Sonam Kapoor

Sonam Kapoor Ahuja is a well-known actress in Indian movies. She had been working in the Bollywood industry for decades. She has won many awards like National Filmfare and Filmfare. Forbe's India even listed her in the top 100 of India's celebrity list regarding wealth and popularity.

Initially, Sonam wasn't an actress. She decided to become a director and got a break from Black (2005) as an assistant director. Sonam's first movie was Saawariya in 2007, a box office flop. I Hate Luv Stories, her debut commercial triumph, came out in 2010. This good time came after many failures and struggles, and people had a negative remark about her.

Raanjhanaa movie was the turning point of Sonam's career. The movie was a box office hit, and people praised her performance in the movie. She was also nominated in several awards shows for Best Actress Nomination.

Sonam's biggest commercial success came from the movie Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Sanju, where she was in supporting roles. She was in the lead role for Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films, and Sanju movie was one of them.

Sonam Kapoor is a very active social worker and spreads awareness about breast cancer and LGBT rights. She is a known face in media because of her personality and even gets her name in most trending celebrities of India.

Early Life

Anil Kapoor, an Indian actor and producer, is the father of Sonam Kapoor. She was born on June 9, 1985. Her father is the founder of Anil Kapoor Film Company. Sonam's mother is Sunita, and she practised designing and modelling.

Sonam's sister's name is Rhea, and she is a film producer. Harshvardhan is her brother, who also works in the Bollywood industry. Actresses Sridevi and Mona Shourie were Sonam's aunts.

Kapoor's family moved to Juhu when Sonam was a month old. She was admitted to Arya Vidya Mandir School for her primary education. Sonam confesses that she was a naughty and carefree child and would bully boys during her school time. She loved sports and was particularly good at rugby and basketball. She even trained in Latin Dance, Kathak and Classical Music. Sonam is quite religious and practices Hinduism.

Sonam worked as a waiter for one week when she was 15. As a teen, she battled weight issues. She was unhealthy and unfit and even had a certain skin disease. She was also diagnosed with polycystic ovarian disease and insulin resistance; because of this, she took the initiative to spread awareness about diabetes.

Sonam enrolled in Singapore's United World College of South East Asia to study theatre and the arts. She even enrolled in University of Mumbai courses in political science and economics.

Debut in Bollywood and Career Fluctuations

Sonam was appointed as an assistant director for the movie Black. There she developed an acting interest when Bhansali said he wanted to cast her as a lead in Saawariya.

Sonam then weighed 80Kgs, and Bhansali advised her to lose weight. She was motivated, and within two years, she lost 35Kgs. She studied acting with Roshan Taneja, Feroz Abbas Khan and Jayati Bhatia. Sonam admired actresses Waheeda Rehman and Nutan for their acting skills and doing a quality other things.

Sonam played the role of a Muslim woman in Saawariya (2007) who was waiting for her lover to return. Saawariya was both a commercial and critic failure. Everyone criticized her acting skills on a personal level. However, Sonam was nominated for two award shows, Filmfare for best female debut and Stardust Award for Superstar of Tomorrow in the female category.

In the 2009 film Delhi-6, in which she acted, she played a hopeful singer. Waheeda Rehman and Abhishek Bachhan were in her opposite, and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra directed the movie. Although it didn't do well at the box office, this film garnered varying reviews.

In 2010 she was cast in I Hate Luv Stories, directed by Punit Malhotra, and Imran Khan was her opposite. She played the role of an engaged woman who gets attracted by her co-worker. Imran Khan praised Sonam for her acting skills in the movie. However, different sources had different reviews for her. I Hate Luv Stories was Sonam's first commercial success with a whooping earning of 725.2 Million INR.

Sonam's next movie was Aisha, a romantic comedy-drama based on the novel Emma by Jane Austen. Her character was about a person who is interested in the matchmaking of others. The movie was produced by Rhea and cast many other actors and actresses like Amrita Puri, Abhay Deol, Anand Tiwari, and Lisa Haydon.

In 2011, Sonam was cast in the movie Thank You. It was a comedy movie about three women who taught a lesson to their perverted husbands. She then played a romantic character role in Mausam opposite Sahid Kapoor, but it also gained negative reviews. This movie also earned poor reviews.

The Italian Job was remade for the big screen under Abbas Mustan (2003). However, the journalists had higher expectations, but the movie ailed commercially. In 2012 Sonam Kapoor did a hacker role in Players starring Abhishek Bachhan, Neil Nitin Mukesh, and Bipasha Basu. Katrina Kaif originally intended to play Sonam's role. However, she was unable to participate in the production.

Life-Changing Performance in Raanjhanaa

The Raanjhanaa movie of 2013 was the turning point of Sonam's entire career. Journalists call her performance as best performance till then. She portrayed Zoya Haider, a young Muslim college student from Varanasi. She was in a relationship with her Sikh lover, who was later killed, and she entered politics. Anand L. Rai directed the movie.

To give the best, Sonam interacted with students of Jawaharlal Nehru University who practiced theatres. She even attended workshops and read about Jaya Bachhan's role in Guddi, which she thought was similar to her role in Raanjhanaa.

Raanjhanaa's movie received positive reviews along with a few negatives. However, her performance in the movie was highly appreciated and praised. The movie bagged over 1 Billion INR and was a commercial success, and she was nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Actresses.

