Sidharth Malhotra (born 16 January 1985) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. Malhotra began a career as a model at the age of 18. Dissatisfied by the profession, he went on to work as an assistant director to Karan Johar in the 2010 film My Name Is Khan.
He made his acting debut with a leading role in Johar's teen drama Student of the Year (2012), for which he received a Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut nomination. Malhotra played an aspiring businessman in the comedy-drama Hasee Toh Phasee (2014), a criminal in the action thriller Ek Villain (2014), and an aspiring author in the family drama Kapoor & Sons (2016). His has since starred in Baar Baar Dekho (2016), A Gentleman (2017), Ittefaq (2017), Aiyaary (2018), Jabariya Jodi (2019), and Marjaavaan (2019).
Malhotra was born in Delhi, India into a Punjabi family, to Sunil, a former captain in the Merchant Navy, and Rimma Malhotra, a homemaker. He was schooled at Delhi's Don Bosco School and Birla Vidya Niketan, and graduated from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, University of Delhi. At the age of 18, Malhotra began modelling. Although he was successful, he decided to quit after four years because he was dissatisfied with the profession.