Suniel Shetty (born Sunil V. Shetty; 11 August 1961) is an Indian actor, film producer, television personality and entrepreneur who is predominantly active in

Hindi films Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

he has also worked in

tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

and kannada films. In a career spanning almost 30 years, he has acted in over 100 films. ''. He is the owner of the production house Popcorn Entertainment Private Limited. He has produced a number of films including '' Khel – No Ordinary Game'', ''

Rakht ''Rakht'' () is a 2004 Indian supernatural horror film, written and directed by Mahesh V Manjrekar. The film stars Bipasha Basu, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Dino Morea, Amrita Arora and Neha Dhupia. The film released on 3 September 2004, an ...

'' and ''

Bhagam Bhag ''Bhagam Bhag'' () is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language comedy thriller film written and directed by Priyadarshan from the screenplay by Neeraj Vora. It was produced by Sunil Shetty and Dhilin Mehta. The film stars Akshay Kumar, Govinda and Paresh Raw ...

'', under the banner of Popcorn Motion Pictures.

Early life

Suniel Shetty was born in a

Tulu Tulu may refer to: People *Derartu Tulu (born 1972), Ethiopian long-distance runner *Walid Yacoubou (born 1997), Togolese footballer nicknamed "Tulu" India *Tulu calendar, traditional solar calendar generally used in the regions of southwest Kar ...

speaking Bunt family on 11 August 1961 in Mulki,

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka– ...

Career

He made his debut in Hindi films in 1992 at the age of 31 with ''

Balwaan ''Balwaan'' () is a 1992 Indian Hindi-language action film directed by Deepak Anand and produced by Raju Mavani. The film starring Sunil Shetty in his debut role, with Divya Bharti, Tinu Anand, Danny Denzongpa in pivotal roles. Plot Arjun Sing ...

'', opposite

Divya Bharti Divya Bharti (; 25 February 1974 – 5 April 1993) was an Indian actress who worked predominantly in Hindi and Telugu films. Known for her acting versatility and beauty, she was considered one of the most popular and highest paid Indian actre ...

. The film helped him to retain his position in Bollywood as an action hero. He went on to play the protagonist in various successful movies such as ''

''(1992), = Arjun Singh ''

Waqt Hamara Hai ''Waqt Hamara Hai'' () is a 1993 Indian romantic action comedy film. It was directed by Bharat Rangachary and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala. The stars were Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty, paired together for the first time. Plot Vikas Sabk ...

''(1993), = Sunil Chaudhary , , '' Pehchaan''(1993), = Kunal Verma '' Dilwale''(1994), = Vikram Singh ''

Anth ''Anth'' is a 1994 Indian action film directed by Sanjay Khanna, produced by Ashok Honda and starred Sunil Shetty, Somy Ali in pivotal roles. Aloknath, Paresh Rawal, Mohan Joshi, Deepak Shirke, Vijayendra Ghatge, Neena Gupta, Makrand Deshpand ...

'' (1994), , , Vijay Saxena , , ''

Mohra ''Mohra'' () is a 1994 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film co-written, edited and directed by Rajiv Rai and produced by his father Gulshan Rai. It stars Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Raveena Tandon in the lead roles, along with Naseeruddin ...

'' (1994), = Vishal Agnihotri , , ''

Gopi Kishan ''Gopi Kishan'' is 1994 Indian Hindi action comedy movie directed by Mukesh Duggal starring Sunil Shetty in a dual role, supported by Shilpa Shirodkar and Karishma Kapoor. Other cast includes Suresh Oberoi, Aruna Irani, Mohan Joshi, Shammi, Sa ...

'' (1994), = Gopi Nath Chaudhary / Kishan Nath Chaudhary ''

Hum Hain Bemisaal Hum Hain Bemisal (transl. We Are Unique) is a 1994 Indian action thriller film directed by Deepak Bahry. It stars Sunil Shetty, Akshay Kumar, Shilpa Shirodkar and Madhoo. The movie is based on the 1989 Hong Kong movie ''The Killer (1989 film), T ...

'' (1994),= Michael Dsouza Surakshaa(1995),= Raja Raghuveer (1995), , , Raghuveer Verma , , Takkar(1995),= Ravi Malhotra ''

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is on ...

