Randeep Hooda

Hooda was born on 20 August 1976, in Rohtak, Haryana, India in a Haryanvi Hindu Jat family. His father Ranbir Hooda, is a medical surgeon and his mother Asha Hooda, is a social worker. He spent most of his childhood with his grandmother in their hometown as his parents travelled extensively, and resided in the Middle East for most part. He has an elder sister, Anjali Hooda Sangwan, a medical (MBBS, MD) doctor trained in India and in the United States, and a younger brother Sandeep Hooda, a Software Engineer working in Singapore. He was educated at Motilal Nehru School of Sports (MNSS), a boarding school in Rai, Haryana, where he participated in swimming and equestrian sports and won medals at the national level. Hooda later developed an interest in theatre and participated in school productions, one of which he directed. In an interview with Rediff.com, he said he enjoyed appearing in front of people. However, his family wanted him to become a doctor and he was transferred to Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram in New Delhi. Hooda described the transition from an environment in which he was popular to one in which he was known as "difficult". After completing his schooling, Hooda moved to Melbourne, Australia, in 1995, where he studied for a bachelor's degree in marketing and a master's degree in business management and human resource management. During that period, he worked in a Chinese restaurant, a car wash, as a waiter and for two years as a taxi driver. In 2000, Hooda returned to India and worked in the marketing department of an airline. He subsequently started modelling and working in amateur theatre in Delhi. While rehearsing for the play To Teach His Own, director Mira Nair approached Hooda to audition for a role in her upcoming film. Besides films, Randeep Hooda came into the limelight because of his relationship with Sushmita Sen, with whom he eventually broke up. Hooda married Manipuri actress and model Lin Laishram in a traditional Manipuri Meitei wedding ceremony in November 2023.