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Jaideep Ahlawat is not your typical leading man. Sure, he’s 6’1’’, has dreamy eyes and a brooding face. But it’s not in a dipped-in-chocolate, gym-chiselled, Insta-ready way. And yet, his Instagram page (@JaideepAhlawat) is bursting with heart and fire emojis in the comments. “Your looks scream raw masculinity!!!” writes one woman, under a slideshow of him in a tux. “You’ve activated my daddy issues,” adds another young lady. Women from Dehradun to Dhaka (and as far away as Toronto) are simping, the way they only do for romantic heroes.
The internet is calling Ahlawat the desi Pedro Pascal for his green-flag masculinity. (SHOT BY PRADHUMNA SHARMA)
Ahlawat, 45, has a new movie out. Jewel Thief sees him playing a crime lord, overseeing a ₹500 crore diamond heist. His look is slick: Gelled-back hair, intense green lenses, gold chain, jacket unbuttoned all the way to his midriff. But he has surprisingly fluid dance moves too. No one had “Ahlawat pulls off a Vicky Kaushal-style dance number” on their 2025 bingo card, but here we are.
On Instagram, fans leave compliments such as “Your looks scream raw masculinity!!!” (SHOT BY PRADHUMNA SHARMA)
On Twitter, a user named @Vanshicant sums up Ahlawat’s spot in the zeitgeist well: “idk how to explain, but to me Pedro Pascal and Jaideep Ahlawat give off the same exact vibes”. You see it, don’t you? Both actors have played rugged, macho roles, but are somehow just as convincing when they’ve played soft, self-assured, introspective characters. They exude confidence without arrogance, and charm without trying too hard. They’re vulnerable. They laugh.
And, as if fans needed another reason to sweat, Ahlawat is also steadfastly downplaying the effect he’s having on the world. “The Jewel Thief dance went a little viral,” he admits (the official video has more than 11 million views on YouTube since April). “But I don’t check social media often. I don’t track if people find me hot. There are compliments when a new release drops. But hotness is subjective.” Could Ahlawat’s appeal lie in the simple fact that he knows just what men need to be these days?
Ahlawat’s dance in Jewel Thief (2025) has a fandom of its own.
Soft focus
Growing up in Rohtak, Haryana, Ahlawat wanted to be an army officer. But after flunking the Service Selection Board exam one too many times, he pivoted to local theatre, and enrolled at FTII. He’s never been too fussy about how he looks, he says. He looked up to Balraj Sahni, Dilip Kumar, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Irrfan Khan.
He first got noticed in Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), as the hyper-masculine Pathan Shahid Khan, all long hair and kohl-rimmed eyes, brawling in the mud. In Ajeeb Daastaans (2021), he played a violent UP thug, who also happened to be gay. “Loved you in this role — even though you were gay, you looked so desirable,” wrote one fan on Instagram. In Maharaj (2024), he played an exploitative godman with a six-pack no one could ignore.
But what really fanned the flames is when his roles swapped macho for mellow. In 2022, Ahlawat played Shefali Shah’s gentle childhood love in Three of Us, the kind of guy who composes a poem after seeing his crush for the first time in 28 years. Pop-culture commentator Sukhada Chaudhary called it “perhaps the most tender portrayal of a man in recent times”. The following year, as Kareena Kapoor’s balding, introverted neighbour and math teacher in Jaane Jaan, his quiet protectiveness had fans swooning.
Ahlawat has played the alpha (like in Action Hero) and non-alpha. He feels accepted either way.
Most memorably, Ahlawat played Hathi Ram Chaudhary, a tired, paunchy cop at Delhi’s Outer Jamuna Paar police station, tasked with solving a botched assassination case, in the hit thriller series Paatal Lok (2020 -). In a genre full of angry, testosterone-fuelled supercops, Ahlawat’s Hathi Ram was world-weary but good-intentioned. “Beneath the uniform, he’s a typical middle-class man, trying to do better at his job, be a better husband, father, colleague,” says Ahlawat. “He’s still trying to find his worth. He wants to be heard, to feel fulfilled. That makes him familiar, easy to connect with.”