'', , , Krishna / Sunil , , Shastra (1996), , , Vijay Khanna , , '' Sapoot''(1996), = Raj Singhania '' Rakshak''(1996), = Raj Sinha ''

Border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ca ...

''(1997), = Bhairav Singh Rathod '' Judge Mujrim''(1997), = Sunil / Dhaaga '' Bhai''(1997), = Kundan '' Qahar''(1997),= Amar Kapoor '' Vinashak''(1998),= Arjun Singh and '' Hu Tu Tu''(1999),= Aditya Patel He was involved primarily in action films throughout the 1990s, playing the male protagonist in most of the movies he acted in during the decade. From early 2000, he mainly appeared in multi-starrers in across genres. He also starred opposite

Isha Koppikar Isha Koppikar (born 19 September 1976) is an Indian actress, model and politician who has mostly appeared in Hindi cinema. She has also acted in several Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Marathi films. Background Koppikar was born in Mahim, Bombay (n ...

Arjun Rampal Arjun Rampal (born 26 November 1972) is an Indian actor, model, film producer and television personality who works in Hindi films. He made his acting debut in Rajiv Rai's romance film '' Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat'' (2001) and has since gone on t ...

's debut movie '' Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat''(2001).Yash Sabharwal , , '' Hera Pheri'' (2000),= Shyam Tripathi / Ghanshyam'' Dhadkan'' (2000),, , Dev Chopra , , ''

Jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''ja� ...

'' (2000),= Shivraj Mittal ''

Yeh Teraa Ghar Yeh Meraa Ghar ''Yeh Teraa Ghar Yeh Meraa Ghar'' () is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language comedy film directed by Priyadarshan. This story of the film is an remake of the Mohanlal-starrer movie ''Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam'' with a dog explosion comedy sequenc ...

''= Daya Shankar Manorilal Pandey (2001), ''

Main Hoon Na ''Main Hoon Na'' () is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language masala film written and directed by Farah Khan in her directorial debut. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Sushmita Sen, Sunil Shetty, Amrita Rao and Zayed Khan, and follows Major Ram Sharma, ...

''(2004),= Exmajor Raghavan Datta , , ''

Phir Hera Pheri ''Phir Hera Pheri'' () is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language comedy film written and directed by Neeraj Vora. It serves as the sequel to '' Hera Pheri'' (2000) and second installment of the ''Hera Pheri'' franchise. It stars Akshay Kumar, Suniel ...

'' (2006),= Shyam Tripathi / Ghanshyam , , and '' Red Alert: The War Within'' (2010),= Narasimha In 2014, he changed the spelling of his name from Sunil to Suniel for

numerological Numerology (also known as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, of the letters in w ...

reasons. ''

Shootout at Lokhandwala ''Shootout at Lokhandwala'' is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed and co-written by Apoorva Lakhia and co-written and co-produced by Sanjay Gupta, with Ekta Kapoor serving as producer and Suresh Nair serving as writer. ...

''(2007),= Kaviraj Patil Karz: The Burden Of Truth ( 2002),= Raja Chauhan ''

One Two Three ''One Two Three'' is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language comedy film that is an uncredited remake of the 1992 American film ''Blame It on the Bellboy'' about three men with similar surnames staying in the same hotel.The movie stars Sunil Shetty, Paresh ...

'' (2008) = Laxmi Narayan and '' De Dana Dan'' (2009).= Ram Mishra He even played negative roles in movies, including '' Dhadkan'' (2000),= Dev Chopra '' Khel – No Ordinary Game'' (2003),= Dev Mallya '' Baaz: A Bird in Danger'' (2003),= Harshvardhan Bhatti ''

'' (2004), ''

Rudraksh ''Rudraksha'' (IAST: ') refers to a stonefruit, the dried stones of which are used as prayer beads by Hindus (especially Shaivas), as well as by Buddhists and Sikhs. When they are ripe, ''rudraksha'' stones are covered by an inedible blue ...

'' (2004),= Bhuria Aan: Men At Work'' ( 2004) = Appa Kadam Naik Enemmy: Law And Disorder'' ( 2013) = Bhau / Eklavya Karmarkar ''

Cash In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins. In bookkeeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-im ...

