Anushka Sharma

Anushka Sharma is one of the popular Bollywood actresses and a producer. She has won many awards, including the Filmfare Award. She has been a member of Forbes India's Celebrity 100 since 2012. She was included by Forbes Asia in the 30 Under 30 list in 2018. Anushka Sharma was born in Ayodhya and grew up in Bangalore.

In 2007, she got her first modeling job, where she worked for fashion designer Wendell Rodricks. After that, she relocated to Mumbai to pursue her full-time career in modeling. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi was her acting debut with Shah Rukh Khan in 2008. Yash Raj Films' dramas helped her to gain popularity by playing major roles in them. She received her Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for Band Baaja Baaraat (2010) & Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012).

She is the co-founder of the production company named Clean Slate Filmz. NH 10, Phillauri, and Pari are among the several films that have been produced by her under this production company.

She is a brand ambassador for multiple companies, has her own women's clothing line called Nush, and is a supporter of many organizations and causes, including animal rights and gender equality.

Modeling Career and Early Life

Anushka Sharma was born on 1st May 1988 in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Her father, Colonel Ajay Kumar Sharma, is a retired army officer, while her mother, Ashima Sharma, is a homemaker. Sharma spent her formative years in Sheela Bhawan, located on Naishvilla Road.

Anushka was reared in Bangalore; however, she completed her basic education at St. Mary's School in Assam. M.S Dhoni's wife, Sakshi Dhoni, was her classmate at that time. Anushka completed her studies at the Army School in Bangalore. She completed her bachelor's degree in arts from Mount Carmel College near Bangalore.

She relocated to Mumbai after college to pursue her modeling profession. She was enlisted at Elite Model Management and developed by a style consultant, Prasad Bidapa. Anushka's catwalk debut was with designer Wendell Rodricks' Les Vamps Show in 2007 at Lakme Fashion Week. Also, she was selected as a final model for Spring Summer 2007 Collection. She has done ads for Silk & Shine, Whisper, Nathella Jewelry, and Fiat Palio since then.

Career as an actor

Debut and breakthrough in the film industry (2008-2013)

In 2008, Anushka started acting with Shah Rukh Khan in the movie Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. The film was a commercial success, being the second highest-grossing Hindi film of the year, and it won her nominations for Best Lead Actress and Best Female Debut at the Filmfare Awards. Sharma wrapped off her three-film deal with Yash Raj Films in 2010 with the romantic comedy Band Baaja Baaraat, created by Maneesh Sharma & co-starring rookie Ranveer Singh. Band Baaja Baaraat received great feedback and became a sleeper success. Critics complimented Anushka's performance, with many citing it as her greatest work to that date.

Patiala House (2011), created by Nikkhil Advani & co-starring Akshay Kumar, was her debut film not released by Yash Raj Films. In the following year, she worked for comedy-drama 'Ladies versus Ricky Bahl', with Ranveer Singh & director Maneesh Sharma. In 2012, Anushka took a supporting part in Yash Chopra's romantic comedy Jab Tak Hai Jaan, featuring Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif, marking her sixth engagement for Yash Raj Films & her second with Khan. She won the Best Supporting Actress award for her outstanding performance. Jab Tak Hai Jaan was the third highest-grossing Bollywood film of the year. She then starred in Vishal Bhardwaj's political satire Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola, set in a Haryana hamlet.

Success and development into the film industry (2014-2016)

In Rajkumar Hirani's religious comedy PK, Anushka plays a television journalist who meets an extra-terrestrial (played by Aamir Khan). PK became the highest-earning movie in Bollywood and was able to make over ?7 billion worldwide. Anushka Sharma is the co-founder of Clean Slate Filmz, which is a production house.

The debut film of Clean Slate Filmz was Navdeep Singh's drama NH10 (2015), in which she also starred. She played Rosie Noronha, a jazz singer, in Anurag Kashyap's historical crime thriller Bombay Velvet (2015) (inspired by the writer Gyan Prakash's work Mumbai Fables). However, the film's 1.2 billion costs was not recouped. That same year, Anushka appeared in Zoya Akhtar's ensemble comedy-drama Dil Dhadakne Do in a minor role as a dancer on a cruise ship.

Sharma received Filmfare Award nominations as Best Actress & Best Supporting Actress for her roles in NH10 & Dil Dhadakne Do, respectively. Sultan (2016), a romance sports drama by writer-director Ali Abbas Zafar, brought Anushka back to Yash Raj Films. She played Aarfa Hussain, a Haryana wrestler who encourages the main character (Salman Khan) to participate in the sport. She spent six weeks training in the sport, learning the Haryanvi dialect, and interacting with other female wrestlers from around the state. Sultan is one of the highest-grossing films in Indian cinema, with nearly ?5 billion in international earnings.

