Kunal Khemu was born in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir on 25 May, 1983. His grandfather was the well-known Kashmiri playwright Moti Lal Kemmu, who was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1982 for his contribution to Kashmiri literature. His father, Ravi Khemu, is an actor and television director with serials like Mausam, Dollar Bahu and Suhana Safar to his credit.

Kunal made his acting debut on television with the Doordarshan TV series Gul Gulshan Gulfam (1987-88). One of the first shows to be set in Kashmir, it portrayed the life of a Kashmiri family with the young Khemu appearing briefly to run around a houseboat. During the years of militancy in Kashmir, Khemu’s family had to flee the Valley and decided to move to Mumbai. Khemu attended the Niranjanlal Dalmia High School in Mira Road, Mumbai.

In 1993, at the age of 10, he made his film debut in Mahesh Bhatt’s Sir (1993). A year later he was seen in Bhatt’s award-winning film Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke (1993). Starring Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla, the film was a commercial success and Kunal’s role as Sunny established him as a leading child artist in the industry. He went on to act in numerous films including Aazmayish (1994), Bhai (1997) and Raja Hindustani (1996), in which he plays Rajnikant, the beloved companion of the taxi driver Raja (Aamir Khan). However, his most powerful performance came in Zakhm (1999) as the young Ajay. The challenging nature of the role and the strength of his portrayal earned him a nomination for the National Film Award for Best Child Artist.

Following Zakhm (1999), Kunal decided to take a break from films and focus on his development as an actor through theatre. His father felt that if he didn’t take a hiatus from films he would always be thought of as a child actor. Kunal enrolled in the Narsee Monjee College and did theatre for six years before making a comeback in films.

Coincidentally, it was Mahesh Bhatt who once again launched Khemu, this time as an adult actor, in Kalyug (2005). The film, originally titled ‘Blue Film’, is the story of a young Kashmiri couple who were unknowingly filmed by the porn mafia on their honeymoon. The wife, portrayed by Smiley Suri, commits suicide and the husband, portrayed by Kunal Khemu sets out to take revenge. Khemu acknowledges that it was a very risky role to make his debut with but he liked the script and the move paid off. His performance received positive reviews and he even won the Stardust Award for Superstar of Tomorrow (Male).

He then starred in Madhur Bhandarkar’s National Award-winning film Traffic Signal (2007). Following this, he appeared in less successful films like Dhol (2007), Superstar (2008) and 99 (2009). After that, he played a supporting role in Rohit Shetty’s blockbuster Golmaal 3 (2010). He was also part of India’s first zombie film, Go Goa Gone (2013). He was last seen on screen in the film Bhaag Johnny (2015).

In July 2014, Kunal got engaged to long-time girlfriend and fellow actor Soha Ali Khan.