Disha Patani (; born 13 June 1992) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Hindi films. Known for her fitness and supporting roles in male-dominated films, she has appeared in Forbes India Celebrity 100 list of 2019.
Patani made her acting debut with the Telugu action drama Loafer (2015), and had her first Hindi film release with the biopic M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016). After appearing in the Chinese action comedy Kung Fu Yoga (2017), Patani featured in the action films Baaghi 2 (2018), Kalki 2898 AD (2024) and thriller Malang (2020), Awarapan 2 (2026).
Early life and education Disha Patani was born on 13 June 1992 in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, in a Hindu Kumaoni Rajput family. Her father, Jagadish Singh Patani is a police officer and her mother is a health inspector. Her elder sister, Khushboo Patani served as a major in the Indian Army and is a fitness coach-cum-entrepreneur. She also has a younger brother, Suryansh Patani. She left in 2nd year of engineering at Amity University, Lucknow. She was the first runner up of Pond's Femina Miss India Indore 2013.
Career Debut and early success (2015–2020) Patani debuted with a Telugu film, Loafer alongside Varun Tej in 2015. She plays the role of Mouni, a girl who runs from home to escape a forced marriage. Directed by Puri Jagannadh and produced by C. Kalyan under C.K. Entertainment, the film was made on a budget of 200 million and performed poorly at the box office with a lifetime collection of 106 million. In the following year, Disha appeared in a music video, Befikra along with Tiger Shroff which was produced by Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar under T-Series and composed by Meet Bros. Written and directed by Meet Bros, the singer, Aditi Singh Sharma lent her voice.
Patani found her commercial break with Neeraj Pandey's M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, a biographical sports film based on the life story of MS Dhoni, the former captain of the Indian Cricket Team along with Sushant Singh Rajput and Kiara Advani. She plays the role of Priyanka Jha, the girlfriend of Rajput's character who dies in a car accident. Directed by Neeraj Pandey, the film emerged as a major commercial success, earning over . Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama and Shubhra Gupta from The Indian Express both commended Patani on a strong debut. At the IIFA Awards, she won the IIFA Award for Star Debut of the Year – Female). She also featuredin Jackie Chan's Kung Fu Yoga, along with Sonu Sood.功夫瑜伽 Douban | Kungfu Yoga
Patani starred opposite Tiger Shroff in Baaghi 2, the second instalment of the Baaghi franchise. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV wrote, "Patani is a pretty sight all right but is only required to sleepwalk through her role". Grossing over worldwide, the film ranks among the highest-grossing Hindi films of 2018. In 2019, Patani appeared in a brief role in the action drama film Bharat starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif. The film was a commercial success and one of the year's highest grosser. She began the new decade with Mohit Suri's action thriller film Malang co-starring Aditya Roy Kapur, Anil Kapoor and Kunal Khemu. Writing for Bollywood Hungama wrote that she, "gets the most screen time ever she looks gorgeous and delivers a heart-warming performance". It was a moderate commercial success. The following month, she appeared in a song for the film Baaghi 3, the third instalment of the Baaghi franchise.
Career downturn (2021–2025) In 2021, Patani reunited with Salman Khan as the leading lady in Prabhu Deva's Radhe, which was delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was released coinciding with Eid al-Fitr, as premium video on demand on Zee Plex through ZEE5. Although the film had strong viewership on OTT, it was panned by critics. In 2022, Patani played a proxy killer in Mohit Suri's psychological thriller Ek Villain Returns opposite John Abraham. It underperformed commercially. Sukanya Vema of Rediff dismissed Patani's character as derivative.
In 2024, Patani played a terrorist disguised as an air hostess in the Sidharth Malhotra-starrer Yodha. Pratikshya Mishra of The Quint termed Patani a "potential action star", while praising her fight sequence, but added that her dialogues fail to make an impact. The film emerged as a box-office bomb. The same year she had a brief role of Roxie which critics describing it as an "unnecessary" and "out of place" 10-minute cameo of Bhairava's love interest (played by Prabhas) in the Telugu film Kalki 2898 AD. The film was a major success commercially earning over , emerging as the year's highest-grossing Indian film and Patani's first success since Malang. Following this, she expanded to Tamil films with Kanguva, playing a bounty hunter opposite Suriya. The film opened to mixed reviews with criticism for her "insignificant part" from India Today's Janani K. It underperformed at the box office.
