Sonu Sood

Sonu Sood was born on 30 July 1973 in Moga, Punjab, and raised in Nagpur, in a family led by an entrepreneur father and a teacher mother. Sonu Sood completed his schooling at Sacred Heart School, Moga, and went on to earn a B.Tech in Electronics Engineering from Yeshwantrao Chavan College of Engineering, Nagpur. Before films, Sonu Sood competed as a Mr. India contestant, which opened the door to modeling and, eventually, acting.

Sonu Sood began his acting career in 1999 with the Tamil films Kallazhagar and Nenjinile, and made his Hindi film debut in Shaheed-E-Azam (2002), playing Bhagat Singh. Recognition grew quickly — Sonu Sood was cast as Abhishek Bachchan’s brother in Mani Ratnam’s Yuva (2004), and went on to appear in hits like Aashiq Banaya Aapne (2005), Jodhaa Akbar (2008), and Dookudu (2011). Sonu Sood became especially celebrated for his commanding antagonist roles, winning the Andhra Pradesh State Nandi Award for Best Villain and the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Telugu for Arundhati (2009), followed by the Apsara Award and IIFA Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role for Dabangg (2010) opposite Salman Khan.

In July 2016, Sonu Sood stepped into production, founding Shakti Sagar Productions — named in tribute to his father, Shakti Sagar Sood. Nearly a decade later, Sonu Sood took the next big creative leap, making his directorial debut with Fateh (2025), a cybercrime thriller.

But it’s Sonu Sood’s humanitarian legacy that has truly defined his public identity. During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, Sood personally arranged buses, special trains, and chartered flights to send thousands of stranded migrant workers home — an act of compassion that earned Sonu Sood the nickname “Messiah” across the country and the ‘SDG Special Humanitarian Action Award’ from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in September 2020. Through the Sood Charity Foundation, Sonu Sood has since gone on to fund over 500 free breast cancer surgeries, launch free knee-replacement surgeries for the elderly through “Ab Rukna Nahi,” provide free IAS coaching to underprivileged aspirants through “SAMBHAVAM,” and build “Saroj Serenity,” a nationwide elderly-care housing initiative named after his late mother.

Sonu Sood published his autobiography, “I Am No Messiah,” in December 2020, and in 2022 was named State Icon of Punjab by the Election Commission of India. Despite widespread public affection and political speculation, Sood has consistently described himself with humility — simply as the “Common Man.” Sonu Sood is married to Sonali, and the couple has two sons, Ishant and Ayaan.