Sara Ali Khan Pataudi (pronounced [saːɾa əˈli xaːn]; born 12 August 1995) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. Born into the Pataudi family, she is the daughter of actors Amrita Singh and Saif Ali Khan. After graduating with a degree in history and political science from Columbia University, Khan began her acting career in 2018 with the romantic drama Kedarnath and the action comedy Simmba. Both films were commercially successful, and the former earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.Khan appeared in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list of 2019. Following two poorly received films, she starred in the drama Atrangi Re (2021) and had a commercial success in the romantic comedy Zara Hatke Zara Bachke (2023).

Early life and background

Sara Ali Khan was born on 12 August 1995 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India to Saif Ali Khan, son of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Sharmila Tagore, and Amrita Singh, daughter of Sardar Shivinder Singh Virk and socialite Rukhsana Sultana; both actors of the Hindi film industry. She is also the great-granddaughter of Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi and Sajida Sultan, the great-great-granddaughter of Jnanadabhiram Barua, Hamidullah Khan, and Sobha Singh, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Sultan Jahan Begum, Gaganendranath Tagore, Gunabhiram Barua, and Sujan Singh, and the niece of Soha Ali Khan and Saba Ali Khan. She has a younger brother, Ibrahim, and two half-brothers from her father's second marriage to Kareena Kapoor. Sara Ali Khan is of Pashtun Muslim (Barech and Orakzai tribes), Assamese, and Bengali Hindu descent on her father's side, and of Punjabi Sikh and Punjabi Muslim descent on her mother's side.When Khan was a four-year-old, she acted in an advertisement. According to Saif, actress Aishwarya Rai proved to be her inspiration for pursuing a career in film after she saw her perform on stage in Chicago. In 2004, when Khan was nine, her parents divorced, and Singh was granted legal guardianship of her children. Saif was initially not allowed to see her or her brother; they have since reconciled, and, according to Saif, "are more like friends [than father and daughter]". Khan also shares a healthy relationship with Kapoor, her step-mother; she stated in 2018, "I would like to imbibe her professionalism in me".As a teenager, Khan struggled with her weight, and had to undergo daily workouts under a strict schedule to get fit. She was also diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, which she ascribes as a cause for her weight gain. Khan studied history and political science at Columbia University in New York. In 2016, she completed her graduation early, within three years, and took off the remaining years for weight training, following which she returned to India.

Career

Khan's acting debut came in 2018 with Abhishek Kapoor's romantic film ''Kedarnath'', in which she played a Hindu girl who falls in love with a Muslim porter, played by Sushant Singh Rajput. In preparation for her role, Khan improved her knowledge of Hindi vocabulary with help from Rajput. ''Kedarnath'' received mixed reviews with praise directed to Khan's performance. Kunal Guha of ''Mumbai Mirror'' found it to be a rehash of 1980s Hindi films but appreciated Khan's act: "When her Mukku is angry, hopeful, desperate or coltish, she often conveys it through her eyes alone — giving us a taste of the diverse faces she can throw on." Meena Iyer of ''Daily News and Analysis'' similarly labelled her "spectacular". ''Kedarnath'' emerged as a commercial success with a gross of over . Khan was awarded with the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut and the IIFA Award for Star Debut of the Year – Female. She began work on it when filming of ''Kedarnath'' was temporarily suspended. This led to Abhishek Kapoor suing Khan; they later settled out of court when she agreed to split her time between both films. Reviewing the film for ''The Times of India'', Ronak Kotecha opined that Khan had "precious little to do besides looking breathtakingly beautiful" and disliked the chemistry between her and Singh. With worldwide earnings of , ''Simmba'' emerged as the third highest-grossing Hindi film of 2018.In Imtiaz Ali's romantic drama ''Love Aaj Kal'' (2020), a spiritual successor to Ali's 2009 film of the same name, Khan starred as a young woman with a troubled past, opposite Kartik Aaryan. In a negative review of the film, Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in bemoaned that Khan "simply doesn't have the experience or the expertise" to play a complex character, adding that "having a camera shoved into her young face only enlarges her shortcomings". It emerged as a box office bomb. In the same year, Khan starred opposite Varun Dhawan in the comedy film ''Coolie No. 1'', an adaptation of David Dhawan's 1995 film of the same name. The film had strong viewership on Amazon Prime Video but it was unanimously panned by film critics. Khan was criticised for not adding any value to the film, with Anna M. M. Vetticad of ''Firstpost'' opining that Khan does nothing more than fill the slot of "the hero's love interest".In 2021, Khan featured as a woman with post-traumatic stress disorder in Aanand L. Rai's drama ''Atrangi Re'', co-starring Akshay Kumar and Dhanush, which premiered on Disney+ Hotstar after multiple delays due to the nationwide lockdown due to the pandemic. The film received mixed reviews from critics. Monika Rawal Kukreja of ''Hindustan Times'' called her the "soul" of the film and praised her acting range and her Bihari accent. Conversely, in his review for ''Mint'', Uday Bhatia criticised her "grating Bihari accent".Khan's next release was in 2023, in ''Gaslight'', a whodunit that was filmed in 36 days, which also released on Disney+ Hotstar. Saibal Chatterjee opined that her "earnest performance, like the rest of the film, is uneven". She next played opposite Vicky Kaushal in ''Zara Hatke Zara Bachke'', a romantic comedy about a small-town couple struggling for privacy. WION's Shomini Sen was critical of her "inconsistent performance", adding that she "overacts" in key scenes. It marked her first film to release theatrically since ''Love Aaj Kal'' in 2020. Against expectations, it emerged as a commercial success.In 2024, Khan starred alongside an ensemble cast in Homi Adajania’s murder mystery ''Murder Mubarak'', for Netflix. Anvita Singh of ''India Today'' bemoaned that Khan had gone "slightly overboard at times in a bid to sell her character [...] borderline hamming". She then starred in a biopic of freedom fighter Usha Mehta, titled ''Ae Watan Mere Watan'', for Amazon Prime Video. Her performance was panned by critics, such as ''The Indian Express'' Shubhra Gupta, who dismissed her as having "little impact" in the role.Khan will next star in an as-yet untiled action film and in Anurag Basu's anthology film ''Metro... In Dino''.

