Ahaan Panday

Ahaan Panday
Panday at the News18 Showsha Reel Awards 2026
Born (1997-12-23) 23 December 1997
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Alma materUniversity of Mumbai (BFA)
OccupationActor
Years active2025–present
Known forSaiyaara
Parent(s)Chikki Panday (Father)
Deanne Panday (Mother)
RelativesPanday family

Ahaan Panday (pronounced [əˈhɑːn pənˈdeɪ]; born 23 December 1997) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He made his acting debut in the 2025 romantic drama Saiyaara,[1] which received generally positive reviews and became one of the highest-grossing Indian romantic films.[2][3]

Early life and background

Panday was born on 23 December, 1997, in Mumbai, to Aloke "Chikki" Panday, a businessman, and Deanne Panday, a former model and wellness coach.[4][5] He is also the nephew of actor Chunky Panday and cousin to actress Ananya Panday.[6] His paternal grandmother was Punjabi,[7] while through his mother he has Scottish, Portuguese and Nepali ancestry.[8] Panday attended Oberoi International School and later pursued a bachelor of fine arts in cinematic arts and production from University of Mumbai.[9][10] His elder sister, Alanna Panday, is an actor and content creator who appeared in a 2021 Prime Video series.[11]

Career

Panday began his career as an assistant director, making his debut in Sohail Khan's Freaky Ali (2016), followed by Rock On 2 (2016) and Mardaani 2 (2019).[12] In 2023, he served as an assistant director on the Netflix miniseries The Railway Men: The Untold Story of Bhopal 1984.[13]

He made his acting debut in 2025 with Saiyaara opposite Aneet Padda.[14][5][15]

Panday then began filming an action-romance directed by Ali Abbas Zafar for Yash Raj Films.[16] In April 2026, Yash Raj Films announced that Panday and Padda would reunite with Saiyaara director Mohit Suri for a second untitled romantic musical, targeting a 2027 theatrical release.[17]

Public image

Panday's debut renewed discussion in the Indian entertainment press about nepotism within the Hindi film industry, given his family's industry ties through his uncle Chunky Panday and cousin Ananya Panday. The Nod wrote that younger audiences responded to his performance largely independent of the "star kid" label often applied to actors from film families.[18] In an interview, Panday said that although he grew up close to the film industry, he did not consider himself an insider and had to build his career independently.[19]

After Saiyaara's success, Panday signed brand endorsement deals with several consumer companies, including Harley-Davidson India and PepsiCo India.[20]

Filmography

Key
† Denotes films that have not yet been released

Films

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2016 Freaky Ali N/a Assistant Director [21]
Rock On 2 [12]
2019 Mardaani 2 [22]
2025 Saiyaara Krish Kapoor Acting debut [23]
TBA Untitled Ali Abbas Zafar action-romance † TBA Filming [24]
2027 Untitled Mohit Suri romantic musical † TBA Announced [17]

Television

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2023 The Railway Men N/a Assistant Director

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2025 IMDb STARmeter Awards Breakout Star N/a Won [25]
GQ Men of the Year Actor of the Year N/a Won [26][27]
2026 Zee Cine Awards Best Debut (Male) Saiyaara Won [28]
Screen Awards Breakthrough New Actor (Male) Won [29]

