Kriti Kharbanda (born 29 October 1990) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi, Kannada and Telugu language films. Kharbanda is a recipient of several accolades including a SIIMA Award, and nominations for two Filmfare Awards South.
After beginning her career as a model, Kharbanda made her acting debut in the Telugu film Boni (2009) and her Kannada debut with Chirru (2010). Following a few unsuccessful films, she received the SIIMA Award for Best Actress - Kannada nomination for portraying a medical student in Googly (2013) and for Super Ranga (2014), winning the SIIMA Critics Award for Best Actress – Kannada for the latter. She portrayed an IAS aspirant in Bruce Lee: The Fighter (2015), for which she received Filmfare and SIIMA Award for Best Supporting Actress – Telugu nominations. Kharbanda's other successful films include the Kannada films, Tirupathi Express (2014), Belli (2014) and Minchagi Nee Baralu (2015).
Kharbanda made her Hindi film debut with Raaz: Reboot (2016) and played a PCS Officer in Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana (2017), which proved to be her breakthrough. Her other notable Hindi films include Yamla Pagla Deewana: Phir Se (2018), Housefull 4 (2019), which is her highest-grossing release, Taish (2020) and 14 Phere (2021). She earned further praise for her streaming debut Rana Naidu (2025).
In addition to her acting career, Kharbanda is a prominent celebrity endorser for various brands and products. She also support a number of causes. Kharbanda is married to actor Pulkit Samrat.
Early life and education Kriti Kharbanda was born on 29 October 1990 in a Punjabi Hindu family in New Delhi. She has a younger sister Ishita Kharbanda and a younger brother Jaiwardhan Kharbanda, who is the co-founder of Paper Plane Productions. She moved to Bangalore in the early 1990s with her family.
Kharbanda was educated at Baldwin Girls' High School, Bangalore, and at the Bishop Cotton Girls' School, Bangalore. She was graduated from Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College, Bangalore. She also holds a diploma in jewellery designing.
According to her, she was very active in cultural activities during school and college. As a child, she was also featured in a number of advertisements and she continued modelling while in school/college, stating that she "always loved doing TV commercials". Her prominent modelling campaigns during her college days were for Bhima Jewellers, Spar, and Fair & Lovely. Her photo on the Spar billboard caught the attention of NRI director Raj Pippala who was looking for a heroine for his film, and that paved the way for her acting career. She said that she had initially no plans of becoming an actress and that it was only because of her mother's encouragement that she considered it seriously.
Career Early career (2009–2012)
After being seen on the Spar billboard, Kharbanda was cast in a lead role for the Telugu film Boni opposite Sumanth. Boni received negative reviews but fetched Kharbanda a positive response. While Sify wrote, "Kriti was a good choice and she had no tense moments despite her debut. Her looks are gorgeous and she has a lot of future if she plays her cards correctly", Radhika Rajamani of Rediff.com wrote, "Kriti Kharbanda looks fresh and pretty and manages to play the part of Pragati in a fairly convincing way. She may have to work on her expressions a bit in future, though". Although the film was unsuccessful at the box office, She landed a prominent role in the Pawan Kalyan film Teen Maar. Her next release, however, was her debut Kannada film, Chirru. Her performance was mostly well received, with The Times of India writing that she "excels in her performance". and Indiaglitz.com stating that she "is very pretty and her expressions are good". IANS wrote that she "looks ravishing in song sequences" and "is good at dancing". The film was a hit at the box office, and Kharbanda stated that it got her recognition and "a fair amount of admiration in the industry", resulting in her being offered numerous projects in Kannada. However, she took a long time to sign her second Kannada film, until October 2011, when she signed up for four films in a single month.
In 2011, Kharbanda was seen in a guest role in the successful Telugu romantic comedy Ala Modalaindi, before Teen Maar was released. She appeared in "retro scenes" in Teen Maar in which she had to "replicate heroines from the 70s" and revealed that she also chose the costumes and jewellery she wore in the film. The film turned out to be an average grosser.Teen Maar Box Office CollectionsAndhra Box Office The following year, she acted in Mr. Nookayya alongside Manoj Manchu in Telugu, and in Prem Adda, a remake of the Tamil film Subramaniapuram, in Kannada. The latter film featured her in a "completely de-glam" role, with the actress stating that her fair complexion posed a problem to her as she played a small town girl from the 80s. She called Girija the most challenging character she had played till then, since it required a no-makeup look, get a tan and walk barefoot to attain "a raw look" like the role demanded. For the film, she also designed her costumes along with her mother.
Career progression and critical acclaim (2013–2019) Kharbanda had four releases in 2013, two each in Telugu and Kannada. Her first release was Kannada film Galaate opposite Prajwal Devaraj. A critic for Times of India stated that she gives life to her role. In her next Telugu film, Bhaskar's Ongole Githa opposite Ram Pothineni, she played a "typical town girl", Karthik Pasupulate mentioned, "Kriti looks cute and does a decent job of holding her own despite playing a character with little scope to do any acting." Her next release was Kalyan Ram's Om 3D, the first 3D action film in Telugu cinema, both films did not perform well at the box office.
