Sonu Sood (born 30 July 1973) is an Indian actor, film producer, model, humanitarian, and philanthropist who works predominantly in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films. He is known for his performances as the negative lead in most of his films and for his humanitarian work, especially during the COVID-19 Pandemic. In 2009, he received the Andhra Pradesh State Nandi Award for Best Villain and the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Telugu for his work in the Telugu blockbuster Arundhati. In 2010, he garnered the Apsara Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role and the IIFA Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role for his performance in Bollywood film Dabangg. In 2012, he received the SIIMA Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role (Telugu) for his role in Julayi. Sood's other successful works include Yuva (2004), Athadu (2005), Aashiq Banaya Aapne (2005), Ashok (2006), Jodhaa Akbar (2008), Kandireega (2011), Dookudu (2011), Shootout at Wadala (2013), R... Rajkumar (2013), Happy New Year (2014), Devi (2016), Kung Fu Yoga (2017), Simmba (2018), and Kurukshetra (2019). He also appeared in commercials for Apollo Tyres and Airtel. In July 2016, he established the production house Shakti Sagar Productions, which is named after his father, Shakti Sagar Sood. In September 2020, Sood was chosen for the ‛SDG Special Humanitarian Action Award’ by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for his humanitarian works during the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2022, he launched his social media app called Explurger.