Anushka Sharma was born in Bangalore, but her parents are from Garhwal, Uttarakhand. Her father, Col. Ajay Kumar Sharma, is an army officer and her mother Ashima Sharma is a housewife. She has an elder brother named Karnesh, who was a state-level cricketer and is now in the Merchant Navy. She studied in Army School and graduated with specialization in arts from Mount Carmel College, Bangalore. She then moved to Mumbai to further pursue her modelling career, where she currently resides.

She says she originally wished to make it big in the modeling world but had no strong aspirations for films. She began her modeling career at the Lakme Fashion Week as a model for Wendell Rodricks’s Les Vamps Show and was picked to be Rodricks’s finale model at the Spring Summer ’07 Collection. Since then she has done campaigns for Silk & Shine, Whisper, Nathella Jewelry and Fiat Palio.

Her first acting role was in Aditya Chopra’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008) opposite Shahrukh Khan. Her performance was appreciated with film critic Taran Adarsh stating, “Anushka looks the character and surprises you with a confident performance. It’s no small achievement to share screen space with an actor of the caliber of SRK and Anushka manages it very well from start to end.” Her second film, Badmaash Company, also under Yash Raj Films, was released on May 7, 2010. Harshita Kohli of StarBoxOffice.com said, “Anushka Sharma goes from Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi housewife to super hot chic in Badmaash Company…Her acting is under stated and there are no histrionics that you normally associated with females in Bollywood films which makes it a pleasant surprise.”

She starred in her third Yash Raj Film, Band Baaja Baaraat, directed by Maneesh Sharma and co-starring debutant Ranveer Singh. Band Baaja Baaraat was released on
December 10, 2010.

In December 2009, she began shooting for Patiala House, her first venture outside of Yash Raj with Nikhil Advani and Akshay Kumar. Patiala House is scheduled to be released on February 11, 2011

Films Done By Anushka Sharma

2008 Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi Taani Sahni Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut
2010 Badmaash Company Bulbul Singh
2010 Band Baaja Baaraat Shruti Kakkar Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress
2011 Patiala House Simran Chaggal
2011 Ladies vs Ricky Bahl Ishika Desai
2012 Jab Tak Hai Jaan Akira Rai Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress
2013 Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola Bijlee Mandola
2014 PK Jagat “Jaggu” Janini
2015 NH10double-dagger Meera Also producer Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress
2015 Bombay Velvet Rosie Noronha
2015 Dil Dhadakne Do Farah Ali Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress
2016 Sultan Aarfa Hussain
2016 Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Alizeh Khan Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress
2017 Phillauridouble-dagger Shashi Kumari Also producer and playback singer for song “Naughty Billo”
2017 Jab Harry Met Sejal Sejal Zaveri
2018 Paridouble-dagger Rukhsana Also producer
2018 Sanju Winnie Diaz
2018 Sui Dhaaga Mamta Nominated—Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress
2018 Zero Aafia Yusufzai Bhinder
2020 Angrezi Medium Herself Special appearance in song “Kudi Nu Nachne De”
2020 Paatal Lokdouble-dagger — Executive producer; web series
2020 Bulbbuldouble