It showed viewers exactly what the post-MeToo world wanted out of men. “There’s something so genuine about Hathi Ram,” writes Indonesian fan @Dil_Se_Desi_Rachel in an Insta Reel. “Not just his bravery, but his vulnerability. He’s peak masculinity for me.”
Ahlawat starred as a bald, introverted maths teacher in Jaane Jaan. Still cute.
Shape shifter
For his part, Ahlawat says he’s never bothered to look a certain way “What is a ‘leading man’ look? The script decides what a lead role is; that is the look that an actor should aim for. Any actor can attain it.”
What excites him instead are the physical and emotional transitions each role demands: “Once you change your body, you change too. You look and feel like the character.” But after, when the film or show is out and the world is swooning, he’s busy transitioning back to his normal self. It’s not a fun time. “If you’re at 100kg weight and running, as I did in Paatal Lok, it can be painful. It was tough doing the action scenes while I was so heavy. It was tiring. Then you have to lose that weight, which, again, takes effort, training and a different diet.”
Even as a tired, paunchy cop in Paatal Lok, women found Hathi Ram hot.
It’s all part of the game. So Ahlawat doesn’t let it bother him. He’s not one for dressing up. “My team is more conscious about it than I am.” He doesn’t fret over the details: “I am so, so lazy about skincare and haircare, though I try to be disciplined. I don’t have a fitness routine, except when I’m changing my body for a role.”
If the internet has been hailing him as India’s answer to Pedro Pascal, Ahlawat, again, chooses to see only the professional side. “Pedro is a very, very good actor. And yes, he’s a good-looking guy too. So, if people see a resemblance, that’s great,” he says. “I have played all kinds of men: alpha-masculine, non-alpha. And I’ve found that people accept all of them.”
The current obsession with him? It’s merely a product of great writing and believable male characters that forge an emotional connection. “It’s the character who makes them feel something. Maybe a little of it is me, just a little.”
In 2022, Ahlawat played Shefali Shah’s gentle childhood love in Three of Us.
What’s the oddest thing a fan has said to you?
At the airport, a guy once came up to me and said, “Sir, you are so great in Mirzapur”. He was praising Ali Fazal. But I said thank you. He kept saying, “Please let me call my brother. He is your biggest fan.” But the brother turned out to have no idea who I was, and asked me my name. I said, “Ali Fazal.” It went on like this for five minutes.
One thing you love about how you look. And one thing you’re making peace with.
I have so many things I love about my looks. I have good height, nice hair, and beautiful, sexy eyes. I have a good jawline when I’m thin. I used to be conscious about pimples in my teens. But I’ve been at peace with them for the last 20 years.
What’s the last compliment that made you blush?
Oh, I got a very beautiful compliment from Dharamji (Dharmendra, his co-star in the upcoming movie, Ikkis). While we were shooting, he said, “My son, you are such a handsome boy.” I was like, “I am done, now that Dharamji, the most handsome man in the world, has said this”.
The actor played an evil godman in Maharaj (2024). He says once you change your body, you change too.
Heat sensitive
Are you excited that you’re seen as a thirst trap?
“I don’t know what that means.”
It means sexy. They’re saying Dad Bod too.
“Oh, this one’s an old term. Not very Gen Z. Dad bod is like a middle-aged, good-looking guy.”
Pretty sure we saw Pookie…
“I like pookie, it’s cute.”
And that you give off teddy-bear vibes.
“Sounds the same as pookie? Like a very comforting, hugging, cuddly kind of feeling.”
Some people call you Zaddy.
“What’s that?”
Like a hot older man.
“Oh, okay. Nice.”
From HT Brunch, June 07, 2025
Follow us on www.instagram.com/htbrunch
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