Ronit Roy

Ronit Roy (born Ronit Bose Roy, 11 October 1965) is an Indian actor who works mainly in Hindi television and films, as well as Bengali films. He gained wide popularity playing Mihir Virani in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Rishabh Bajaj in Kasautii Zindagii Kay, and is one of the highest-paid actors on Indian television. His awards include a Filmfare Award, five ITA Awards and six Indian Telly Awards. Telugu audiences know him chiefly as the antagonist of Jai Lava Kusa (2017).

Early life

Roy was born in Nagpur, Maharashtra, into a Bengali family, the elder son of businessman Brotin Bose Roy and Dolly Roy. His younger brother, Rohit Roy, is also a television and film actor. He grew up in Ahmedabad, where he attended Ankur School, and went on to study hotel management.

After his studies he moved to Mumbai and stayed at the home of filmmaker Subhash Ghai, who tried to talk him out of a film career because of how hard it could be. Roy took a job as a management trainee at Mumbai’s Sea Rock Hotel, where he gained experience at every level, from washing dishes and cleaning to waiting tables and tending bar.

Early films

His film debut, Jaan Tere Naam (1992), was a commercial success, as was Bomb Blast (1993), in which he starred with Aditya Pancholi and Kishori Shahane.

Television stardom

When appealing film offers dried up, Roy accepted a part from Balaji Telefilms in the serial Kammal. Before that show began, the company also cast him as Rishabh Bajaj, a middle-aged business tycoon, in Kasautii Zindagii Kay, and that in turn led to the role of Mihir Virani in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, which won him consecutive Best Actor Popular awards at the Indian Television Academy Awards.

From 2009 to 2011 he played Dharamraj, a crude and ruthless diamond merchant, in NDTV Imagine’s Bandini, a performance that brought him further acclaim. In 2010 he began playing the lawyer K.D. Pathak in Sony TV’s courtroom drama Adaalat, a role he reprised in its second season in 2016. He also played Dr. Nachiket Khanna in Itna Karo Na Mujhe Pyar (2014), appeared as a contestant on Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa and Yeh Hai Jalwa, and hosted Kitchen Champions on Colors TV. In 2014 Rediff.com placed him ninth on its list of top television actors.

Return to films

His role in the critically acclaimed Udaan (2010) won him many awards and brought him back to cinema; Film Companion later ranked it among the 100 greatest performances of the decade. He went on to appear in Anurag Kashyap’s That Girl in Yellow Boots and Ugly, Karan Johar’s Student of the Year, Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children and Sanjay Gupta’s Shootout at Wadala. He played the main antagonist in Boss (2013), won appreciation for 2 States (2014), and played the villain opposite Hrithik Roshan in Kaabil (2017).

Telugu films

Roy made his Telugu debut in 2017 in Jai Lava Kusa, starring N. T. Rama Rao Jr., in which he played the main antagonist, Sarkar. He later appeared in Puri Jagannadh‘s romantic sports film Liger (2022). In 2023 he played antagonists in the Hindi films Gumraah and Bloody Daddy.

Web series and business

Roy made his streaming debut in 2018 with ALTBalaji’s Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain, alongside Mona Singh and Gurdeep Kohli, and in 2019 starred in the crime thriller series Hostages. Away from acting, he owns the Ace Security and Protection agency, whose clients have included Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan, and which has worked on film productions such as Lagaan and Dil Chahta Hai.

He is married to the actress and model Neelam Singh, and they have a daughter and a son.

Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.