three film releases. She reunited with Rajkummar Rao for the sports drama Mr. & Mrs. Mahi, about a man who vicariously fulfils his dreams of becoming a professional cricketer through his wife.^[41] Whilst filming cricketing sequences, Kapoor twice dislocated her shoulder.^[42] Shilajit Mishra of The Hindu thought that she had yet to achieve "requisite ease in performance" despite this being her ninth film.^[43] She followed this with the portrayal of a young Indian Foreign Service officer accused of dissent against the government in the political thriller Ulajh.^[44] Kapoor admitted to feeling "obsessive" about the film due to her substantial involvement in the creative process.^[45] In a mixed review of the film, The Quint's Pratikshya Mishra was appreciative of Kapoor's handling of "emotionally demanding scenes".^[46] Similar to her previous theatrical releases, both Mr. & Mrs. Mahi and Ulajh were commercially unsuccessful.^[47][48]

Also in 2024, Kapoor expanded to Telugu cinema by playing a brief role opposite N. T. Rama Rao Jr in the action film Devara: Part 1 from filmmaker Koratala Siva.^[49][50] Rediff.com's Sukanya Verma dismissed her role in a rare androcentric project, writing that she "shows up only post interval to pout and preen around NTR's machismo".^[51] With a gross of over ₹5 billion (US$53 million), Devara: Part 1 emerged as Kapoor's first commercial success since Dhadak, as well as the highest-grossing of her career.^[52] The following year, Kapoor had three releases, starting with Neeraj Ghaywan's Homebound, which premiered at the 78th Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section.^[53] It earned unanimous critical acclaim, with The Hollywood Reporter commending Kapoor for "demonstrating authenticity and the ability to deliver complex emotion" in a brief role.^[54] It had a theatrical release a few months later, where it had poor box-office returns.^[55]

Kapoor next appeared opposite Sidharth Malhotra in Param Sundari, a romantic comedy in which a North Indian man (Malhotra) creates a fake matchmaking app that pairs him with a South Indian woman (Kapoor).^[56] The film faced substantial online backlash for perpetuating regressive stereotypes about South Indian culture, especially in its depiction of Kapoor's character, Sundari.^[57][58] In a scathing review for The Hollywood Reporter India, Rahul Desai criticised the film's writing and dismissed Kapoor's performance as derivative.^[59] Additionally, critics lamented the lack of chemistry between the lead pair.^[59][60][61] Kapoor ended the year with Khaitan's Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, in which Scroll.in's Nandini Ramnath opined that she had been overshadowed by her co-star Dhawan.^[62] All of Kapoor's 2025 releases underperformed commercially.^[63] She will next star with Ram Charan in the action film Peddi.^[64][65]

Films

Music video appearances