Sanjay Kapoor

Film

Kapoor made his debut in Hindi cinema in 1995 with the movie Prem, opposite newcomer Tabu. Although both debutants rendered fairly decent performances, the movie was delayed for many years as it was in production since 1989. Sanjay was 30 when it finally released, the press then dismissively calling him Hindi industry's "oldest newcomer."^[11] It bombed at the box office.^[12] Kapoor's next movie was Raja (1995) opposite Madhuri Dixit which was a box office success. He went on to star in several films as a lead actor such as Auzaar (1997), Mohabbat (1997) and Sirf Tum (1999). Apart from the moderately successful Chhupa Rustam: A Musical Thriller (2001) he didn't have much success as a lead actor as most of his films failed at the box office.^[13][14] In 2002, he appeared as a villain playing the psychotic husband of Esha Deol in Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe. His performance was praised by critics.^[15]

He started playing supporting roles in films like Qayamat: City Under Threat (2003), Julie (2004), Luck By Chance (2009) and Shaandaar (2015).

He turned to producing with his first production Tevar starring his nephew Arjun Kapoor releasing in 2015.^[16] He played a cameo appearing alongside his brother Anil for the first time in Mubarakan (2017).

In early 2018, Sanjay was cast in the anthology film Lust Stories as a lead character opposite actress Manisha Koirala.^[17][18] In the same year, he was cast in the movie The Zoya Factor as his real life niece Sonam Kapoor's on screen father,^[19] and in 2019 in the Kannada film Seetharama Kalyana.^[20] In 2020, he appeared in a short film Sleeping Partner opposite actress Divya Dutta.^[21]

Television and web career (2003–present)

He made his debut on television in 2003 appearing in the television serial Karishma – The Miracles of Destiny opposite Karisma Kapoor.

In 2017, he was cast in Vikram Bhatt's television serial Dil Sambhal Jaa Zara opposite Smriti Kalra.^[22] The show is about a man marrying a girl much younger than him and how they try to make their marriage work.^[23]

In 2018, he landed a role in ALTBalaji's web series Soggy Hoga Tera Baap as Chiraag Arora.^[24] In 2019, it was announced that Sanjay eventually opted out of Ekta Kapoor's project, choosing instead Amazon Prime series The Last Hour, which released in 2021, playing the role of DCP Arup Singh.^[25]

In 2020, he appeared in The Gone Game, a psychological thriller miniseries on Voot, as Rajeev Gujral. In 2022, he appeared in the Netflix web show The Fame Game as Nikhil More, opposite Madhuri Dixit.

Films

Television

Producer