Jugal Hansraj is a feature film actor, writer and National Award winning film director from Mumbai, India. He began working in films as a child, starting with the much acclaimed ‘Masoom’ (1983) and went on to do leading roles in several films in the ‘90s and early 2000s, the notable ones being ‘Papa Kahte Hain’ (1996) and ‘Mohabbatein’ (2000) and more recently the hit Netflix show ‘Mismatched Season 2’(2022) , and the critically praised feature film ‘Shiv Shastri Balboa’(2023).
His first film as writer/director was the animation film ‘Roadside Romeo’ (2008) which was co-produced by Yash Raj Films and Walt Disney Pictures and was the first Indian Animation feature film. His second film as director was the romantic comedy ‘Pyaar Impossible’ (2010) and starred Priyanka Chopra Jonas as the lead.
He is also a published author. His first children’s fiction novel titled ‘Cross Connection - The Big Circus Adventure’ was published by one of India’s leading publishers, Rupa Publications. He relocated to New York City in 2018. His second novel titled ‘The Coward and The Sword’, aimed at middle graders and young adults was published by HarperCollins in October 2021 to good reviews and sales. The sequel to that book - titled ‘The Jewel of Nisawa’ - released in January 2024 and he is currently working on Book 3 of that series for HarperCollins.
He will also soon be seen in a very significant role in the Lionsgate series ‘Nanda Devi’ which will begin streaming in the first half of 2025. His other forthcoming projects for 2025 include ‘Mismatched - Season 3’ on Netflix; ‘Nadaaniyan’ on Netflix; and ‘The Family Man’ on Amazon Prime.