Early work and breakthrough (2010–2014) '' in 2010|alt=Singh looking towards his left and smiling, wearing a black T-shirt In 2010, Singh auditioned for a lead role in
Maneesh Sharma's
Band Baaja Baaraat, a romantic comedy from the production company
Yash Raj Films. the film emerged as a
sleeper hit. Singh's performance was praised, with
Anupama Chopra of
NDTV writing that Singh was "pitch perfect in the role of the uncouth but good-hearted small town slacker". At the annual
Filmfare Awards, Singh won the award for
Best Male Debut. Following
Band Baaja Baaraat, Singh signed on for
Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, a romantic comedy once again produced by Chopra, directed by Maneesh Sharma, and co-starring Anushka Sharma. He played a conman Ricky Bahl who cons girls for a living but finally meets his match. According to Singh, the title character had various avatars in the film, including a chirpy, entertaining side and a sinister side. Singh received critical acclaim for
Vikramaditya Motwane's period romance
Lootera (2013), co-starring
Sonakshi Sinha. An adaptation of
O. Henry's short story "
The Last Leaf", the film tells the story of Pakhi Roy Chowdhury, a young Bengali woman who falls in love with Varun Shrivastava, a conman posing as an archaeologist.
Rajeev Masand of
CNN-IBN wrote that Singh "brings a quiet sensitivity to Varun, and occasionally a smoldering intensity. Offering a finely internalized performance, he leaves a lasting impression."
Lootera underperformed commercially. and
Sanjay Leela Bhansali at an event for
Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela in 2013 Singh next starred opposite
Deepika Padukone in
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's adaptation of
William Shakespeare's
Romeo and Juliet, titled
Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, in which he played Ram, a
Gujarati boy based on the character of
Romeo. Bhansali was impressed by Singh's performance in
Band Baaja Baaraat and decided to cast him for the film.
Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela generated positive reviews from critics, as did Singh's performance. Writing for
India Today, Rohit Khilnani wrote that the film proved that he would be a star. The film emerged as Singh's biggest commercial success, with worldwide revenues of . Singh received a nomination for the
Filmfare Award for Best Actor. In 2014, Singh starred as a Bengali criminal in
Ali Abbas Zafar's
Gunday, alongside
Arjun Kapoor,
Priyanka Chopra and
Irrfan Khan. David Chute of
Variety praised Singh's screen presence and wrote that he "tucks the movie's center of interest under his arm and takes it with him — even though he has the could-be-thankless "good brother" role". Also, Singh's chemistry with Kapoor was considered by critic Rohit Khilnani to the prime asset of the film.
Gunday proved to be Singh's biggest box office opener, and eventually emerged a box-office success with a revenue of worldwide. After a cameo appearance in
Finding Fanny, Singh starred as a gangster in
Shaad Ali's crime drama
Kill Dil opposite
Parineeti Chopra and
Ali Zafar which was a critical and commercial failure.
Established actor (2015–2019) Zoya Akhtar's ensemble comedy-drama
Dil Dhadakne Do (2015), produced by and cameo-starring her brother
Farhan Akhtar, featured Singh alongside
Anil Kapoor,
Shefali Shah and Priyanka Chopra as the younger sibling of a dysfunctional Punjabi business family who aspires to become a pilot. Writing for
Mumbai Mirror, Kunal Guha found Singh to be the "surprise element" of the film; he praised his "immaculate comic timing" and took note of his subtlety. Commercially, the film underperformed. He next reunited with Bhansali in the period romance
Bajirao Mastani (2015), opposite Padukone and Chopra. He portrayed
Bajirao I, for which he shaved his head and to prepare, he locked himself in a hotel room for 21 days.
Raja Sen wrote that Singh "brings his character to life and does so with both machismo and grace", and commended him for his perfecting his character's gait and accent. The film earned to become one of the
highest-grossing Indian films, and garnered Singh the
Filmfare Award for Best Actor. ceremony, where he won the
Best Actor award for portraying
Bajirao I in
Bajirao Mastani (2015) In 2016, Singh starred in Aditya Chopra's comedy-romance
Befikre opposite
Vaani Kapoor. He played Dharam Gulati, a stand-up comic whose romantic liaisons with Kapoor's character leads to conflict between them. Set in Paris,
Befikre marked the fourth project to be directed by Chopra. Singh performed a nude scene for it, a rare occurrence in an Indian film. Jay Weissberg of
Variety found the film to be an "overly energetic twist on the old friends with benefits theme" and criticised Singh's "manic behavior". It underperformed at the box office. After a year-long absence from the screen, Singh portrayed
Alauddin Khilji, as a ruthless Muslim king, in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period drama
Padmaavat (2018), co-starring Deepika Padukone and
Shahid Kapoor, which marked his third collaboration with Bhansali and Padukone. Right-wing Hindu groups speculated that the film distorted historical facts and issued violent threats against the cast and crew. The film's release was deferred and was allowed for exhibition after several modifications were made to it. Ankur Pathak of
HuffPost criticised the film's misogynistic and regressive themes, but praised Singh for his "astute brilliance" in depicting Khilji's bisexuality. Rajeev Masand opined that he "plays the part with the sort of grotesque flamboyance that makes it hard to look at anyone or anything else when he's on the screen".
