After working in several stage productions in English, Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati languages, Sharman Joshi gained public recognition with his lead role in the movie
Style. He went a notch above with his intense role in
Rang De Basanti (2006), but played a completely contrasting comedic role in
Golmaal in the same year, both winning him praises. Sharman`s other noteworthy performances were seen in films like
3 idiots and
Ferrari Ki Sawaari.
Early Life Born in 1979, Sharman is the son of theatre and film actor
Arvind Joshi. He hails from a family of actors as his aunt
Sarita Joshi, sister
Manasi Joshi Roy and brother-in-law
Rohit Roy, are all film and television actors.
Personal Life Sharman got married to Prerana Chopra in 2000, whose story turns out to be an example of love at first sight. They met when they were college, and hit it off right from their first meet. They become friends first, then eventually developed a liking for each other, and tied the knot in 2000. This also marked the year Sharman debuted as the co-lead in
Style. Prerana`s father, veteran actor
Prem Chopra, was initially not happy with his daughter getting married to Sharman, as he was a struggling actor at the time, but he eventually agreed for the marriage.
Sharman and Prerana have three children - one daughter Khyana and twin boys Vaaryan and Vihaan.
Theatre Career Sharman started off as a theatre actor before stepping into Bollywood. He portrayed a deaf character in the play All the Best, which was quite popular and staged for 550 times.
Movie Career The scapegoat in
Golmaal (2006), Sharman Joshi, made his acting debut in the 1999 biographical drama film
Godmother, starring
Shabana Azmi in the lead. Inspired by the life of Santokben Jadeja, head of Mafia operations in Gujarat during the 1980s-90s, the movie went on to win Filmfare and IIFA awards, along with National Film Awards in several categories. Although in a supporting role, Sharman appeared as part of an ensemble cast in his second film,
Lajja. He shared screen space with stars like
Manisha Koirala,
Rekha,
Madhuri Dixit,
Jackie Shroff,
Johnny Lever,
Anil Kapoor, and
Ajay Devgn in the movie, which got mixed reviews but received appreciation for excellent performances by lead actors. However, Sharman gained public recognition with his next film,
Style, in which he was seen in a lead role for the first time. This low budget movie that also starred
Sahil Khan, had one of its songs Excuse Me Kya Re become very popular. The film turned out to be a surprise box office hit, with critical praises for Sharman`s performance. The part where he crossdresses in the film was highly appreciated. After appearing in Kahan Ho Tum in 2003 that failed to perform well at the box office, the actor also starred in the sequel to Style, titled
Xcuse Me. It starred Sharman alongside
Sahil Khan once again and was a moderate success at the box office.
The actor`s next venture was
David Dhawan`s comedy film Shaadi No. 1, as part of an ensemble cast including
Fardeen Khan,
Zayed Khan,
Ayesha Takia,
Esha Deol,
Soha Ali Khan, and
Riya Sen. The remake of the Telugu movie Sandade Sandadi, it`s the story of three men who cheat on their wives. Sharman then bagged a significant role in the award-winning drama film
Rang De Basanti, in which he starred alongside superstar
Aamir Khan and popular actors like
Siddharth Narayan,
Soha Ali Khan,
Kunal Kapoor,
R. Madhavan, and
Atul Kulkarni. Sharman played Soha Ali Khan`s friend in the movie, who was later cast in a documentary for the role of freedom fighter Shivaram Rajguru. The movie was screened at various international film festivals, while the songs in the film not only fetched many music awards but also lingered among audiences for a very long time. Rang De Basanti won National, Filmfare, IIFA, and Global Indian Awards, in several categories including direction, acting, editing, cinematography, and so much more, making it one of the biggest box office hits in India. The movie received positive responses from critics and audiences, while also created a good social impact on the Indian society.
A complete contrast to his intense role in Rang De Basanti, was his next film the comedy drama
Golmaal, in which he played the victim card in a comedy role. Not only was his great comic timing in the movie highly appreciated, but he also was nominated for The Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role. The Rohit Shetty direction also starred
Ajay Devgn,
Arshad Warsi,
Tusshar Kapoor and
Rimi Sen in lead roles. It had an average opening but turned out to be a surprise hit at the box office.
Sharman followed this up with lead roles in movies like Raqeeb,
Dhol and
Hello, all of which turned out to be moderate successes, along with an important role in the box office hit
Life in a... Metro. In 2009, he played one of the leads alongside
Aamir Khan and
Madhavan in 3 Idiots, a light-hearted comedy film that students across the country could instantly relate to. With focus laid on how tasking the education system in the country is, along with the emphasis on the fact there is much more to life than just scoring good grades, the movie was appreciated by audiences as well as the critics. Sharman gained praises for his performance in the film as Raju Rastogi, a student from a poor family, whose only motive is to study well, get a good job and bring his family out of poverty. For 3 Idiots, he won IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also performed the song Give me some sunshine, give me some rain.
Another film that gained Sharman appreciation for his performance was the 2012 sports drama
Ferrari Ki Sawaari, directed by
Rajesh Mapuskar. He played the role of a father who is willing to go up to any extent to fulfill his son`s dream of playing with the legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. A blend of comedy and drama, the film performed moderately at the box office.
Soon after this, the actor was seen in movies like
3 Bachelors that was unsuccessful, and War Chod Na Yaar, which even though was praised for its unique concept, failed to perform. Subsequently, Sharman gave average successes like
Gang of Ghosts and
Hate Story 3. His bold avatar in the latter came as a surprise to audiences. Sharman, who claims to believe in ghosts, agreed to be cast in the role of an exorcist in
1920 London. Impressed with the strong script, he instantly agreed to do the film. The third installment in the 1920 film series, after
1920 and
1920: The Evil Returns, it starred Sharman opposite
Meera Chopra and
Vishal Karwal.
In 2016, the actor starred in
Vishal Pandya`s crime thriller
Wajah Tum Ho, opposite
Sana Khan and
Gurmeet Choudhary. His other releases include
3 Storeys (2018), Kaashi in Search of Ganga (2018), The Least of These (2019),
Mission Mangal (2019), Babloo Bachelor (2021) and
Fauji Calling (2021).
Television Career Even though he is prominent as a film actor, he has done some work in the television industry too. He worked on the TV series Gubbare. He has also hosted a game show PokerFace: Dil Sachcha Chehra Jhootha on Real T.V., an Urdu entertainment channel.