For the Indian politician, see Darshan Kumar (politician).
Darshan Kumar
Birth date1 September 1986 (age 40)
Birth nameDarshan Gandas
Birth placeDelhi, India
OccupationActor
Years active2003–present

Darshan Kumar Gandas (born 1 September 1986) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He is known for his roles in Mary Kom (2014), NH10 (2015), and The Kashmir Files (2022).[1][2][3]

Early life

Kumar was born on 1 September 1985 in the Kishangarh Village in Delhi, India. He moved to Mumbai at the age of 24 and worked with the Sahej Theatre Group for five years,[4] before joining Motley Productions, where he trained under actor Naseeruddin Shah for the next ten years.[5]

Career

Kumar made his film debut with a supporting role in the film Tere Naam in 2003 alongside Salman Khan;[6] however, he made his debut in a leading role in NH10, portraying the antagonist opposite Anushka Sharma,[7][8] In 2014, he achieved his breakthrough with the sports film Mary Kom, in which he portrayed the supportive husband of Priyanka Chopra’s character.[9][10]

Kumar appeared in the successful devotional television series Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev, playing Shukracharya, the guru of the demons.[11] He also played supporting roles in Chotti Bahu, Na Aana Is Des Laado, and Baba Aiso Varr Dhoondo.[12]

In 2022, Kumar received further recognition when he starred in the critically acclaimed film, The Kashmir Files, directed by Vivek Agnihotri, in which he played a young student from a Kashmiri Pandit family.[13]

Filmography

Film

YearFilmsRoleNotesRef.
2001Mujhe Kucch Kehna HaiFriend
2003Tere NaamKanak Sharma[14]
2014Mary KomOnler Kom[15]
2015NH10Satbir[16]
2016SarbjitAwais Sheikh[17]
2017Mirza JuulietMirza[18]
A GentlemanYakub Sabri[19]
2018Baaghi 2Shekhar Salgaonkar[20]
2019PM Narendra ModiCorrupt News Reporter[21]
2021ToofaanDharmesh PatilSpecial appearance[22]
2022The Kashmir FilesKrishna Pandit[23]
Dhokha: Round D CornerACP Harishchandra Malik[24]
2024Kaagaz 2Uday Narayan Singh[25]
2025The Bengal FilesShiva Aloke Pandit[26]
[27]

Television

YearShowsRoleRef.
2008Chotti BahuPurab[28]
2009Na Aana Is Des LaadoConstable Chandiram[29]
2010Baba Aiso Varr DhoondoMridang Lall[30]
2011Devon Ke Dev...MahadevShukracharya[31]
2012Havan[32]

Web series

YearTitleRoleRef.
2019ParchhayeeLeo[33]
2019The Family ManMajor Sameer[34]
2020Avrodh the Siege WithinMajor Raunaq Gautam[35]
AashramSI Ujagar Singh[36]

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryWorkResultRef.
2015Producers Guild Film AwardsBest Actor in a Negative RoleNH10
201617th IIFA AwardsBest Performance in a Negative Role[37]
202368th Filmfare AwardsBest Supporting ActorThe Kashmir Files[38]

