Amar Upadhyay

Amar Upadhyay (born 1 August 1976) is an Indian actor who is best known for his work in Hindi Television. He started his career with modelling and he is best known for his collaborations with Ekta Kapoor in the television shows namely Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (2000–2002),  Kalash (2000–2002),  Kasautii Zindagii Kay (2005), Kkusum (2005) and Molkki (2020–2022). In 2011, he participated in Bigg Boss and emergeed as a finalist.

His other television shows include Dekh Bhai Dekh (1993–1994),  Viraasat (2006–2007),  Chand Ke Paar Chalo (2008–2009), Saath Nibhaana Saathiya (2015–2017), Ek Deewaana Tha (2017–2018), Ishqbaaaz (2019) and Kyunkii Tum Hi Ho (2022–2023). Apart from television shows, he has appeared in many films like Dhoondte Reh Jaaoge! (1998), Dhund: The Fog (2003), LOC Kargil (2003), 13B (2009), It's My Life (2020), Kaagaz (2021) and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (2022).

Early life
Amar Upadhyay was born on 1 August 1976 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat into a Gujarati family. He grew up in the Malad suburb of Mumbai, and studied chemical engineering in college. After graduation, he attended the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune.

Career
In 1993, some of his photographs appeared in Stardust magazine, which led to Jaya Bachchan offering him the TV series Dekh Bhai Dekh. This was followed by numerous TV series like Arzoo, Suhana Safar, Tulsi and Aruna Irani's Mehndi Tere Naam Ki.

Eventually, he became famous in 2000 with the mega TV daily soap, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (2000). In fact, when his character Mihir 'died' in 2001, it was followed by protest marches, the TV channel's head office was flooded with phone-calls and letters, eventually his character came back to life, and he is still recounted among TV superstars.

After his success in television, he ventured into film with Dahshat 2003, followed by a big launch, Dhund – The Fog (2003), along with Aditi Govitrikar, directed by Sham Ramsay, and later he appeared in J.P. Dutta's war movie, LOC Kargil (2003). He also had a role in R Madhavan starrer 13B (2009). He also appeared in some bhojpuri films like Dharam Veer (2008), Hum Bahubali (2008), Tu Babuaa Hamaar (2008), E Rishta Anmol Baa (2009). Unfortunately, his film career did not turn out as expected.

Subsequently, he returned to television after a two-year hiatus, playing a key role in the serial Chand Ke Paar Chalo  (2009) on NDTV Imagine. Then he appeared in many television serials mostly playing recurring or negative roles namely in Doli Saja Ke (2009), Sapna Babul Ka...Bidaai (2009), Police Files (2012), Ek Thhi Naayka (2013) and Savdhaan India (2013). In October 2011 he joined the fifth season of the reality TV series Bigg Boss and finished in fifth place.

In 2015, he entered Star Plus's popular long-running series Saath Nibhaana Saathiya as the parallel lead role of Dharam Suryavanshi opposite Tanya Sharma. He played the character till the ending of the show in 2017. For his portrayal of Dharam Suryavanshi, he won the Gold Award for best supporting actor. He also starred in Sony Entertainment Television show Ek Deewaana Tha (2017–18) as Rajan Bedi, the antagonist. His performance in the show was highly praised.

In November 2020, Amar reunited with his Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi producers Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor for a television show titled Molkki. He plays the main lead Virendra Pratapsingh in Molkki which is telecast on Colors TV. In 2021, he appeared in the Satish Kaushik directorial Kaagaz, which stars Pankaj Tripathi in the lead. He played the role of Vidhayak Jaganpal Singh, the main antagonist. The film was released on Zee5 and produced by Salman Khan.

Amar also made a small appearance in the Abhishek Bachchan starrer Bob Biswas (2021), which was directed by Sujoy Ghosh's daughter Diya Ghosh in her directorial debut. It was released on Zee5. He was also seen in Anees Bazmee directorial Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, starring Kartik Aaryan, Kiara Advani and Tabu in lead.

He was also set to appear as a lead in Nima Denzongpa, but his entry was later scrapped due to show going off-air.

In 2022, he portrayed Rama in Dangal channel television show Jai Hanuman - Sankat Mochan Naam Tiharo. Later that year, he announced his television show Kyunkii Tum Hi Ho, as an actor and a producer. The show aired on Shemaroo Umang. From November 2023, he has been playing the role of Ganga Thakur / Ganga Prasad /  Agni Thakur in Colors TV's serial Doree.

Personal life
As of 2024, he has been married to Hetal Upadhyay, who is an engineer, since 1999. They have a son, Aryaman, and a daughter, Chenab.

He is also a black belt holder in Taekwondo.