Vikrant Massey

Vikrant Massey (born 3 April 1987) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi films and television. After completing his education from R. D. National College, Massey made his acting debut with the series Dhoom Machaao Dhoom (2007) and then worked in several television serials such as Dharam Veer (2008), Balika Vadhu (2009–2010) and Qubool Hai (2013). Massey expanded to films with supporting roles in Lootera (2013), Dil Dhadakne Do (2015) and Half Girlfriend (2017).

The independent drama A Death in the Gunj (2017), in which Massey had a leading role, marked a turning point in his career. He subsequently appeared in the biographical drama Chhapaak (2020), romantic comedy Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare (2020), mystery thriller Haseen Dillruba (2021), family drama Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi (2021), and romantic thriller Love Hostel (2022). Massey also had leading roles in the streaming series Mirzapur (2018), Broken But Beautiful (2018–2019) and Criminal Justice (2019). In 2023, he portrayed the lead role of Manoj Kumar Sharma in the biographical film 12th Fail (2023), which emerged as a sleeper hit and earned him the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor.

Early life
Vikrant Massey was born to parents Jolly and Aamna and has an older brother, Moeen. His paternal family follows Christianity and his maternal family follows Sikhism. Vikrant's parents were childhood sweethearts who eloped and got married. Belonging to a middle-class family, originally from Shimla, he was born and raised by his parents in Nagbhid, a small town in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

Massey's educational background consists of attending St. Anthony's High School in Versova with further studies being completed from R. D. National College of Arts & Science in Bandra, Mumbai. Being a well-trained dancer, he forayed onto stage with small-time dancing and theatre performances at the age of 7. With support and guidance from his teachers and school principal, he took up performing arts as a career choice at quite a young age. He enjoys traveling, playing cricket, and video games in his free time.

Work in television soap operas (2007–2013)
Massey started his career with television and made his acting debut in 2007, portraying Aamir Hassan in Dhoom Machaao Dhoom. He is also a trained contemporary or jazz dancer and has worked with Shiamak Davar, and was a choreographer on the show. In 2008, he portrayed one of the titular prince Dharam in Dharam Veer alongside Rajat Tokas.

Massey found success with his portrayal of Shyam Singh, a supportive husband opposite Vibha Anand in Balika Vadhu, portraying the character from 2009 to 2010. In his first lead role, Massey portrayed Murli Laal, who is married to a dwarf Bharti in Baba Aiso Varr Dhoondo, from 2010 to 2011.

In 2013, Massey portrayed Ayaan Ahmed Khan, one of the lead roles in Qubool Hai opposite Ketki Kadam. That same year, he hosted V The Serial and Yeh Hai Aashiqui. The 2014 show, Ajab Gajab Ghar Jamai, marked his final appearance on television before film debut.

Expansion to films and streaming series (2013–2022)


Massey made his Hindi film debut in Vikramaditya Motwane's Lootera (2013), alongside Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha. He played Singh's assistant and friend Devdas. Taran Adarsh found him to be "first-rate" in his supporting part. In 2015, he played a supporting role opposite Ridhima Sud in Zoya Akhtar's ensemble family comedy-drama Dil Dhadakne Do, which starred Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, Priyanka Chopra, Singh, Anushka Sharma and Farhan Akhtar in lead roles. The film emerged as a major commercial success at the box-office.

Massey's first lead role came with Konkana Sen Sharma's debut directorial venture A Death in the Gunj (2017). The film as well as his performance received critical acclaim. Film critic Rajeev Masand described his performance as a heartfelt one. For his performance, he received his first nomination for the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor. In the same year, he appeared in Half Girlfriend and Lipstick Under My Burkha, both being box office averages. Ananya Bhattacharya of India Today found him to be "earnest", in his role in the former.

In 2018, Massey ventured into web show, with the highly-popular crime drama series Mirzapur. That the same year, he played Veer, suffering from PTSD, opposite Harleen Sethi in Broken But Beautiful. In 2019, Massey appeared as a murder accused in Criminal Justice directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia and Vishal Furia, Sanjukta Sharma of Scroll.in opined, "He slips into Aditya's skin without any effort showing, and makes his transformative journey compelling." He further played Nawab in Made in Heaven, a web series on two wedding planners in Delhi running an agency named Made in Heaven. In his last release that year, Massey also reprised Veer in the second season of Broken But Beautiful. Ruchi Kaushal from Hindustan Times stated: "Vikrant shines in emotional scenes and has the calibre to make a viewer weep with him."

In his first film of 2020, Massey played the male lead opposite Deepika Padukone in Meghna Gulzar's Chhapaak, based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal. The film was a commercial failure, but Sukanya Verma stated: "Vikrant embodies a dour faced, wry-natured activist in Fabindia kurtas quite effectively." Massey then reunited with Shweta Tripathi in a science fiction Cargo, which also premiered at the 2019 MAMI Film Festival under the spotlight section  Later, he played the lead in two Netflix films: Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare opposite Bhumi Pednekar and Ginny Weds Sunny opposite Yami Gautam.