''= Angad '' No Problem''= Marcos and ''

A Gentleman ''A Gentleman: Sundar, Susheel, Risky'' is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language action film written and directed by Raj & DK. The film stars Sidharth Malhotra in a dual role with Jacqueline Fernandez and Suniel Shetty. Upon release, it was a critica ...

'' (2017).= Colonel Vijay Kumar Saxena , , '' Race - 4'' ( 2023).= Exmajor Vijay Kumar Khanna Along with Mukesh Chhabra, he has also started an online

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a ''casting'', which is ejecte ...

company, F...the Couch (FTC). Shetty is the captain of the

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

Heroes cricket team in Celebrity Cricket League and owns the restaurants Mischief Dining Bar and Club H2O, in Mumbai. He has also featured as a host for India's leading fitness reality shows

Biggest Loser Jeetega ''Biggest Loser Jeetega'' is an Indian reality series based on America's ''The Biggest Loser'' but adapted to the needs of the Indian market. It was hosted by Suniel Shetty and aired on Sahara One. Synopsis The show featured sixteen obese conte ...

and India's Asli Champion Hai Dam?. In 2005, on the eve of the former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to beco ...

's 61st birth anniversary, the Mumbai Pradesh Youth Congress honoured Shetty with th
Rajiv Gandhi award
Shetty won the Filmfare Award for Best Villain in 2001 for '' Dhadkan''. In 2009, Shetty bagged South Asian International Film Festival's Best Actor Award for his role in Naxalites based Indian movie '' Red Alert''. The actor has entrepreneurial ventures as well. Shetty produced films such as '' Khel – No Ordinary Game'', ''

'' and ''

'' under the banner of Popcorn Motion Pictures. The FTC is a digital platform that discovers new talent in

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...

provides a platform to new artists to make a place for themselves in Bollywood. Apart from being part of this project, Shetty has also been actively involved in

realty In English common law, real property, real estate, immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty, is land which is the property of some person and all structures (also called improvements or fixtures) integrated with or affix ...

and restaurant business. Suniel Shetty at Tata Sky's Health And Fitness launch

Shetty also acted in his second Tamil film '' Darbar'' with

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...

in 2020. In 2021, Shetty appeared in the

Sanjay Gupta Sanjay Gupta (born October 23, 1969) is an American neurosurgeon, medical reporter, and writer. He serves as associate chief of the neurosurgery service at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, associate professor of neurosurgery at t ...

's gangster drama film ''

Mumbai Saga ''Mumbai Saga'' is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language action crime film directed by Sanjay Gupta and produced by T-Series. It features an ensemble cast of John Abraham, Emraan Hashmi, Kajal Aggarwal, Mahesh Manjrekar, Rohit Roy, Anjana Sukhan ...

'', which was released on 19 March. He was last seen in Kiran Korrapati directed '' Ghani'', which released on 8 April.

Other work

Fittr

In 2019, Suneil invested an undisclosed amount in a Pune-based online health and fitness start up Fittr. Its founder Jitendra Chouksey launched Fittr in January 2016 as a community on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

to address the challenges in the fitness industry, Fittr now claims of over 100,000 fitness transformations, and a highly engaged community of 550,000 members. Its mobile app, Fittr, has received more than 500,000 downloads since September 2018.

Television

Shetty has appeared as a host for India's leading fitness reality shows ''

'' on

Sahara One Sahara One is an Indian Hindi general entertainment channel based in New Delhi. It is operated by Sahara India Pariwar. History Sahara One was launched as Sahara TV on 28 March 2000, which later in April 2003 was renamed as Sahara Manoranjan. ...

. and ''India's Asli Champion Hai dam?'' on &TV.

Restaurant

The actor owns Mischief Dining Bar and Club H2O, in Mumbai. Both the places are running successfully. He co-owns the water adventure park attached to cafe H2O. He closed down Mischief Bar in 2010, and instead opened a new restaurant called Little Italy. The restaurant was first owned by his father when it was an Udipi restaurant, Suniel then changed the restaurant into a bar, and then back into a restaurant with the different name with his father's blessings.

Celebrity Cricket League

Suniel Shetty is captain of the Mumbai Heroes cricket team in the Celebrity Cricket League. He is also the co-founder of Ferit Cricket Bash that was launched in December 2018.