Commercial success (2026-present) After no release in 2025, Patani had three film releases in 2026. She first briefly appeared in Vishal Bhardwaj ensemble romantic action O'Romeo starring Shahid Kapoor, where she played Julie, a dancer. The film failed commercially. She next starred in the ensemble comedy Welcome to the Jungle opposite Akshay Kumar. The film received mixed reviews, with critics stating, "Patani is largely cosmetic, serving as a high-glamour visual presence and feature for "musical sequences" rather than a heavy narrative driver." In her final release of the year, Patani played the female lead in Emraan Hashmi's romantic drama, Awarapan 2, a sequel to the 2007 film. Sreeju Sudhakaran of Rediff opined, "There is a noticeable improvement in Patani's performance, even when she is styled in "distractingly glamorous" outfits but dismissed the chemistry between her and Hashmi. Both Awarapan 2 and Welcome to the Jungle emerged as commercial success, and the seventh and eighth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year respectively.
Other work and media image
Critics have frequently noted that Patani's roles in many of her films are often "insignificant," characterized by limited screen time, a focus on her physical appearance, and little to no emotional depth. While she is recognized for her impressive fitness, dance skills, and screen presence, she has been described as a "starlet" or "eye candy" in several high-profile projects.
Patani was placed fifth in the list of most searched celebrities on Google of 2016. She is one of the most followed celebrities on social media with over 57.5 million Instagram followers. In 2019, Patani appeared in Forbes India Celebrity 100 list, ranking 43rd with an estimated annual income of .
Patani has frequently featured in Times 50 Most Desirable Woman list. She ranked 19th in 2017 and 9th in 2018. Patani was named the Times' Most Desirable Woman in 2019 and ranked 3rd in 2020. Patani is a prominent celebrity endorser for brands and products including Joy personal care, Bata footwears and Fossil watches. Patani has performed at the opening ceremony of the 2017 Indian Premier League, in Indore. In March 2023, Patani performed in various cities in the United States for "The Entertainers" tour, alongside Akshay Kumar, Mouni Roy, Nora Fatehi, Sonam Bajwa, Aparshakti Khurana, Stebin Ben, and Zahrah S Khan. Patani also performed at the opening ceremony of the 2025 Indian Premier League. In 2024, Patani was placed 21st on IMDb's List of 100 Most Viewed Indian Stars.
Filmography
Films All films are in Hindi unless otherwise noted. Year Title Role(s) Notes 2015 Loafer Mouni / Parijatam Telugu film 2016 M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story Priyanka Jha 2017 Kung Fu Yoga Ashmita Chinese film 2018 Welcome to New York Herself Cameo appearance Baaghi 2 Neha Rawat 2019 Bharat Radha Mathur 2020 Malang Sara Nambiar Baaghi 3 Bar dancer Special appearance in the song "Do You Love Me" 2021 Radhe Diya Abhyankar 2022 Ek Villain Returns Rasika Mapuskar2024YodhaLaila Khalid Kalki 2898 AD Roxie Telugu film Kanguva Angelina Tamil film 2026 O'Romeo Julie Cameo appearance Holiguards Saga — The Portal of Force Jessica English film Welcome to the Jungle Nadia Daruwala Awarapan 2 Zara Singh
Television Year Title Role(s) Notes 2025The B***ds of Bollywood Herself Cameo appearance
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result 2017BIG Star Entertainment Awards Most Entertaining Actor in a Drama Film – FemaleM.S. Dhoni: The Untold StoryMost Entertaining Actor Debut – FemaleStardust AwardsSuperstar of Tomorrow – FemaleBest Debut (Female)International Indian Film Academy AwardsStar Debut of the Year – FemaleBest Supporting ActressScreen AwardsBest Female Debut2023Bollywood Hungama Style IconsStylish Mould Breaking Star FemaleMost Stylish TrendsetterStylish Glam StarPinkvilla Style Icons AwardsGlamorous Trendsetter of the Year 2024 Pinkvilla Screen and Style Icons Awards Most Stylish Game Changer 2025 Most Stylish Glam Star
References
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