Padmaavats production budget of made it the
most expensive Hindi film ever made at that time. With a worldwide gross of over , it became Singh's highest-grossing release and among India cinema's biggest grossers. He won the
Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor (shared with
Ayushmann Khurrana for
Andhadhun) and gained a Best Actor nomination at the ceremony. At the end of the same year, Singh played the titular corrupt policeman in
Rohit Shetty's action comedy
Simmba, based on the
Telugu film Temper (2015), co-starring
Sara Ali Khan and
Sonu Sood, which marked his first collaboration with filmmaker
Karan Johar, who co-produced the film with Shetty. Despite disliking the film, Uday Bhatia of
Mint credited Singh for playing his "cardboard creation" of a character with an "underlying sweetness that renders it more winsome than the humorless masculinity of
Devgn's
Singham". With worldwide earnings of ,
Simmba emerged as Singh's second
top-earning Indian film of 2018. Singh reteamed with Zoya Akhtar on
Gully Boy (2019), a musical inspired by the life of the street rappers
Divine and
Naezy. Singh found little in common with his character of a poor man who aspires to become a rapper, and in preparation he underwent acting workshops and spent time with both Divine and Naezy. He performed his own rap songs and was pleased that the film brought attention to India's underground music scene. The film premiered at the
69th Berlin International Film Festival. Deborah Young of
The Hollywood Reporter commended him for displaying a "pleasingly full emotional range that extends to drama and hip-hop" and writing for
Film Companion,
Baradwaj Rangan praised his ghetto accent and found his understated performance to be a "superb show reel for his range".
Gully Boy won a record 13 Filmfare Awards, and Singh received another Best Actor award.
Career fluctuations and Dhurandhar (2020–present) In 2021, Singh hosted the television game show
The Big Picture, which aired on
Colors TV. He reprised his role as Simmba in Shetty's action film
Sooryavanshi in an extended cameo. Singh then portrayed cricketer
Kapil Dev in
Kabir Khan's
83, a sports film based on the
1983 Cricket World Cup. Initially planned for a 2020 release,
83 was delayed several times owing to casting and pre-production that postponed filming, and later due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in India. Reviews for the film were positive, with praise for Singh's portrayal of Dev. The film failed to recoup its large investment. Singh's performance won him his third Filmfare Award for Best Actor. Singh's first film release of 2022 was
Jayeshbhai Jordaar, a satire about
female infanticide in India.
Anna M.M. Vetticad of
Firstpost disliked the film but commended him for "transform[ing] his body, body language and demeanour, his posture, his walk, his gestures and his entire personality" for the part, similar to how he had "metamorphosed" to play Dev in
83. Following this, both he and
Varun Sharma played dual roles of identical pairs of twin brothers separated at birth in Shetty's ensemble comedy
Cirkus (2022), a remake of the 1982 film
Angoor, which was based on
William Shakespeare's play
Comedy of Errors. In a scathing review, Nandini Ramnath of
Scroll.in dismissed Singh's performance as "consistently lacklustre". Both
Jayeshbhai Jordar and
Cirkus were commercially unsuccessful. In 2023, Singh starred in Karan Johar's romantic comedy
Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, opposite
Alia Bhatt. Johar based the character of Rocky on gym rat
influencers from
West Delhi; in preparation, Singh spent time with one such influencer named Yuvraj Dua, learning his dialect and mannerisms. He also trained in
Kathak for a sequence in which he had to dance to "
Dola Re Dola".
Mayank Shekhar believed that he "owns this role like nothing short of an inimitable rock-star", while Anupama Chopra wrote that he "combines the charm offensive with moments of vulnerability and tears with great aplomb". Earning over worldwide, it emerged as one of the year's highest-grossing Hindi films. He received another Best Actor nomination at Filmfare. Singh once again played Simmba in Shetty's action sequel
Singham Again (2024), alongside an ensemble cast. Despite disliking the film, NDTV's
Saibal Chatterjee considered Singh to be its "brightest spark" and commended his comic timing.
Singham Again had modest box-office returns on its high production budget. at an event for
Dhurandhar in 2025 Singh headlined
Dhurandhar (2025) and its sequel
Dhurandhar: The Revenge (2026), an action thriller
duology directed by
Aditya Dhar. Set against the backdrop of major events such as the
Indian Airlines Flight 814 hijacking, the
2001 Indian Parliament attack, and the
2008 Mumbai attacks, he portrayed an undercover intelligence operative stationed in Pakistan under a false identity. With runtimes of 214 and 229 minutes respectively, the films are among the
longest Indian productions ever made. In a mixed review of the first instalment for
The Hindu, Anuj Kumar praised Singh's physical transformation but felt that his "bravura and brooding intensity" became monotonous over the extended runtime, particularly when sharing scenes with co-star
Akshaye Khanna's "charismatic presence". Reviewing the second instalment, Shomini Sen of
WION noted that while the first film relegated Singh to the periphery,
Dhurandhar: The Revenge afforded him greater prominence, allowing him to "hold the attention from start to finish" with "one of the most raw performances of his career", though she ultimately considered the film a downgrade from its predecessor. Against expectations, both films achieved record-breaking box office success, with both ranking among
Indian cinema's top five highest-earners.
Dhurandhar grossed over worldwide, becoming
the highest-grossing Indian film of 2025, while
Dhurandhar: The Revenge has surpassed to become
the highest-grossing Indian film of 2026. == Personal life ==