Sonu Sood was born July 30, 1973 and is an Indian actor, producer, and humanitarian who stars primarily in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Punjabi films.

In 2009, he received the Nandi State of Andhra Pradesh Award for Best Villain and the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Telugu for his work in the blockbuster Telugu Arundhati. In 2010, he won the Apsara Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role and the IIFA Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role for the Bollywood blockbuster Dabangg.

In 2012, he received the SIIMA award for best actor in a negative role for Julayi. He is best known for his roles in blockbuster films such as Yuva (2004), Athadu (2005), Aashiq Banaya Aapne (2005), Ashok (2006), Jodhaa Akbar (2008), Dookudu (2011), Shootout at Wadala (2013), Happy New Year (2014), Kung Fu Yoga (2017) and Simmba (2018).

He has also appeared in commercials for Apollo Tires and Airtel. In July 2016, he created the production house Shakti Sagar Productions, which bears the name of his father, Shakti Sagar Sood. He married Sonali in 1996. They have two sons.

Sonu Sood Social work during the COVID-19 pandemic

In May 2020, during the national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sood helped thousands of stranded Indian migrant workers reach their homes by organizing buses, special trains and charter flights for them. In July 2020, he organized a chartered flight to bring home more than 1,500 Indian students stranded in Kyrgyzstan, transporting them from Bishkek to Varanasi. His charity during the pandemic was praised and he was hailed as a real life hero in India.

On July 25, 2020, a video of a farmer’s daughters plowing a field, like bulls with a yoke on their shoulders, went viral on social media. Sood quickly sent the family a tractor. On August 5, 2020, he helped 101 medical students, mostly from Tamil Nadu, stranded in Moscow during the lockdown, to reach Chennai safely on a chartered flight he organized after contacting his team for help. On his birthday, he launched a website and app called Pravasi Rojgar to help migrant workers find decent jobs amid the pandemic.