Jaideep Ahlawat is an Indian actor (born, (1980-02-08)February 8, 1980) who works in Hindi films and web series.
After graduating from the Film and Television Institute of India, he played minor roles in several films before appearing in the crime film Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), which marked a turning point in his career. This was followed by supporting roles in several films, including Commando: A One Man Army (2013), Gabbar Is Back (2015), Raees (2017), Raazi (2018) and Vishwaroopam II (2018). In 2020, he won acclaim for portraying a police officer in the streaming series Paatal Lok, which earned him a Filmfare OTT Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series.
He is the recipient of several awards including three Filmfare OTT Awards.
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Early life and education
Jaideep Ahlawat was born in Kharkara, a village in the Meham Chaubisi tehsil of the Rohtak district, Haryana, India, into a Hindu Jat family. He completed his secondary education from Government High School in Kharkara, before attending Jat College in Rohtak. Following his graduation, Ahlawat earned a Master of Arts (MA) degree in English from Maharshi Dayanand University in 2005. In 2008, he attended the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune, Maharashtra, where Rajkummar Rao, Vijay Varma, and Sunny Hinduja were his batchmates.
Ahlawat is married to Jyoti Hooda, who was his junior at FTTI.
Career
Ahlawat developed an interest theatre from a young age but initially aspired to become an officer in the Indian Army. After unsuccessfully failing to clear his SSB interviews several times, he pursued acting and performed in stage productions across Punjab and Haryana. He began taking acting seriously after completing his graduation and moved to Mumbai in 2008 to pursue a career in the film industry.
Ahlawat made his debut in Priyadarshan's Khatta Meetha (2010), in which he played a negative role. He subsequently appeared in Priyadarshan's other directorial Aakrosh alongside Ajay Devgn the same year. He gained wider recognition in Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), which marked a turning point in his career, and Vishwaroopam (2012). He reprised his role in the sequel Vishwaroopam II in 2018.
Ahlawat continued to appear in films and forayed into web series, making his debut in the thriller Bard of Blood opposite Emraan Hashmi. His portrayal of a police officer in the web series Paatal Lok received widespread acclaim.
In 2023, Ahlawat received further acclaim for his performances in Jaane Jaan co-starring Kareena Kapoor and Vijay Varma, and Maharaj opposite Junaid Khan. He was next seen in the heist comedy Jewel Thief, opposite Saif Ali Khan, which received negative reviews, although his performance received praise.
Ahlawat's first role of 2026 was of a Pakistani Army Brigadier in the war drama Ikkis, where he starred alongside Dharmendra in his final film role, and Agastya Nanda, grandson of Amitabh Bachchan. Though commercially unsuccessful, the film received positive reviews from critics. He is set to appear in King alongside Shah Rukh Khan.
