Sonu Sood

Sonu Sood is an Indian actor known across Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada cinema, but became a national household name in 2020 for organising the return of tens of thousands of migrant workers stranded across India during the COVID-19 lockdown. Born in Moga, Punjab in 1973, he studied engineering before moving into modelling and acting, breaking through in "Yuva" (2004) and playing memorable roles in "Dabangg", "Simmba", "Happy New Year", and Prabhas's Telugu blockbusters. During the pandemic he ran a personal helpline that reunited migrants with families, funded oxygen concentrators and hospital tie-ups, and later published "I Am No Messiah". He has continued philanthropic work — scholarships for underprivileged students, health support, and rural infrastructure — earning him recognition as a "SDG Special Humanitarian Action" ambassador for the UN.