References

  1. ^ IndiaWest.Com (16 October 2014). "Does Darshan Kumar Look Like Johnny Depp?". Indian Express. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  2. ^ "Darshan Kumar: Won't be overshadowed by Priyanka Chopra in 'Mary Kom'". IBN Live. 17 August 2014. Archived from the original on 21 August 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  3. ^ "Darshan Kumaar: Winning an Oscar is My Dream". NDTV. Archived 2025-05-13 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  4. ^ "Darshan Kumar's on-screen dreams". The Hindu. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  5. ^ Subhash K Jha (8 September 2014). "Meet Priyanka Chopra's screen husband from 'Mary Kom' — Darshan Kumar". DNA India. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  6. ^ Shekhar, Mimansa (2021-08-11). "First of Many: Darshan Kumaar revisits Tere Naam". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  7. ^ "After Priyanka, Darshan Kumar plays Anushka's love interest!". The Free Press Journal. 14 August 2014. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  8. ^ "'Mary Kom' actor Darshan Kumar plays Anushka Sharma's love interest in 'NH10′". Indian Express. BollywoodHungama.com. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  9. ^ "'Mary Kom' Debut is Dream Come True: Darshan Kumar". IndiaWest.com. 12 August 2014. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  10. ^ "Darshan Kumar: winning an Oscar is my dream". Gulf News. 2018-09-15. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  11. ^ Apporva Shripathi (7 August 2014). "Meet Mary Kom's reel husband". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  12. ^ Shalini (2023-01-23). "10 Facts About Darshan Kumar Who Proved That Nothing Can Outshine Talent". Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  13. ^ "The Kashmir Files Star Darshan Kumar Speaks on Film Missing Oscars 2023 Nominations - Watch Exclusive Interview". www.india.com. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  14. ^ "' Tere Naam is Salman's best act'". The Times Of India. Archived 2013-05-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  15. ^ "'Mary Kom' star Darshan Kumar seen as the 'ideal' husband, says it feels good". IBN Live. 23 September 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  16. ^ "Darshan Kumar plays a grey character in NH10". Indian Express. 5 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  17. ^ "Randeep Hooda to play Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s brother in Sarabjit biopic". The Indian Express. 2015-06-25. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  18. ^ "Mirza Juuliet movie review: This is not a film, it is a travesty". The Indian Express. 2017-04-07. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  19. ^ "Sidharth Malhotra, Jacqueline Fernandez start shooting for their action film". The Indian Express. 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  20. ^ Hungama, Bollywood (2018-01-04). "Tiger Shroff – Disha Patani starrer Baaghi 2 to release on March 30 : Bollywood News - Bollywood Hungama". Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  21. ^ Ramnath, Nandini. "What the ‘PM Narendra Modi’ trailer tells us about Bollywood, politics and propaganda". Scroll.in. Archived 2019-04-03 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  22. ^ "Darshan Kumaar joins 'Toofan' as antagonist". dailyexcelsior. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  23. ^ Nast, Condé (2022-03-21). "The Kashmir Files: Here’s how many crores the movie made in 10 days" (in en-IN). GQ India. Archived 2022-05-30 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  24. ^ "R Madhavan’s Dhokha: Round D Corner to Season 2 of Netflix’s Indian Predator: New trailers and teasers". Archived 2023-12-16 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  25. ^ "Kaagaz 2 movie review: Satish Kaushik delivers an impeccable performance in his last film, Anupam Kher & Darshan Kumaar shine". Firstpost. 2024-03-01. Archived 2024-10-07 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  26. ^ PTI (2025-06-10). "Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri renames new film ‘The Delhi Files’ to ‘The Bengal Files’" (in en-IN). The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  27. ^ "'The Kashmir Files' Fame Darshan Kumaar To Be Seen In Grey Shade In The Film 'RMCS'". ABP Live. 2024-07-02. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  28. ^ "Choti Bahu to go off air". www.tellychakkar.com. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  29. ^ "जो बोया वो अब काटेंगी ‘अम्मा जी’,’वीरपुर की मर्दानी’ बन कर वापिस आ रही है ‘लाडो’!" (in Hindi). Jansatta. 2017-10-04. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  30. ^ "Bitter slice of life". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  31. ^ "Devon Ke Dev Mahadev TV Show Episodes | STAR Player". www.startv.in. Archived 2014-10-08 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  32. ^ "Hit, hic, hurray?". The Times of India. 2012-03-20. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  33. ^ "Darshan Kumaar Roped In For ZEE5 Original Web Series Parchhayee" (in en-IN). Zee Tv. 2019-06-04. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  34. ^ "The Family Man Cast: Who plays whom in Manoj Bajpayee's upcoming Amazon Prime original series" (in en-IN). GQ India. 2019-09-11. Retrieved 2019-12-06.
  35. ^ "Avrodh The Siege Within review: An interesting web series on 2016 surgical strike". The Indian Express. 2020-07-31. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  36. ^ Irani, Shaheen. "'Aashram' trailer unveiled: Bobby Deol-Prakash Jha shed light on politics in spiritual world". DNA India. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  37. ^ "Nominations for IIFA Awards 2016". Bollywood Hungama. 28 May 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  38. ^ "Nominations for 68th Filmfare Awards 2023". Filmfare. Retrieved 21 December 2025.