Personal details
- Birth Date: 1976-08-20
- Height: 5′ 11″ (1.80 m)
- Birth Location: Rohtak, Haryana, India
- Parents: Ranbir Hooda
- Professions: Actor, Producer, Director
Randeep Hooda, born August 20, 1976, in Rohtak, Haryana, is kind of a wild card in Bollywood. The man’s been everywhere—Libya, Iraq, you name it. He kicked off his acting journey with Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding (yeah, the Oscar-nominated one), then basically dove headfirst into theater with Naseeruddin Shah’s Motley troupe. That’s not your average movie-star starter pack. His career’s a weird, glorious mix—one moment he’s in art-house stuff with Deepa Mehta and Mira Nair, next he’s the lead in Ram Gopal Varma’s gangster flick D. He’s not the type to play it safe. Hooda’s performance in Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster? People still talk about how he nailed the whole tortured-lover-turned-gangster thing. He’s flirted with crime thrillers (Jannat 2), dived into erotic drama (Jism 2), and even got tangled in the Murder franchise. The guy’s a chameleon—he dropped 30 kilos to play Sarabjit Singh, then bulked up like crazy for a boxer role, all in one year. His method acting is legendary, sometimes a little unhinged. He once grew out his beard and hair for Battle of Saragarhi and straight-up refused to take other roles till it wrapped—except, oops, the film never finished. Hollywood finally came knocking with Extraction, where he played Saju opposite Chris Hemsworth. Not bad for a Bollywood outsider, right? He’s also tangled with Salman Khan in Radhe and keeps picking roles that make you go, “Wait, that’s Randeep Hooda?” Dude’s got range for days.
So, here’s the scoop: the guy’s got quite the family lineup. His sister? Dr. Anajali Hooda – yeah, the world-famous surgeon. She’s literally saving lives and probably has a trophy case bigger than most people’s living rooms. Then there’s his younger brother, Sandeep Hooda, who’s crunching numbers and maybe living his best life as an engineer in Singapore. Not exactly your average siblings, right? It kind of makes you wonder what family dinners are like – probably a wild combo of medical jargon, engineering banter, and endless stories about life in different countries. Talk about setting the bar high. Most folks are just trying to keep up with one overachiever in the family, but this crew? They’re basically the poster kids for “making it.” It’s almost unfair how much talent is packed into one family tree.
You ever just hang back, waiting for the right moment, even when it kills you a little inside? That’s basically what’s going on here. There’s this real weight to being the “new guy” in our film industry—like, one wrong move and you’re toast. So I figured, hey, maybe it’s smarter to just let them set the pace for now. Play by their rules, bite my tongue, and just wait for my shot. Honestly, Ramu’s got a point. You don’t really have to chase the same old formula everyone else is stuck on. People want to be surprised, maybe even shocked or delighted. You can entertain without spoon-feeding them the same recycled drama. So yeah, the waiting sucks, but if it means I get to do things my way when the time comes, then maybe it’s worth it. Sometimes, you gotta hold back to break out.
August 20, 1976
5′ 11″ (1.80 m)
Konidela Ram Charan
Rohtak, Haryana, India
Ranbir Hooda and Surekha
48 years old