# Suniel Shetty

Suniel Shetty (born Sunil V. Shetty; 11 August 1961) is an Indian actor, film producer, entrepreneur and television personality who is predominantly active in Hindi films. In a career spanning over 30 years, he has acted in over 100 films.
He is the owner of the production house Popcorn Entertainment Private Limited.

## Early life

Suniel Shetty was born in a Tulu speaking Bunt family on 11 August 1961 in Mulki, Mangalore.
He was educated at the Lawrence School, Sanawar in Himachal Pradesh.

## Career

Suniel Shetty made his debut in Hindi films in 1992 at the age of 31 with Balwaan, opposite Divya Bharti.
He was one of the highest paid Bollywood actors in the 1990s. 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 appeared mainly in multi-starrers in across genres.
He starred opposite Isha Koppikar in Arjun Rampal's debut movie Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat (2001). In 2014, he changed the spelling of his name from Sunil to Suniel for numerological reasons.
He played negative roles in movies such as Khel – No Ordinary Game (2003), Baaz: A Bird in Danger (2003), Main Hoon Na (2004), Rudraksh (2004), Cash, No Problem (2010), and A Gentleman (2017).
In 2005, on the eve of the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's 61st birth anniversary, the Mumbai Pradesh Youth Congress honoured Shetty with the Rajiv Gandhi National Quality 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. He produced films such as Khel – No Ordinary Game (2003), Rakht (2004) and Bhagam Bhag (2006) under the banner of Popcorn Motion Pictures.
Along with Mukesh Chhabra, he has also started an online casting company, F...the Couch (FTC). FTC is a digital platform that discovers new talent in Bollywood 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 and restaurant business.
Shetty also acted in Tamil films, he made his debut in tamil films by 12B (2001) and after 18 years he appeared in his second Tamil film Darbar with Rajinikanth in 2020.
In 2021, Shetty appeared in the Sanjay Gupta's gangster drama film Mumbai Saga. He was last seen in film in Kiran Korrapati directed Ghani (2020).
In 2023, Shetty portrayed ACP Vikram Chauhan in Hunter Tootega Nahi Todega, an action thriller web series that follows his character's journey into the dark alleys of Mumbai's crime world.

## Other work
### Fittr

In 2019, Shetty 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 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. The platform's mobile app has been downloaded more than 500,000 times since September 2018.

### Television

Shetty has appeared as a host for India's leading fitness reality shows Biggest Loser Jeetega on Sahara One. 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 Udupi 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 as a special guest.

### R House

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

### Brand ambassador

Shetty is the brand ambassador of HYPE Luxury, a luxury mobility platform that offers luxury cars, yachts, and private jets for rent.

### Philanthropy

Suniel Shetty is involved in a number of Philantropic initiatives. He is an advisor for Vipla Foundation, an NGO that works towards empowering underprivileged communities through education, skill development, and social welfare initiatives to create sustainable and inclusive growth.
In 2008, he contributed in the rescue of 128 Nepalese women from sex trafficking in Mumbai, and arranged for their return to Nepal. He has credited Mumbai police officials for the successful rescue.

## Personal life

Since 1991 he is married to Mana Shetty (née Monisha Kadri), a businesswoman, designer and social activist born to a Gujarati Muslim architect father and a Punjabi Hindu social activist mother. They have two children, a daughter Athiya Shetty and a son Ahan Shetty.
Both Athiya and Ahan have made their acting debuts respectively, Athiya in the film Hero (2015) and Ahan in Sajid Nadiadwala's film Tadap (2021), the Hindi remake of Telugu film RX 100. Mana runs an NGO for under-privileged kids. Athiya married Indian cricketer KL Rahul on 23 January 2023.
Shetty has a black belt in kickboxing. He owns clothing boutiques as well as restaurants specialising in Udupi cuisine.

## 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 Main Hoon Na
* 2011: Stardust Award for Best Actor (Critics) for Red Alert: The War Within

### Nominated

* 1995: Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for Dilwale
* 1998: Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for Border
* 1998: Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor for Border
* 2001: Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for Refugee
* 2001: IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor for Refugee
* 2001: IIFA Award for Best Villain for Dhadkan
* 2004: IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor for Qayamat: City Under Threat
* 2005: Filmfare Award for Best Villain for Main Hoon Na
* 2005: IIFA Award for Best Villain for Main Hoon Na
* 2021: SIIMA Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role – Tamil for Darbar