Sonam then appeared in the biopic of athlete Milkha Singh. She only charged Rs. 11 for the movie. The total budget of the movie was 300 Million INR. The movie was critically praised and became one of the top-grossing Bollywood movies of 2013. Raanjhanaa and Bhag Milkha Bhag were nominated for Filmfare Awards under Best Films which they won.

In 2014 Sonam was cast in the comedy-drama Bewakoofiyaan under Yash Raj Films. She played the role of banker Mayera Seghal, and Rishi Kapoor and Ayushman Khurana were opposite her.

She then did Khoobsurat by Fawad Khan. The movie was an adaptation from the 80s with the same name, and actress Rekha was in the lead role. Critics gave a mixed reaction to her performance. She received a nomination in Filmfare for Best Actresses for this movie.

In 2015 Sonam Kapoor met Sahir Berry on social media. Sahir Berry was an entrepreneur and model. They were in a relationship and broke up later.

In 2015 Sonam was cast in Dolly Ki Doli, where she played the role of a bride who usually tricks boys in the name of marriage and then runs away. Pulkit Samrat, Varun Sharma and Rajkumar Rao were male leads. She received negative reviews from critics for her performance. However, she was nominated for Filmfare Awards for Best Actress.

When Sonam was filming Prem Ratan Dhan Payo in February 2015, she suffered from swine influenza, and it took her a month to recover properly. The actor lead was Salman Khan, and Sonam played the role of Rajkumari Maithili Devi, a princess who was looking for love. Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is one of the highest-grossing Bollywood movies to date. Critics praised her performance and even said it could be a turning point in her career.

Sonam received Golden Kela Award for Worst Actress in 2015. Random online magazines and nominations create this award, and winners are selected by online polling.

Female Lead Roles Movies and Marriage

Neerja Bhanot was an air hostess who died while saving the life of passengers on the hijacked plane Pan Am Flight 73 in 1986. In 2016, Sonam Kapoor was in the lead role for Neerja, a biographical thriller on Neerja Bhanot's life. Ram Madhvani directed the movie.

Sonam Kapoor took this role with great responsibility because it was about a real incident, and she even met Bhanot's family for an excellent performance. Critics praised her performance. Some said that Sonam's performance was the best till then. Some even called her the best actress in Indian cinema. Neerja became the highest-grossing Bollywood movie featuring a female lead with a whooping sum of 1.35 Billion INR. Sonam won National Film Award-Special Mention and Filmfare Best Actress (Critics).

Sonam Kapoor was absent from Bollywood for two years and returned in 2018. In the R. Balki film Pad Man, she played a social worker. This movie was inspired by the life of Arunachalam Muruganatham who was a social worker and campaigned in rural areas of India about menstrual hygiene. The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad, a novel by Twinkle Khanna, inspired the narrative. Akshay Kumar and Radhika Apte were the main leads of the movie.

Kapoor even said that this movie carries importance for her as it addresses social issues and not only entertainment. Critics also appreciated her role but condemned her chemistry with Akshay Kumar because of the age gap.

On May 8, 2018, Sonam Kapoor was married t Anand Ahuja, an Indian businessman. After a month, she appeared in various movies like Veere Di Weeding. The later month Sonam was cast for Sanju, the biopic of Sanjay Dutt.

Sonam got cast in the 2019 film Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga. Again this movie targeted social issues. Anil Kapoor, Rajkumar Rao and Juhi Chawla were the co-actors of the movie. The story was about a girl who liked girls and not boys and portrays the difficulty of coming out from a conservative family. Therefore, she agreed to it. Critics appreciated the plot and her performance. However, the movie failed commercially.

Kapoor in Media

Sonam Kapoor's comment on others in Bollywood has even driven her into controversies. In an interview, she said she is quite aware that her thoughts get her into trouble, but they shall prevail in the long run.

Sonam has a sizable fan following on Facebook and Twitter and is well followed online. The Huffington Post listed her among the top 100 Twitter influencers. Sonam is one of the best-dressed Bollywood actresses, claims Rediff.com. Though she is praised for her dressing sense and style, she faces criticism when dressing traditionally.

Sonam also has been ranked on the Most Desirable Woman and World's Sexiest Asian Woman List. She was even listed on Forbes based on income and popularity.

Sonam Kapoor is the L'Oreal brand ambassador for India and also appears in advertising. According to Rediff.com, Sonam receives 30 million INR for one advertisement. She was also called out when she joined the Black Lives Matter campaign because she endorsed skin-lightening products.

Social Activism

Sonam Kapoor is a very active social worker. She frequently donates to charity for various causes. Sonam participated in 2009's International Indian Film Academy Awards, supporting orphans on Indian film industry workers. She even wrote a letter to the Home Minister of Maharashtra for a ban on the glass-coated thread used to fly kites because it kills birds.

Sonam got into controversy when she stood in support of Salman Khan, accused of hunting endangered Blackbuck.

In 2012 Sonam ran a campaign on her birthday where she asked fans to donate to the Ogan Cancer Foundation. She even collaborated with the organization to spread awareness about breast cancer. Kapoor also is in support of LGBT rights in India.

Sonam even auctions her clothes online. The proceeds are then donated to organizations. Even the profit gained from the song Dheere Dheere was donated to charity.