Ranveer Singh

Ranveer Singh Bhavnani (born 6 July 1985) is an Indian film actor who appears in Hindi films. After completing a bachelor's degree from Indiana University, Bloomington, Singh returned to India to pursue a career in film. He made his acting debut in 2010 with a leading role in Yash Raj Films' romantic comedy Band Baaja Baaraat. The film emerged as a critical and commercial success, earning Singh a Filmfare Award in the Best Male Debut category.

Singh went on to star in the romantic drama Lootera (2013), Sanjay Leela Bhansali's tragic romance Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013), his biggest commercial successes to that point, and in the action-drama Gunday (2014). In 2015, he starred in the ensemble comedy-drama Dil Dhadakne Do (2015), and portrayed Bajirao in the historical romance Bajirao Mastani, one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films, for which he garnered critical acclaim and won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor.

Singh was born on 6 July 1985 into a Sindhi family to Anju and Jagjit Singh Bhavnani.His grandparents, Sunder Singh Bhavnani and Chand Burke, moved to Mumbai from Karachi, Sindh, during the Partition of India. He has an elder sister named Ritika Bhavnani. Singh is the maternal cousin of actress Sonam Kapoor and producer Rhea Kapoor, daughters of actor Anil Kapoor and wife Sunita Kapoor (née Bhavnani).Singh explains that he dropped his surname Bhavnani, since he felt that the name would have been "too long, too many syllables", thus downplaying his brand as a "saleable commodity".

Singh always aspired to be an actor, participating in several school plays and debates. Once when he had gone for a birthday party, his grandmother asked him to dance and entertain her. Singh remembers that he suddenly jumped in the lawn and started dancing to the song "Chumma Chumma" from the 1991 action film, Hum. He felt the thrill of performing and was interested in acting and dancing. However, after he joined H.R. College of Commerce and Economics in Mumbai, Singh realised that getting a break in the film industry was not at all easy, as it was mostly people with a film background who got these opportunities. Feeling that the idea of acting was "too far-fetched", Singh focused on creative writing. He went to the United States where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University.

At university, he decided to take acting classes and took up theatre as his minor.After completing his studies and returning to Mumbai in 2007, Singh worked for a few years in advertising as a copywriter, with agencies like O&M and J. Walter Thompson. He then worked as an assistant director, but left it to pursue acting. He decided to send his portfolio to directors. He would go for all kinds of auditions, but did not get any good opportunities, while only getting calls for minor roles: "Everything was so bleak. It was very frustrating. There were times I would think whether I was doing the right thing or not."