Paresh Rawal is a seasoned Indian actor as well as a member of the Lok Sabha. Born on 30 May, 1950 in Mumbai, he was a student in Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics. His acting career began in 1984 with television series Bante Bighadte (1984-1988) and then Chunauti (1984-1985). He made his debut on the silver screen with Holi (1984), directed by Ketan Mehta. In the initial years of his acting career, Rawal became iconic for the villainous characters he would portray, and that became his trademark. As Rawal is fluent in Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and Telugu languages, he acted in regional movies as well. He earned popularity for his character in the Telugu film Kshana Kshanam (1991) where he played the role of a bank robber. He later moved on to play comic and character roles. He gave a powerful performance while portraying freedom fighter Vallabhai Patel in the movie Sardar (1994), which earned him both national and international acclaim. His career took a major turn when he signed for the film Hera Pheri (2000) directed by Priyadarshan. This film was one of the biggest commercial successes in his career. Its sequel, Phir Hera Pheri (2006), where he reprised the role of Baburao Ganpatrao Apte, also gained him much acclaim.

The talented actor has also gathered many eminent awards which included the Filmfare Awards and the National Film Awards for his outstanding acting performances in films like Sir (1993), Woh Chokri (1994), Tamanna (1997), Hera Pheri (2000), and more. His comic roles in movies like Hulchul (2004), Garam Masala (2005), Golmaal (2006), Malamaal Weekly (2006), Bhagham Bhag (2006), Shankar Dada MBBS (2004) and several others have become epic. In 2012, Rawal played the lead role in the movie OMG – Oh My God! (2012) with Akshay Kumar. The film got him a lot of appreciation from the critics as well as from his fans.

Rawal donned the hat of a producer on the small screen with Sahara One’s Mein Aisa Kyun Hoon, Zee TV’s Teen Bahuraaniyaan and Color’s Lagi Tujhse Lagan. He also entered politics in 2014 after he won from Ahmedabad East in the Indian general election, 2014 as Bharatiya Janta Party’s (BJP) candidate. He was also awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in the same year.

The renowned actor is married to Miss India 1979 Swaroop Sampat and has two sons with her. He continues to entertain audiences with his acting skills and is working on many projects under some big banners in the industry. His last appearance was in the film Welcome Back (2015) which was a sequel to the blockbuster he also appeared in, Welcome (2007).