For some Bollywood artists, acting hasn’t been the first career choice. Some became actors after failed attempts in another field. Jaideep Ahlawat is one of those whose first love was not acting. He was keen on joining the Indian Army as he appeared for SSB exams. After multiple failures in the SSB interview, he ventured into acting. And now, the actor is reigning the OTT world with his acting prowess.
Jaideep was born to a family of teachers in Rohtak district of Haryana state. He did his schooling at Government High School, Kharkara. He pursued a Master In English from Maharishi Dayanand University along with SSB exam preparations. Though he began doing theatre at a young age, he wanted to be an Indian Army officer. After repeated failed attempts, he decided to take acting as a profession. He finished his acting graduation from FTII in 2008, with his acting mates Rajkummar Rao, Vijay Varma, and Sunny Hinduja.
After his FTII training, he moved to Mumbai for work. However, he had to struggle to get roles without a godfather. It was in 2012, that his acting journey began with a small role in Anurag Kashyap’s Gang Of Wasseypur. Before that, he appeared in films like Aakrosh, Khatta Meetha, Chittagong and Rockstar. Gangs of Wasseypur gave him much-needed exposure since then he continued to receive film offers. Vishwaroopam, Gabbar Is Back, Raees, Raazi, Baaghi 3, Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, and An Action Hero are some of his notable works in films.
Ahlawat went beyond films and imprinted his mark in the audience’s hearts with his appearance in OTT movies and series. In 2020, he gained immense popularity with his cop role in the series, Pataal Lok. His performance in Bloody Brothers, Broken News and Three Of Us also received critical appreciation. He left the audience stunned with his character of a Math teacher in Sujoy Ghosh’s Jaane Jaan co-starring Kareena Kapoor Khan. His recent OTT outing was Maharaj in which he won hearts with his role of Jadunath Maharaj. The film also featured Aamir Khan’s son Junaid Khan, Sharvari Wagh and Shalini Pandey.
Up next, Jaideep will feature in Siddharth Anand’s Jewel Thief co-starring Saif Ali Khan. He will also be a part of Sriram Raghavan’s Ikkis alongside Agastya Nanda and veteran actor Dharmendra. And yes, fans await her appearance in the second season of Paataal Lok which is in the works.
