Suniel Shetty is by far considered to be one of the finest action heroes of all time Hindi cinemas by movie goers and by audience alike. Suniel Shetty has over a period of twenty four years acted in almost 110 movies in various languages. Shetty has been a key figure in Bollywood for past two decades and compared by many to acclaimed actor Dolph Lundgren as his alter-ego from India. Shetty is also been a part of almost all kinds of movies in his illustrious career, where he went on to portray character roles, villain roles also. Suniel Shetty is considered to be a driving force behind bringing about a change in the way action movies were once made in India.
Suniel Shetty was born in a Tulu family from Mulky in Mangalore and then later he relocated to Mumbai.
Suniel Shetty is married to Mana Shetty and the couple has two children; Elder daughter Athiya Shetty who made her acting debut in year 2015 movie hero opposite Sooraj Pancholi , son of Aditya Pancholi, and a younger son Ahan Shetty. His wife Mana runs an NGO for under-privileged children. Shetty is referred to by the title Anna by his friends in real life. The actor is also a black belt holder and trained in martial arts and kickboxing. Suniel Shetty changed his name from Sunil Shetty to Suniel Shetty in a later phase of his life and after he had begun his career in the film industry .
Entry into cinema ( 1992) Ek Aur Faulad was actually meant to be Suniel Shetty’s official Launch pad to Hindi cinema but it did not materialize after which Shetty made his Debut in Hindi cinema in the action movie Balwaan in the year 1992. The movie failed to create an impact but Shetty soon gained prominence after his matured stint. 1993 Romantic action movie Waqt Hamara Hai; where he went on to pair with Akshay Kumar for the very first time in his career which proved to be a fruitful combination in future Hindi cinema, incidentally also turned out to be Shetty’s first hit. The year 1994 turned out to be the perfect year for Shetty as he got words of praise from critics and movie goers for the romantic movie Dilwale which also fetched him a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for his stellar depiction of a hot headed angry cop in the movie. Suniel Shetty also got his very first blockbuster in Mohra which was the second highest grosser of 1994 and also proved to be crucial for Shetty’s rise to stardom in a short span. He again took everyone by surprise in the same year by appearing in the comical movie Gopi Kishan where he played a dual role, the movie turned out to be his first solo blockbuster and Suniel Shetty established himself as an acknowledged star of the time. He further got a chance to showcase his comic timing, and new facet which was still an undiscovered part of his acting which in gave a potential rise to many of his comic roles in the Hindi Cinema. Through films like Surakshaa,Takkar, Suniel Shetty went on to deliver a bunch of commercial hits in the rest of the 1990’s mostly confined himself to action movies. Successful transition to Supporting roles in Border (1997) 1997 saw him coming up with a standout performance in the war drama Border, along with an ensemble cast including Sunny Deol, Akshay Khanna and Jackie Shroff. The movie was a super hit and also got nominated for many awards for numerous nominations for its lead actors and Suniel Shetty too received exceptional reviews and also received Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. The movie is still remembered for its evergreen music album. After Border he once again returned to his forte playing the lead in action movies like Prithvi , Aakrosh , Dhaal all of which were mediocre performers in the box office which maintained Shetty’s star value as a bankable action hero. Comic break in Hera Pheri ( 2000) Suniel Shetty joined hands with maestro Priyadarshan in the year 2000 for the Hindi remake of the Malayalam blockbuster comedy movie “Ramji Rao Speaking” which turned out to be a revelation as Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty and Paresh Rawal went on to create pure magic in the silver screen with their comic endeavours as a result of the movie their trio went on to one of the most successful combinations in Hindi cinema from then on. Suniel Shetty finally was able to break away all the shackles of being stereotyped to macho characters to being recognized as a versatile actor too. Hera Pheri was a record hit and Refugee which followed won Suniel Shetty The Best Actor In a Supporting Role Award again in the Filmfare. His next major release was Dhadkan where he appeared as the antagonist for the very first time which consequently also got him a Filmfare Award for Best Villain. Shetty then went on to be a part of many low key action flicks like Aaghaaz , Officer and also in the romantic movie Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat in which his performance was subdued by the extra ordinary reviews garnered by Arjun Rampal and the movie turned out to be a flop at the box office. He over a time, was running a lean patch and none of his independent outings went on to be super hits during that time .Shetty in those years also made appearances in other languages like in the Tamil movie 12B and an also in the Malayalam movie Kakkakuyil in the year 2001 in a song sequence . Awara Paagal Deewana turned out to be Suniel’s next blockbuster along with Akshay Kumar. After cold Reponses for movies like Kaante, Maseeha, Qayamat City Under Threat the year in the year 2003 got a lucky break for Shetty as well as his co actor Ajay Devgn as both of them got a long overdue commercial success in their careers after a string of uneventful movies to their name Debut Production (2003) In the year 2003 Suniel Shetty for the first time bankrolled the action film Khel- No Ordinary Game; under his newly formed production house Popcorn Motion Pictures, starring Sunny Deol along with himself. The film despite its huge hype could only collect well in the first few weeks thus becoming a sleeper hit. The same year J P Dutta’s ensemble war film L O C Kargil; which is also incidentally India’s lengthiest motion picture ever, also procured encouraging reviews for Shetty and in this film, it was one of his best performances till date. After a rather forgettable negative role in the Amateurish science fiction thriller Rudraksh Shetty went on to be a part of Farah Khan’s directorial debut Main Hoon Na in the year 2004. The ShahRukh Khan starrer “part thriller part college comedy entertainer “ saw Shetty coming up with a dark and gritty conception of the main antagonist Major Raghavan which also got Suniel Shetty much accolades and the movie was a phenomenal success and also bagged innumerable awards including an Award for Best Villain for Shetty that year in the Filmfare. Shetty financed his another project Rakht which too panned out to be an average grosser with mixed reviews. Aan; Men At Work, Ek Se Badhkar Ek completed his releases all of underperformed. In this phase Shetty began losing his independent productions and started doing cameos in other productions like Home Delivery, Kyon Ki, Paheli. Phir Hera Pheri, the official sequel of Hera Pheri which was a huge comeback wagon for Shetty as the movie turned out as yet another blockbuster he followed it up poorly with supporting roles in outings like Umrao Jaan, Aap Ki Khatir. Suniel Shetty’s next big release was the Indo-English production Don’t Stop Dreaming. After playing second fiddle in the critically acclaimed movies like Shootout at Lokhandwala Shetty’s next production was the hit Mission Istanbul. His last successful ventures were De Dana Dan, Thank You and his voice was also used in the animated movie Delhi Safari in the year 2012. After Desi Kattey and special cameos in The Shaukeens and Jai Ho , Shetty was last seen in
# | Released Date | Type | Credited As | Movie |
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1 | 23 Jan 2026 | Film | Actor | Border 2 |
2 | 26 Dec 2025 | Film | Actor | Shootout At Byculla |
3 | 26 Dec 2025 | Film | Actor | Awara Paagal Deewana 2 |
4 | 25 Dec 2025 | Film | Actor | Welcome To The Jungle |
5 | 29 Dec 2023 | Film | Actor | Hera Pheri 3 |
6 | 29 Dec 2023 | Film | Actor | File No 323 |
7 | 27 Jan 2023 | Film | Actor | Operation Fryday |
8 | 30 Dec 2022 | Film | Actor | Shooter |
9 | 08 Apr 2022 | Film | Actor | Ghani |
10 | 19 Mar 2021 | Film | Actor | Anu And Arjun |
11 | 19 Mar 2021 | Film | Actor | Mosagallu |
12 | 19 Mar 2021 | Film | Supporting Actor | Mumbai Saga |