Aditi Rao Hydari – Indian film actress, singer & classical Bharatanatyam dancer

Aditi Rao Hydari was born in Hyderabad in the former state of Andhra Pradesh, now Telangana.

Aditi Rao Hydari (born 28 October 1986) is an Indian actress known for her work in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam films. Admired for her elegance and expressive performances, she has built a strong place for herself in contemporary Indian cinema. Over the years, she has taken on a mix of critically praised roles and popular mainstream projects, often portraying characters with depth, grace, and emotional subtlety.

Early Life and Background

Aditi was born in Hyderabad into two respected families connected to the former Hyderabad State. Her father, Ehsaan (Ahsan) Hydari, was an engineer, and her mother, Vidya Rao, is a well-known Hindustani classical singer. After her parents separated when she was young, she was brought up mainly by her mother.

She studied at Rishi Valley School and later graduated from Lady Shri Ram College for Women in New Delhi. Before stepping into films, Aditi trained in Bharatanatyam under the noted dancer Leela Samson. Her background in classical dance has deeply shaped her artistic expression and screen presence. She is also related to filmmaker Kiran Rao on her mother’s side.

Quick Facts

Early Life & Family

Aditi Rao Hydari was born into two aristocratic Hyderabadi lineages. On her father’s side she descends from Sir Akbar Hydari, and on her mother’s side from J. Rameshwar Rao, the last ruling Raja of the Wanaparthy Samasthanam, a princely estate under the Nizam of Hyderabad. Her father, Ehsaan Hydari, was a Sulaimani Bohra Muslim who died of lung cancer in 2013; her mother, Vidya Rao, is a respected Hindustani classical (thumri-dadra) vocalist. Her maternal grandmother, Shanta Rameshwar Rao, founded Vidyaranya High School in Hyderabad and chaired the publishing house Orient Blackswan.

Her parents separated when she was about two years old, and she was largely raised by her mother, spending time at boarding school. She began training in Bharatanatyam at around age five or six under the acclaimed dancer Leela Samson, later teaching at Samson’s dance school, Spanda. She got a brief taste of film as a child artist in the Hindi film Zooni around age eight, though the film was never released. She studied at Rishi Valley School and later Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi.

Career

Debut and early roles (2006–2010)

Her first theatrical release was the Malayalam film Prajapathi (2006), opposite Mammootty. She then took the lead role — a devadasi — in the Tamil film Sringaram (2007), which won three National Film Awards and gave her strong critical notice as a dancer-actress. She gained wider Bollywood recognition with a supporting role in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Delhi-6 (2009).

Breakthrough (2011–2016)

• Yeh Saali Zindagi (2011) — won her the Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress.
• Rockstar (2011) — the A.R. Rahman-scored musical romance opposite Ranbir Kapoor, one of her most recognized films.
• London, Paris, New York (2012) — female lead opposite Ali Zafar; she also sang for the soundtrack.
• Murder 3 (2013) — her first lead role in a mainstream Bollywood thriller, part of the Murder franchise.
• Wazir (2016) — action-drama with Amitabh Bachchan and Farhan Akhtar.

Rise across South Indian and Hindi cinema (2017–2021)

• Kaatru Veliyidai (2017) — her first film with Mani Ratnam; earned her the SIIMA Award for Best Female Debut (Tamil).
• Padmaavat (2018) — Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s historical epic, one of the highest-grossing Indian films of the year; won her the IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actress.
• Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018), Sammohanam (2018, Filmfare-nominated), Sufiyum Sujatayum (2020, Malayalam), V (2020, Telugu), The Girl on the Train (2021, Hindi Netflix film with Parineeti Chopra), Maha Samudram (2021, Telugu) — where she met future husband Siddharth.

Hit franchise / big banner work

• Ponniyin Selvan: I & II (2022, 2023) — Mani Ratnam’s blockbuster historical franchise; she voiced/dubbed for the character Kundavai in the Hindi versions.
• Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar (2024, Netflix) — Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s big-budget web series, playing Bibbojaan; widely considered a major career highlight and one of her most talked-about performances, with her “Gaja Gamini” walk becoming a viral moment.
• Jubilee (2023, Amazon Prime web series).

Recent and upcoming (2025–2026)

Reported/announced projects around this period include Gandhi Talks (a dialogue-free film opposite Vijay Sethupathi, scored by A.R. Rahman) and Lust Stories 3, though release dates for some of these have shifted and should be checked closer to release for confirmation.

Notable / “Hit” Films & Series Summary

Awards (selected)

• Screen Award – Best Supporting Actress, Yeh Saali Zindagi (2011)
• SIIMA Award – Best Female Debut (Tamil), Kaatru Veliyidai (2017)
• IIFA Award – Best Supporting Actress, Padmaavat (2018)
• Filmfare Award nomination – Best Actress (Telugu), Sammohanam (2018)

Personal Life

Aditi married Satyadeep Mishra, a former civil servant turned actor, in 2009; the couple separated around 2012–13. In 2021, while filming Maha Samudram, she grew close to actor Siddharth (Siddharth Suryanarayan). The two announced their engagement in March 2024 and married on 16 September 2024 in an intimate ceremony at a 400-year-old temple in Wanaparthy, Telangana — a location tied to her mother’s family — followed by a second celebration at Alila Fort, Bishangarh, attended by names including Mani Ratnam, Kamal Haasan, and Farah Khan.

Net Worth — Important Caveat

Aditi Rao Hydari has never publicly disclosed her net worth, and there is no official, verified figure. Commercial celebrity-net-worth sites give widely inconsistent estimates:

• Several sources cluster around ₹60–65 crore (~$7–9 million USD).
• A few less reliable sites claim figures as high as ₹100 crore.
• She’s widely reported to charge roughly ₹1 crore per film and to earn additionally from brand endorsements; assets reportedly include properties in Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Goa, and cars including an Audi Q7 and Mercedes-Benz GLS.

Given the spread and the unverified nature of these figures, treat any specific net-worth number as an approximation rather than fact.

Compiled from publicly available sources including Wikipedia, IMDb, and entertainment media as of August 2026. Some biographical details (notably her exact birth year and net worth) vary across sources and aren’t independently confirmed by the actress or an official record.