Early success and setback (2018–2022)

Khan's acting debut came in 2018 with Abhishek Kapoor's romantic film ''Kedarnath'', in which she played a Hindu girl who falls in love with a Muslim porter, played by Sushant Singh Rajput. In preparation for her role, Khan improved her knowledge of Hindi vocabulary with help from Rajput. ''Kedarnath'' received mixed reviews with praise directed to Khan's performance. Kunal Guha of ''Mumbai Mirror'' found it to be a rehash of 1980s Hindi films but appreciated Khan's act: "When her Mukku is angry, hopeful, desperate or coltish, she often conveys it through her eyes alone — giving us a taste of the diverse faces she can throw on." Meena Iyer of ''Daily News and Analysis'' similarly labelled her "spectacular". ''Kedarnath'' emerged as a commercial success with a gross of over . Khan was awarded with the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut and the IIFA Award for Star Debut of the Year – Female. She began work on it when filming of ''Kedarnath'' was temporarily suspended. This led to Abhishek Kapoor suing Khan; they later settled out of court when she agreed to split her time between both films. Reviewing the film for ''The Times of India'', Ronak Kotecha opined that Khan had "precious little to do besides looking breathtakingly beautiful" and disliked the chemistry between her and Singh. With worldwide earnings of , ''Simmba'' emerged as the third highest-grossing Hindi film of 2018.In Imtiaz Ali's romantic drama ''Love Aaj Kal'' (2020), a spiritual successor to Ali's 2009 film of the same name, Khan starred as a young woman with a troubled past, opposite Kartik Aaryan. In a negative review of the film, Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in bemoaned that Khan "simply doesn't have the experience or the expertise" to play a complex character, adding that "having a camera shoved into her young face only enlarges her shortcomings". It emerged as a box office bomb. In the same year, Khan starred opposite Varun Dhawan in the comedy film ''Coolie No. 1'', an adaptation of David Dhawan's 1995 film of the same name. The film had strong viewership on Amazon Prime Video but it was unanimously panned by film critics. Khan was criticised for not adding any value to the film, with Anna M. M. Vetticad of ''Firstpost'' opining that Khan does nothing more than fill the slot of "the hero's love interest".In 2021, Khan featured as a woman with post-traumatic stress disorder in Aanand L. Rai's drama ''Atrangi Re'', co-starring Akshay Kumar and Dhanush, which premiered on Disney+ Hotstar after multiple delays due to the nationwide lockdown due to the pandemic. The film received mixed reviews from critics. Monika Rawal Kukreja of ''Hindustan Times'' called her the "soul" of the film and praised her acting range and her Bihari accent. Conversely, in his review for ''Mint'', Uday Bhatia criticised her "grating Bihari accent".

Debut and early career (2018–2020)

Khan's debut came in 2018 with Abhishek Kapoor's romantic film Kedarnath, in which she played a Hindu girl who falls in love with a Muslim porter, played by Sushant Singh Rajput. In preparation for her role, Khan improved her knowledge of Hindi vocabulary with help from Rajput. Kedarnath received mixed reviews with praise directed to Khan's performance. Kunal Guha of Mumbai Mirror found it to be a rehash of 1980s Hindi films but appreciated Khan's act: "When her Mukku is angry, hopeful, desperate or coltish, she often conveys it through her eyes alone — giving us a taste of the diverse faces she can throw on." Meena Iyer of Daily News and Analysis similarly labelled her "spectacular". Kedarnath emerged as a commercial success with a gross of over 960 million Indian Rupees. Khan was awarded with the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut and the IIFA Award for Star Debut of the Year – Female.

