1980–2007: Early life and career beginnings Sidharth Shukla was born on 12 December 1980 into a
Hindu Brahmin family in
Bombay (present-day Mumbai) to Ashok Shukla, a
civil engineer employed at the
Reserve Bank of India and Rita Shukla, a homemaker. His family was originally from the city of
Allahabad,
Uttar Pradesh. He lost his father because of a lung disease during his modelling days. He has two elder sisters. Shukla attended
St. Xavier's High School, Fort, Mumbai and holds a
bachelor's degree in
Interior Design from Rachana Sansad School of Interior Design. Shukla has described himself as a very athletic child, and represented his school in
tennis and
football. He played against Italian football club,
AC Milan’s under-19 team, on their Mumbai visit as part of
Festa Italiana. He appeared in a video "Resham Ka Rumal" sung by
Ila Arun. In 2005, he represented India at the World's Best Model contest held in Turkey, and became the first Indian, as well as the first Asian, to win the title beating 40 contestants from across Asia, Latin America, and Europe. After
Jaane Pehchaane Se... Ye Ajnabbi ended, he also appeared in a few episodes of
Aahat. In 2011, he appeared as Rahul Kashyap in
Love U Zindagi opposite
Pavitra Punia on
StarPlus. The show was inspired by the Bollywood movie
Jab We Met. He also appeared in an episode of
CID.
2012–2014: Breakthrough with Balika Vadhu and Bollywood debut (left) and
Alia Bhatt (centre) during
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania promotions In 2012, Shukla appeared as District Collector Shivraj Shekhar, opposite
Pratyusha Banerjee and
Toral Rasputra in
Balika Vadhu. It was his portrayal of Shiv in the long-running
Colors TV social drama series
Balika Vadhu which earned him widespread recognition and popularity, including several awards and nominations. He received the "GR8! Performer of the Year (Male)" award at the
Indian Television Academy (ITA) Awards. He left the show in 2015, when his character, Shiv, died fighting with terrorists. In 2013, Shukla participated in the celebrity dance reality show
Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 6, and was eliminated in the 11th week. It was reported that Shukla had signed a 3-film-deal with
Dharma Productions.
2014–2018: Television hosting, Khatron Ke Khiladi and Dil Se Dil Tak In 2014, Shukla was named the host of
Savdhaan India. He introduced stories of common people who fought against crime. In 2015, after exiting from
Balika Vadhu, he hosted ''
India's Got Talent 6, with Bharti Singh, and the season finale was aired in June 2015. The same year, he hosted India's Got Talent 7 with Bharti Singh, and the season finale was aired in July 2016. an Indian businessman, in a Kazakhstan movie, Business in Kazakhstan
. In 2017, he appeared as Parth Bhanushali in Dil Se Dil Tak with co-stars Rashami Desai and Jasmin Bhasin. The series was inspired by the Bollywood movie, Chori Chori Chupke Chupke''. He left the series in December 2017.
2019–2021: Bigg Boss 13 and Broken But Beautiful 3 In 2019, he participated in the reality show
Bigg Boss 13, and was declared the winner in February 2020. Ormax media rated Shukla to be the most popular contestant of
Bigg Boss 13, ranking him as number one throughout 20 weeks. He was voted the most favourite contestant of
Bigg Boss 13 in polls conducted by
Hindustan Times,
India TV News, and
The Times of India. He was the most tweeted contestant of
Bigg Boss 13. in 2021 In 2020, after winning
Bigg Boss 13, Shukla appeared in two music videos, "
Bhula Dunga", and "Dil Ko Karaar Aaya". The same year, Shukla entered as one of the "Toofani" Seniors in
Bigg Boss 14, for the first two weeks. Shukla then appeared in another music video "Shona Shona". In January 2021, Shukla hosted 16th week's "Weekend Ka Vaar" of
Bigg Boss 14, as Shukla was filling in for
Salman Khan, who was missing from the show due to other work commitments. Shukla made his
OTT debut as Agastya Rao with the third season of the romance web series
Broken But Beautiful opposite Sonia Rathee streaming on
ALTBalaji and
MX Player. == In the media ==