Hiru Golden Film Awards

Suniel Shetty was participant in the Hiru Golden Film Awards 2014 and 2016 in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

as a special guest.

R House

He started his luxury furniture and home lifestyle store in Mumbai, Worli in 2013 with his wife Mana.

Personal life

Suniel Shetty, Mana Shetty at the special screening of 'Bol Bachchan' 15

Since 1991 he is married to Mana Shetty (née Monisha Kadri), a businesswoman, designer and social activist born to a

Gujarati Muslim The term Gujarati Muslim is usually used to signify an Indian Muslim from the state of Gujarat in western coast of India. Most Gujarati Muslims have Gujarati language as their mother tongue, but some communities such as the Momin Ansari, Me ...

architect and a

Punjabi Hindu Punjabi Hindus are adherents of Hinduism who identify linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Punjabis. While Punjabi Hindus are mostly found in the Indian state of Punjab today, many have ancestry from the greater Punjab regio ...

social activist, and they have two children, a daughter

Athiya Shetty Athiya Shetty (born 5 November 1992) is an Indian actress who appears in Hindi films. She is the daughter of actor Suniel Shetty. Shetty debuted her acting career in the romantic action film '' Hero'' 2015 for which she won a International I ...

and a son

Ahan Shetty Ahan Shetty (born 28 December 1995) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. Shetty made his acting debut in 2021 with the Action romance film '' Tadap'' which became critically acclaimed and earned him IIFA Award for Star Debut of the Year ...

. Both Athiya and Ahan have made their acting debuts respectively, Athiya in the film ''

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...

'' (2015) and Ahan in

Sajid Nadiadwala Sajid Nadiadwala (born 18 February 1966) is an Indian film producer, writer, and director who works in Hindi cinema. He is the owner of Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment. Grandson of filmmaker A.K. Nadiadwala, Sajid has written and produced fi ...

's film '' Tadap (2021), the''

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

remake of

film RX 100. Mana runs an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

for under-privileged kids. Shetty has a black belt in

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...

. He owns clothing

boutique A boutique () is a small shop that deals in fashionable clothing or accessories. The word is French for "shop", which derives ultimately from the Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (''apothēkē'') "storehouse". The term ''boutique'' and also ''de ...

s as well as restaurants specialising in

Udupi cuisine Udupi cuisine is a cuisine of South India. It forms an important part of Tuluva cuisine and takes its name from Udupi, a city on the southwest coast of India in the Tulunadu region. Udupi cuisine is strictly vegetarian and has its origin in th ...

Filmography

Accolades

;Winner * 2001: Filmfare Award for Best Villain for '' Dhadkan'' * 2001: Zee Cine Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' Dhadkan'' * 2005: GIFA Award for Best Villain for ''

'' * 2011: Stardust Award for Best Actor (Critics) for '' Red Alert: The War Within'' ;Nominated * 1995:

Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor The Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role. Although the awards star ...

for '' Dilwale'' * 1998:

for ''

'' * 1998:

Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor The Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor is chosen by a distinguished panel of judges from the Indian "Bollywood" film industry and the winners are announced in January. The first award was given to Anupam Kher. Saif Ali Khan, having won th ...

for ''

'' * 2001:

for ''

Refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

'' * 2001:

IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor The IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor recognizes a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role. The award is chosen by the viewers and the winner is announced at the ceremony. Saif Ali Khan, Arjun Rampal, An ...

for ''

Refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

'' * 2001: IIFA Award for Best Villain for '' Dhadkan'' * 2004:

for '' Qayamat: City Under Threat'' * 2005: Filmfare Award for Best Villain for ''

'' * 2005: IIFA Award for Best Villain for ''

'' * 2021: SIIMA Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role – Tamil for '' Darbar''

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shetty, Suniel 1961 births Indian male film actors Living people Film producers from Karnataka People from Dakshina Kannada district Indian television presenters Indian male comedians Male actors in Hindi cinema Mangaloreans Tulu people Male actors from Karnataka Male actors in Kannada television Indian male television actors 20th-century Indian male actors 21st-century Indian male actors Filmfare Awards winners Zee Cine Awards winners Indian Hindus