In 2021, Massey portrayed Rahul, who visits home for his grandfather's tehrvi in Seema Pahwa's directorial debut Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi. After appearing in Switchh, Massey portrayed Rishabh, a electrical engineer opposite Taapsee Pannu in Haseen Dilruba, which emerged as the most-watched Hindi film on Netflix. The film earned him his second nomination for the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor. Shubhra Gupta from The Indian Express opined: "The only one who tries valiantly to rise, and succeeds in most places is Vikrant Massey". 14 Phere marked his final release that year, portraying Sanjay opposite Kriti Kharbanda.

Massey played Ahmed, a Muslim in love with a Hindu girl, opposite Sanya Malhotra, in his first release of 2022, Love Hostel. Released on Zee5, it received mixed to positive reviews. Anna MM Vetticad of Firstpost noted "Ashu's timidity is marked – and remarkably – distinct from Shutu's in A Death In The Gunj. The actor could, however, have done better than Ashu's wavering accent, which is jarring in climactic scene." He then played Forensic specialist Johnny alongside Radhika Apte, in Zee5's Forensic, a remake of the Malayalam film of the same name. Bollywood Hungama stated that Massey gives a "confident" performance and "suits the part", but added that in some places, he "tries" to be too funny and "fails".

12th Fail and beyond (2023–present)
In 2023, Massey first played Kapil, manager of the king alongside Sara Ali Khan and Chitrangada Singh in Gaslight, which received mixed to negative reviews. Anuj Kumar of The Hindu said, "Massey, as the manager of the missing Raja, keep the audience engaged till the big reveal arrives." He next played a youngster struggling in Mumbai, in the remake of the Tamil film Maanagaram, titled, Mumbaikar, which was released on JioCinema.

The 2023 film, 12th Fail, marked a significant point in Massey's career. He portrayed Manoj Kumar Sharma, who overcame extreme poverty to become an IPS officer. Monika Rawal Kukreja of Hindustan Times termed the film his "career-best" and noted, "Massey takes the cake for delivering a brilliant performance. At every step, he brings a myriad of shades to his character. He owns up Manoj's character in all aspects." Deepa Gahlot of Rediff.com praised Massey for giving a performance of such "unalloyed brilliance". The film emerged as sleeper hit, grossing over inr 660000000 worldwide, and won him the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor.

Massey next has Yaar Jigri with Sunny Singh, Sector 36 and Untitled romantic film with Raashii Khanna in the pipeline. He will also reprise his role in Haseen Dilruba's sequel Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba.

Personal life


Some reports mention that Massey and actress Sheetal Thakur began dating in 2015, but became closer while working on the series Broken But Beautiful (2018). Other reports mention that Massey and Thakur met on the sets of the series and began dating.

Massey and Thakur got engaged in November 2019, and registered their marriage on 14 February 2022.

On 18 February 2022, Massey married Thakur, in a traditional ceremony in Himachal Pradesh. They have one child.

Acting style and reception
Dipti Nagpaul D'Souza of The Indian Express stated that Massey has always played "likeable roles" in television soaps. Asianet News termed him "one of the finest actors" of his generation and added, "Throughout his prolific career, he has consistently chosen unconventional roles that have left a lasting impression on audiences." Film Companion noted, "Vikrant has been consistently prolific and made a mark with every performance, regardless of the scope, nature or length of a role." Priyanka Roy from The Telegraph said, "Vikrant, who's had success across mediums, is that rare breed who doesn't shun the relatively smaller parts even when he's now transitioned to lead roles."

Massey is known for playing characters that the audience relates to. Prateek Sur of Outlook India agreed and noted, "One will find the character living the best up to his potential on the screen when Vikrant is playing it. He has always justified himself as a performer." Kartik Bhardwaj of The New Indian Express said that Massey brings "easy relatability" to his roles, he noted, "On account of the nuanced roles he generally excels in, Massey might not come across as a song-and-dance actor but you feel an air of gentle reassurance in his character." Hitanshi Kamdar of Grazia added, "Massey has essayed a litany of easy-going and complex characters over the course of his unmistakably impressive career trajectory."

Members of the film industry have praised Massey for his talent. Filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra termed him one of the finest actors of the country. His A Death in the Gunj director Konkona Sen Sharma called him a "receptive actor" and said, "Vikrant got a sense of the character from the script and made it his own. It's important to note that he's not only capable of playing someone vulnerable and diffident [like his character in Gunj] but also someone more gregarious and volatile because he can pick up what is required."

In the media
For his performance in 2020, Eastern Eye placed Massey at 48th position in its "Top 50 Asian Celebrities " list. Subhash K. Jha of Rediff.com and Santanu Das of Hindustan Times placed Massey in their "Top Performance of 2023" list, for 12th Fail. His performance in A Death in the Gunj, is regarded as one of the "100 Greatest Performances of the Decade" by Film Companion. In addition to his acting career, Massey is a celebrity endorser for brands and products such as Lenskart, Cornetto, Cadbury, ICICI Bank, Nescafé, Longines and Samsung Galaxy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Massey collaborated with Citta, to provide emotional support to the patients. In 2020, he also appeared in Jonita Gandhi's music video #AageKiSoch, to create awareness related to the pandemic.