Later that year, Anushka reprised her role as Alizeh Khan for Karan Johar's love story Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, in which she played a free-spirited girl trapped in a loveless relationship. Bollywood Hungama entitled her as the most popular Bollywood actress of 2016.

Career changes and new production endeavors (2017-present)

Anushka played a nice ghost who wishes to reconcile with her beloved in the 2017 fantasy comic Phillauri. She also sang a song in it, in addition to her role and production. For Imtiaz Ali's Jab Harry Met Sejal, she reunited alongside Shah Rukh Khan again for the third time. Sharma's debut film in 2018 was Pari, a horror-thriller in which she both starred and produced. On a cost of production of 180 million rupees, it grossed ? 400 million globally.

In Rajkumar Hirani's biography Sanju, featuring Ranbir Kapoor in the lead role, Anushka portrayed a biographer recording the career of the disturbed actor Sanjay Dutt. In the same year, she collaborated with Yash Raj Films again for the eighth time for Sui Dhaaga, a parody starring Varun Dhawan about a destitute young couple who started their small-scale clothing business. She was nominated for a Filmfare Critics Award for The Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Anushka reunited alongside Shah Rukh Khan & Katrina Kaif in Zero, a film about a dwarf's emotional troubles involving two ladies. Zero was a commercial failure, just like her previous duet with Khan.

Sharma produced the horror movie Bulbbul for Netflix and worked as an executive producer for her company's criminal thriller drama Paatal Lok, which was launched on Amazon Prime Video in 2020.

Off-screen Career and Personal life

In 2015, Anushka converted to vegetarianism. Times of India dubbed her as "Bollywood's sexiest vegetarian celebrity". PETA has also honored her "Person of the Year" on many occasions. She is a regular Transcendental Meditation practitioner. She has also admitted to suffering from anxiety and sought treatment for it.

Maharaj Anant Baba, the spiritual teacher of Haridwar's Anant Dham Atmabodh Ashram, is the spiritual guru of Anushka and her family. Anushka and Virat Kohli married each other on 11th December 2017 in Italy. Anushka's romantic intimacy with cricketer Virat Kohli has got a lot of attention in India, despite her aversion to discussing it openly. Anushka gave birth to Vamika on 11th January 2021.

Anushka is a supporter of a lot of charitable causes in addition to performing. She walked the ramp to assist Shabana Azmi's Mijwan Welfare Society, a non-profit that empowers women. She promised to help the schooling of India's young girls in 2013, among other Bollywood stars, as one of NDTV's "Our Girls, Our Pride" initiative. In the same year, she starred in a commercial for the National Film Development Corporation of India, with other celebrities, to raise awareness about children's "Right to Education."

Anushka Sharma auctioned the leather jacket she used in Jab Tak Hai Jaan online on eBay in December 2014, with the money going to flood-ravaged Kashmir and Assam. She was also the face of a fundraising drive for Nepal earthquake victims in April 2015. She is a supporter of the yearly Mumbai Film Festival and has given to its cause in the past. Anushka has spoken up against the salary gap between women and their male colleagues in the film business. She gave a voice-over to India's inaugural transgender band, the 6-Pack Band, in their first hit, "Hum Hain Happy," in 2016.

Anushka has also taken to social media to advocate for animal welfare. She used Twitter in April 2014 to ban horse-drawn vehicles in Mumbai. She criticized the Yulin Dog Meat Fest in China in June 2015 and asked her admirers to join an online petition to put an end to it. She created 'Pawsitivity' in October 2015, a campaign to raise awareness about the negative consequences of noise, air, water, & soil pollution upon animals. Anushka debuted her apparel brand, Nush, in October 2017.

Some interesting facts about Anushka Sharma

At the age of 15, she took her first ramp walk. She misspelled Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam's name as "ABJ Kalam Azad" while paying tribute to him on Twitter. She then chastised Twitter, deleting the tweet and replacing it with another, which was also incorrect, as she typed "APJ Kalam Azad." She eventually got it right on the third try, tweeting "Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam."

In early 2016, there was a breach in her relationship with Virat Kohli. If allegations are to be believed, Virat spent a significant amount of money on Anushka's film Bombay Velvet, which was a box office flop. Anushka was irritated when Virat inquired about the money loss. Virat even stopped following her over Twitter and Instagram. However, they reconciled after a few months.

Net value and salary

Anushka's immovable assets are valued at Rs.107 crore. Her annual earnings from movies and numerous brand endorsements are Rs 29 crore. She proposed a budget of Rs.10-12 crore for a film. Anushka has many high-end vehicles, including a dark Range Rover Sport SUV, a black Mercedes, and two premium vehicles from Audi and BMW. She has a three-bedroom apartment on Yari Road's Panch Vatika. She also has a three-bedroom apartment in Mumbai's Andheri district, Badrinath Towers.