Actor Puneet Issar is the son of well-known film director Sudesh Issar. A known personality in the television and film industry, he was born on 9 November, 1959. He is best known as the one who portrayed Duryodhana in the popular television series Mahabharata (1988–1990).

Issar’s first opportunity on the big screen was with Amitabh Bachchan in the film Coolie (1983). He played a villain in the film, but got infamous when he accidently hurt Bachchan severely in a fight scene. He is also known for his role (second lead) in the well-known horror film Purana Mandir (1983). Issar played the ‘bad guy’ in several other films during the 1980s and 1990s. With this, he became a well-known ‘villain’ in the industry. But this ‘villain’ also got the opportunity to play the lead role of the superhero in Superman (1987), a Hindi adaptation of the Hollywood film.

Apart from that, some of the major films of the 80s and 90s that he acted in were Purana Mandir (1984), Pyar Ki Jeet (1987), Suryavanshi (1992), and Yaar Gaddar (1994).

His portrayal of Duryodhana in Mahabharat (1988–1990), which was directed by Ravi Chopra brought him immense popularity.

In late 1990s, Issar got offered character roles as well. He worked in Border (1997), which was one of the blockbuster hits of that era. He has also appeared in cameo roles in several films like Krrish (2006), Aryan (2006), Partner (2007) and Bachna Ae Hasseno (2008). He has worked in over 150 Hindi films and several regional movies as well.

Being the son of a director, Issar too went behind the camera several times. He has worked as a director, assitant director and the co-director for several television series. His first directorial venture in Hindi films was Garv (2004), starring Salman Khan. After this, he directed I Am Singh (2011) and Born To Be King (2013).

On television, he has worked in 12 television soap operas and appeared in over 1800 episodes. He was also seen on the reality show Bigg Boss 8 in 2014. His most recent appearance as an actor was in the film Barkhaa (2015).