See also

References

  1. ^ Nair, Sharanyaa (2025-07-24). "'Saiyaara' Hits No. 5 on Spotify Global, Sets Bollywood Record". Rolling Stone India. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  2. ^ Menon, Lekha (2025-07-18). "'Saiyaara' Review: Ahaan Panday makes a striking debut in this tale of conflicted love". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  3. ^ "Indian Film 'Saiyaara' Is On An Unprecedented Box Office Run". Deadline. 2025-07-29. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  4. ^ Mathur, Abhimanyu (21 July 2025). "Meet Ahaan Panday's father Chikki Panday, once bailed Shah Rukh Khan out of prison, ended SRK-Salman's infamous fight". hindustantimes.com. India: Hindustan Times. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  5. ^ a b "The Many Lives of Ahaan Panday". Grazia India. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
  6. ^ "Ahaan Panday On People Not Realising How Young Cousin Ananya Panday Was When She Started: "Never Personally Gave Me Any Advice"". NDTV. Archived from the original on 2026-01-07. Retrieved 2026-05-29.
  7. ^ Khurana, Mallika (5 December 2024). "Chunky Panday Enjoys Being Known As Ananya Panday's Father And Bhavna Panday's Husband". Curly Tales. Archived from the original on 24 January 2025. Over this delicious meal, we found out that while Bhavna Panday is from a Punjabi family, Chunky Panday is Punjabi only on his mother's side.
  8. ^ Aggarwal, Asmita (25 October 2013). "Fit for life". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 2026-06-16. Retrieved 2026-06-16. For Deanne Panday, fitness is in her genes. This lithe fitness trainer, who is out with her second book, Shut Up and Train, boasts an exotic gene pool, with a Scottish-Nepalese father and Portuguese-East Indian mother.
  9. ^ "Ahaan Panday Educational Qualification: Saiyaara Actor Studied Filmmaking At Mumbai University". News18. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  10. ^ Tanwar, Apeksha (2025-07-18). "From classroom to camera: What Ahaan Panday studied before his Bollywood debut". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
  11. ^ Gupta, Twinkle (2025-08-31). "Not Ahaan? Saiyaara star shares his true name and family's filmy tribute". India TV News. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  12. ^ a b Das, Santanu (2025-07-22). "Ahaan Panday recalls how Shraddha Kapoor made him 'feel seen' as an AD on Rock On 2, reacts to her praise for Saiyaara". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2026-05-29.
  13. ^ "Ahaan Panday Was An AD For The Railway Men; He's A Beautiful Boy: Dibyendu Bhattacharya | Exclusive". News18. Archived from the original on 2025-07-29. Retrieved 2026-05-29.
  14. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (2024-02-07). "Ahaan Panday To Star In Yash Raj Films' Upcoming Young Love Story From Director Mohit Suri". Deadline. Retrieved 2026-05-29.
  15. ^ "Ahaan Panday Turns Beauty Model". The Voice of Fashion. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
  16. ^ "Ahaan Panday Begins Filming Ali Abbas Zafar's Next". The Hollywood Reporter India. 2026-04-04. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  17. ^ a b Ramachandran, Naman (2026-04-15). "'Saiyaara' Team Reunites for New Romance". Variety. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  18. ^ "Does 'Saiyaara' prove that Gen Z is over the 'nepo baby' debate?". The Nod. 2025-07-29. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  19. ^ Ray, Sanjana (2025-11-20). "GQ Hype: Ahaan Panday on Saiyaara's mammoth success, his relationship status and life-changing advice from Priyanka Chopra". GQ India. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  20. ^ Rani, Gayatri (7 December 2025). "Ahaan Panday becomes brand ambassador for Harley-Davidson India, marks first major endorsement". moneycontrol.com. India: Money Control. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  21. ^ "'Saiyaara' is not Ahaan Panday's acting debut; here's where we have seen him before". Archived from the original on 2026-01-13. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  22. ^ "Chunky Panday's nephew Ahaan Panday to kickstart Bollywood journey with Mardaani 2?". indiatoday.in. India: India Today. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  23. ^ "Ahaan Panday ends shoot of his debut with a banger". Mid-day. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  24. ^ "Ahaan Panday Begins Filming Ali Abbas Zafar's Next". The Hollywood Reporter India. 2026-04-04. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  25. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (11 August 2025). "'Saiyaara' Stars Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda Claim IMDb Breakout Star Awards (EXCLUSIVE)". variety.com. United States: Variety. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  26. ^ Ray, Sanjana (2025-12-20). "GQ Men of the Year 2025: Ahaan Panday on winning 'Actor of the Year', his family's reaction to Saiyaara's success, 5-year plan, and what he looks for in a partner". GQ India. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  27. ^ "Meet the winners of GQ Men of the Year 2025". GQ India. 2025-11-29. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  28. ^ Chaudhary, Aanchal. "Ahaan Panday, Aneet Padda Steal The Show; Jacqueline Fernandez & Other Bollywood Stars Bring Haute Couture To Zee Cine Awards 2026". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  29. ^ "Chetak Screen Awards 2026: Ahaan Panday wins Breakthrough New Actor (Male) award for Saiyaara". The Indian Express. 2026-04-05. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
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