Kharbanda's career in Kannada, however, saw an upswing with the romantic comedy Googly, her last release of the year. She portrayed a medical student Swathi opposite Yash. Her performance was lauded by critics with G. S. Kumar stating, "Kriti has given life to her character." A critic of Sify in particular, praised Kharbanda, calling her "The heart and soul of the movie...who emerges triumphant on the big screen with some fine acting". The film went on to collect over 15 crores at the box office, emerging as the third highest-grossing Kannada film of the year. She stated that she received a lot of offers after Googly including two Bollywood projects that she had to refuse since she was too busy shooting for her previously signed films. The film earned her SIIMA Award for Best Actress – Kannada nomination.
Following Googlys success, Kharbanda had three Kannada releases in 2014: Her first release was Tirupathi Express, a remake of the Telugu film Venkatadri Express. She played a techie opposite Sumanth Shailendra. Shashi Prasad noted, "Kriti who has struck hat-trick opportunities after her Googly success, makes another 'beautiful' comeback while filling the much needed glamour quotient." She then appeared in Super Ranga opposite Upendra, playing a modern girl Naina. Her performance fetched her positive reviews and S. Viswanath of Deccan Chronicle noted, "Kriti, simply adores the screen with her beauty and in the real sense, the beautiful kick for the audience." For the film, she earned the SIIMA Critics Award for Best Actress - Kannada, alongside nominations for Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada and SIIMA Best Actress – Kannada award. Kharbanda's final release of the year was Belli opposite Shiva Rajkumar. IB Timess critic found her to be "a treat to watch". Super Ranga was a box office success, while Belli became a box office average.
Kharbanda's first release in 2015 was opposite Diganth in Minchagi Nee Baralu. She received special praise for her performance, with Sunayana Suresh stating that she's the "biggest plus point of the film". She next portrayed an IAS aspirant in the Telugu film Bruce Lee: The Fighter co-starring Ram Charan. A critic from Sify found her to be "apt" in her role. The film was a box office average. She earned nominations for Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress – Telugu and SIIMA Award for Best Supporting Actress – Telugu for the film. In 2016, Kharbanda expanded to Hindi films with Raaz Reboot opposite Emraan Hashmi and Gaurav Arora. The film received mixed reviews and was a box office failure.
Kharbanda had four film releases in 2017: She first made her Tamil film debut opposite G. V. Prakash Kumar in Bruce Lee. It received negative reviews from critics. The same year, she played the lead in Maasthi Gudi a Kannada film, opposite Duniya Vijay. Kharbanda also starred in two Hindi films. Firstly in the comedy drama Guest London opposite Kartik Aaryan. Firstposts Renil Abraham noted, "Kartik Aryan and Kriti Kharbanda looks good and plays the role well. They've been styled well too." She next portrayed a PCS officer in the romantic comedy Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana opposite Rajkummar Rao. She received mentions for her performance. A critic from Bollywood Hungama wrote that she does a much better job here than her previous Hindi releases. While Rachit Gupta of Filmfare stated that she gave her career's "best performance" in the film. Guest iin London failed at the box office, while Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana was a moderate success.
Kharbanda had four releases in 2018 too. Her first appearance was in Karwaan opposite Dulquer Salmaan. Renuka Vyavahare found her to be "likeable" in her special appearance. She next played the lead in the Kannada film Dalapathi opposite Prem. A critic from Times of India praised her and stated, "Kriti looks like a million bucks, and one wonders why we don't see her on screen as often in Kannada films, given how she effortlessly charms the audience." Her next releases was Veerey Ki Wedding opposite Pulkit Samrat, where she played a Punjabi girl. Critic from Hindustan Times said that she as Geet is "effervescent and pretty", but sadly is "limited" by a badly written script. She delivers what is expected of her. Her final release that year was Yamla Pagla Deewana: Phir Se opposite Bobby Deol, where she played a Gujarati surgeon. Jyoti Sharma Bawa wrote, "Kriti plays a Gujarati surgeon who loves her booze and should have had her license revoked a long time back." The film had poor box office returns.
Kharbanda starred in two comedy ensembles in 2019. Her first release of the year was the reincarnation comedy Housefull 4, where she portrayed Rajkumari Meena and Neha opposite Bobby Deol and Riteish Deshmukh. It became her highest grossing release with a worldwide gross collection of ₹296 crore and was the year's fourth highest grossing release. Monika Rawal Kukreja opined, "Kriti Kharbanda brings freshness to the screen but, her poor dialogue delivery is distracting." Later that year, she appeared in Anees Bazmee's Pagalpanti alongside Pulkit Samrat, playing a gangster's daughter. Critic from Bollywood Hungama noted, "Of all the heroines, Kriti Kharbanda gets to play an interesting character and she does justice."
Expansion and streaming projects (2020–present) Kharbanda's only release in 2020 was Bejoy Nambiar's Taish opposite Jim Sarbh and Pulkit Samrat, which released on ZEE5 as a feature film and six-episode series. Pallabi Dey Purkayastha mentions, "Kriti, Sanjeeda and Saloni play three very different women standing at three crucial junctions in their respective lives. As Arfa, Kharbanda is a sucker for love and the peacemaker of the livid gang." In 2021, she appeared in ZEE5's 14 Phere, directed by Devanshu Singh opposite Vikrant Massey, playing a Jatt girl Aditi. Stutee Ghosh of The Quint wrote, "Kriti Kharbanda as Aditi, has a very thinly written character sketch, but she manages to be charming throughout."