A few weeks after the release of Kedarnath, Khan starred in Rohit Shetty's action film Simmba, alongside Ranveer Singh, which was loosely based on the Telugu-language film Temper (2015). She began work on it when filming of Kedarnath was temporarily suspended. This led to Abhishek Kapoor suing Khan; they later settled out of court when she agreed to split her time between both films. Reviewing the film for The Times of India, Ronak Kotecha opined that Khan had "precious little to do besides looking breathtakingly beautiful" and disliked the chemistry between her and Singh. With worldwide earnings of ₹4 billion (US$52 million), Simmba emerged as the third highest-grossing Hindi film of 2018.In Imtiaz Ali's romantic drama Love Aaj Kal (2020), a spiritual successor to Ali's 2009 film of the same name, Khan starred as a young woman with a troubled past, opposite Kartik Aaryan. In a negative review of the film, Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in bemoaned that Khan "simply doesn’t have the experience or the expertise" to play a complex character, adding that "having a camera shoved into her young face only enlarges her shortcomings". It emerged as a box office bomb. In the same year Khan starred opposite Varun Dhawan in the comedy film Coolie No. 1, an adaptation of David Dhawan's 1995 film of the same name. The film had a good viewership on Amazon Prime but it was unanimously panned by the film critics. Khan was criticised for not adding any value to the film, Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost wrote that in this film Khan does nothing more than fill the slot of “the hero’s love interest”.

2023–present

Khan's next release was in 2023, in ''Gaslight'', a whodunit that was filmed in 36 days, which also released on Disney+ Hotstar. Saibal Chatterjee opined that her "earnest performance, like the rest of the film, is uneven". She next played opposite Vicky Kaushal in ''Zara Hatke Zara Bachke'', a romantic comedy about a small-town couple struggling for privacy. WION's Shomini Sen was critical of her "inconsistent performance", adding that she "overacts" in key scenes. It marked her first film to release theatrically since ''Love Aaj Kal'' in 2020. Against expectations, it emerged as a commercial success.In 2024, Khan starred alongside an ensemble cast in Homi Adajania’s murder mystery ''Murder Mubarak'', for Netflix. Anvita Singh of ''India Today'' bemoaned that Khan had gone "slightly overboard at times in a bid to sell her character [...] borderline hamming". She then starred in a biopic of freedom fighter Usha Mehta, titled ''Ae Watan Mere Watan'', for Amazon Prime Video. Her performance was panned by critics, such as ''The Indian Express'' Shubhra Gupta, who dismissed her as having "little impact" in the role.Khan will next star in an as-yet untiled action film and in Anurag Basu's anthology film ''Metro... In Dino''.

2023 onward

Khan's next release was in 2023, in ''Gaslight'', a whodunit that was filmed in 36 days, which also released on Disney+ Hotstar. Saibal Chatterjee opined that her "earnest performance, like the rest of the film, is uneven". She next played opposite Vicky Kaushal in ''Zara Hatke Zara Bachke'', a romantic comedy about a small-town couple struggling for privacy. WION's Shomini Sen was critical of her "inconsistent performance", adding that she "overacts" in key scenes. It marked her first film to release theatrically since ''Love Aaj Kal'' in 2020. Against expectations, it emerged as a commercial success.Khan will next star in an as-yet untiled action film and in Anurag Basu's anthology film ''Metro... In Dino''. She will also star in Homi Adajania's ''Murder Mubarak'' and will portray freedom fighter Usha Mehta in the biopic ''Ae Watan Mere Watan'', which will stream on Amazon Prime Video.

Breakthrough and further career (2021–present)

In 2021, she featured in Aanand L. Rai's film Atrangi Re, co-starring Akshay Kumar and Dhanush, which premiered on Disney+ Hotstar on 24 December after multiple delays due to the nationwide lockdown due to the pandemic. The film received mixed reviews from the film critics, though Khan's portrayal of a character suffering from Post-traumatic stress disorder was generally praised. Monika Rawal Kukreja of Hindustan Times called her the “soul” of the film and wrote that she holds her ground throughout the film.Upcoming projects
Khan has completed filming for Laxman Utekar's untitled next opposite Vicky Kaushal. She has commenced working on Gaslight alongside Vikrant Massey. Khan has also committed to star in the mythological based superhero movie The Immortal Ashwatthama, a planned trilogy directed by Aditya Dhar and backed by Ronnie Screwvala. It will be her second collaboration with Kaushal.

Other work and media image

Celebrity 100 list, ranking 66th with an estimated annual income of . In Rediff.com's "The Best Actresses" list of 2021, she ranked 9th. She also ranked 7th in ''GQ India''s listing of the 30 most influential young Indians of 2022.Khan has frequently featured in Times' 50 Most Desirable Women list. She was placed 30th in 2018, 27th in 2019 and 24th in 2020. Khan is a celebrity endorser for several brands and products, including Fanta, Puma, Pepsi, Veet and Kurkure. In 2022, she joined The Souled Store, a pop-culture apparel brand, as an equity partner.Apart from acting, Khan supports a number of causes. During COVID-19 pandemic, Khan donated to Sonu Sood's Foundation for purchasing oxygen cylinders for those in need. In 2021, on her birthday, she teamed up with Kailash Sathyarthi Children's Foundation, for providing help to children who have been orphaned due to COVID-19.