Rakul Preet Singh was born in a Punjabi family in New Delhi on October 10, 1990. She studied in Army Public School and graduated from the University of Delhi. Very few know that Rakul is a golf player and played at the national level too. (All photos/Rakul Preet Singh's official Instagram account)

Rakul Preet Singh was 18 when she began her career in showbiz with modelling. She had also participated in the Femina Miss India contest and won 5 titles.

Soon after, Rakul Preet Singh made her foray in films with the Kannada film Gilli in 2009. However, she made a mark in the Tamil and Telugu film industry later and carved a niche for herself in Tollywood and Kollywood.

Rakul Preet Singh soon became a prominent face in the South. After doing films such as Keratam (Telugu), Thadaiyara Thaakka (Tamil), Puthagam (Tamil), Venkatadri Express (Telugu), in 2014, Rakul Preet Singh made her Bollywood debut with Yaariyan.

Rakul Preet Singh's aim is to be part of good films irrespective of the language in which they are made. 'I want to keep doing good films. I can work for 24 hours. I hope people want to see more of me as much as I want to be in films. At the end of it, all I want to have some great films to my credit, irrespective of which language it is in,' said the actress who has worked with some of the biggest actors like Mahesh Babu, Jr NTR, Ram Charan and Allu Arjun, down south.

After her Bollywood debut Yaariyan (2014), Rakul Preet Singh veered towards the South industry only to resurface in Hindi cinema in 2018 with Aiyaary, that starred Sidharth Malhotra and Manoj Bajpayee in pivotal roles.

Some of her notable films down south are (including both Tamil and Telugu) - Current Theega, Pandaga Chesko, Kick 2, Bruce Lee - The Fighter, Nannaku Prematho, Sarrainodu, Dhruva, Rarandoi Veduka Chudham, Jaya Janaki Nayaka and Spyder.

After Aiyaary, Rakul Preet Singh was seen in the Ajay Devgn and Tabu-starrer De De Pyaar De. The film released on May 17, 2019.

Reflecting on her career moves, Rakul Preet Singh recently opened up with mid-day and said, 'I did not plan a break from Bollywood after Yaariyan. I had South films in hand and they did well, so one project led to another. But after Aiyaary, I asked myself why have I stopped doing Hindi films?'

Rakul Preet Singh proudly stated that her hard work and determination has made her a saleable name in the south film industry. 'As the shelf life is lesser (of heroines) so you want to push yourself more as you want to do better work. I did not become big in the south just like that, I had to work towards it,' said the actress.

Rakul Preet Singh is currently trying to strike a balance between both the film industries. 'When I did 'Yaariyan' I was very new. I was not aware of the film industry. I was very young. I had a Telugu film that released two months before 'Yaariyan' and it turned out to be a huge hit and I had big film offers there so I decided to do that. It was not a conscious break it is just that I got so busy there then I thought when something great comes up I will do Hindi films. I am now trying to balance,' she said.

Talking about her third Bollywood film - De De Pyaar De - Rakul Preet Singh played a 20-something in a relationship with a 50-year-old man essayed by Ajay Devgn. Rakul admits that De De Pyaar De was the perfect fare to make her presence felt in mainstream Hindi cinema.

Rakul Preet Singh said 'yes' to the film because of her role, as she feels it is very difficult for an outsider to kind of crack the film that has a great role for the girl and when you are an integral part of the story.

After De De Pyaar De, Rakul Preet Singh had another Bollywood outing in the Sidharth Malhotra-starrer Marjaavaan, and in 2020, she did a film titled Shimla Mirchi.

Here's wishing a very happy birthday to Rakul!