Paresh Rawal, born on 30 May 1955 in Bombay, now Mumbai, is an Indian actor, film producer and former politician known mainly for his work in Hindi films. He has appeared in more than 240 films and has won a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2014.
He was raised in a Gujarati family in Mumbai, completed his education there and graduated from the Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics in Vile Parle. During his college years he was involved in theatre, which came before his entry into films. He has stayed active in Gujarati theatre throughout his film career, and his Gujarati play Dear Father was later adapted into a film of the same name in 2022. In an interview he said he felt the time was right to return to Gujarati cinema after several decades.
In 1987 he married Swaroop Sampat, an actress who won the Miss India title in 1979, and they have two sons, Aditya and Anirudh. Aditya Rawal is an actor and writer who made his acting debut with the Hindi film Bamfaad (2020).
Rawal made his film debut in a supporting role in Arjun (1985) and appeared in the Doordarshan serial Bante Bigadte. The 1986 hit Naam established him as a talented actor, and through the 1980s and 1990s he appeared in more than 100 films, mostly as the antagonist, in titles such as Ram Lakhan, Dilwale, Daud and Baazi. In 1993 he won the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role for Sir, and in 1994 the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for Woh Chokri and Sir.
Ketan Mehta’s Sardar, in which Rawal played the freedom fighter Vallabhbhai Patel, gave him national and international acclaim. He also became known for villain roles in Telugu hits such as Kshana Kshanam (1991), Govinda Govinda (1994) and Bavagaru Bagunnara (1998). In the cult comedy Andaz Apna Apna (1993) he played a double role.
The turning point was Hera Pheri (2000), in which he played the dim-witted, kind-hearted Marathi landlord Baburao Ganpatrao Apte, a performance that was a key reason for the film’s success and won him the Filmfare Best Comedian Award. He reprised the role in Phir Hera Pheri (2006). Afterwards he took lead and main roles in comedies such as Awara Paagal Deewana (2002), Hungama (2003), Hulchul (2004), Garam Masala (2005), Malamaal Weekly (2006), Welcome (2007) and De Dana Dan (2009), as well as the thriller Aankhen (2002) with Amitabh Bachchan.
In 2012 he played the lead in OMG – Oh My God!, with Akshay Kumar, and in 2018 he played Sunil Dutt in Rajkumar Hirani’s Sanju. His later work includes Uri (2019), the Tamil film Soorarai Pottru (2020), the Hindi remake Sarfira (2024) and The Storyteller (2025), in which he played Satyajit Ray’s character Tarini Khuro. He has also produced several Hindi television serials, including Teen Bahuraaniyaan. In September 2020 he was appointed chief of the National School of Drama. A third Hera Pheri film, in which he was reported to be reprising Baburao, was put on hold in May 2024.
Featured image: Paresh Rawal on the sets of OMG – Oh My God! (file photo). Photo by Bollywood Hungama, licensed under CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
