Aditi Rao Hydari

Biography

Aditi Rao Hydari (born 28 October 1978) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam films. She began her acting career with the Malayalam film Prajapathi (2006) and appeared in the Tamil film Sringaram (2007).

Hydari made her Hindi film debut in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Delhi-6 (2009). She won the Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Sudhir Mishra's thriller Yeh Saali Zindagi (2011). Her other Hindi films from the 2010s include the musical Rockstar (2011), the romantic thriller Murder 3 (2013), the action thriller Wazir (2016), and the romantic drama Fitoor (2016). She played Queen Mehrunisa in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's historical film Padmaavat (2018), earning the IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Hydari returned to Tamil cinema with Mani Ratnam's romantic drama Kaatru Veliyidai (2017), earning the SIIMA Award for Best Female Debut – Tamil. Her other South Indian films include the Telugu romantic drama Sammohanam (2018), Mani Ratnam's Tamil film Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018), the Malayalam musical romance Sufiyum Sujatayum (2020), and the Telugu action drama Maha Samudram (2021).

Hydari played the film star Sumitra Kumari in Vikramaditya Motwane's period drama series Jubilee (2023), earning the ITA Award for Best Actress (OTT). She portrayed Bibbojaan in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's series Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar (2024).