Kunal Khemu

Kunal Khemu was born on 25 May 1983^[1] in Srinagar, in the Kashmir Valley of the erstwhile Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir,^[2] into a Kashmiri Pandit^[3] family to actors Ravi Kemmu and Jyoti Kemmu.^[4] His father has worked with Shyam Benegal in Bharat Ek Khoj as unit director.^[5] He is the older child to the couple and has a younger sister named Karishma Khemu.^[6][7]

Khemu's family lived in Srinagar during his early years and he got initial education from Burn Hall School, but his family had to shift to Jammu during their religious exodus after an insurgency erupted in Kashmir during the 1990s. Later, his family stayed in the suburban Mira Road neighbourhood of Mumbai. He finished his schooling from N. L. Dalmia High School in Mira Road and later attended Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics in Vile Parle for his further studies. He now lives in Khar.^[8]

His paternal grandfather, Moti Lal Kemmu was a Kashmiri playwright, and a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi award in 1982 for his contribution to Kashmiri literature, and the Padma Shri.^[9][10]

Khemu made his debut as a child actor appearing in the Doordarshan TV series Gul Gulshan Gulfaam (1987), directed by Ved Rahi. He made his film debut with Mahesh Bhatt's film Sir (film) (1993). He went on to star as a child artist in films including Raja Hindustani, Zakhm, Bhai, Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke, and Dushman.

He played the lead in the 2005 film Kalyug, which was directed by Mohit Suri.^[11] Kalyug was based on the pornography industry. In 2007, his first release was Madhur Bhandarkar's Traffic Signal, where he played a street-smart money lender who lends money to poor families, but always gets it back with interest.

His second release of 2007 was Dhol in which he again played lead. In 2008, in his only release, Superstar, he featured in a double role. In 2009, he starred in Dhoondte Reh Jaaoge and Jai Veeru. In 2009, he appeared in the comic-thriller 99. In 2010, he appeared in Golmaal 3 in which he played a supporting role as Laxman. The film was a blockbuster and became the fourth Indian film to enter the 100 Crore Club in India and was ranked as the Third Highest grossing film of the year 2010, After Dabangg and My name is Khan.

In 2012, he worked in Mukesh Bhatt's Blood Money, in which he played the lead role as Kunal Kadam, an honest and hard worker who is unknowingly taken into the dark side of Diamond Trade by his Boss. He co-starred in Go Goa Gone, a Zombie comedy film, which was released on 10 May 2013. Both the films were Box office Hits. Go Goa Gone has achieved a cult status for its offbeat humour and genre-bending approach.

In 2015, after over a two-year break, he returned to the screen with the thriller Bhaag Johnny about a man who gets to live two lives with the help of a Jinn, portrayed by director Vikram Bhatt. Though the film began shooting in 2013, it was released on 25 September 2015 to mixed reviews, and box office collections were not up to the mark. His second release of the same year was the comedy film Guddu Ki Gun, in which he appears in the title role along with Sumeet Vyas.

In 2017, he did a voice-over in an animated film Hanuman: Da' Damdaar in the role of Lord Indra. He also appeared in the fourth instalment of Golmaal (film series) named Golmaal Again, reprising his famous role of Laxman Sharma. The film, like its previous instalments, was declared a Blockbuster at the box office and one of the highest grossing Indian film of the year 2017.

Subsequently, he portrayed the fictional role of pro-partition separatist Abdul Khan in the 2019 ensemble period drama Kalank alongside Varun Dhawan^[12] and corrupt cop Michael Rodrigues in Suri's Malang (2020). He then made his debut as writer and director with the comedy thriller Madgaon Express (2024), for which he won IIFA Award for Best Directorial Debut and several other accolades.

Khemu was in a relationship with actress Soha Ali Khan since May 2009.^[13][14] The couple got engaged in July 2014 and got married in a private ceremony in Mumbai on 25 January 2015 in the presence of selected members of Soha's Family. Through his marriage to Khan, he is related to the Pataudi family. On 29 September 2017, Khan gave birth to their daughter Inaaya Naumi Khemu.^[15][16]