Daddy cool | Suvinder Vicky in 'Glory'

What do Dhurandhar: The Revenge, the highest-grossing Hindi film in India, and Kohrra, the most critically acclaimed Indian web series, have in common? Punjabi actor Suvinder Vicky. In the former, Vicky captivated as the wheelchair-bound, foul-mouthed father who revels in berating his son, ISI’s Major Iqbal (Arjun Rampal), while in the latter, he won both acclaim and accolades for playing a senior police officer trying to solve a murder case in Punjab. The Chandigarh-based actor was in Mumbai to attend a screening of his new release, the Netflix series Glory, in which he plays a boxing coach-cum-stern father.

So sought-after is Vicky these days that Mumbai is home for half a month. “I consider myself lucky and grateful to Wahe Guru that, sitting at home [in Chandigarh], I have been getting work,” he says. The 50-something actor has so far resisted the urge to set up a base in Mumbai, but admits he’s smitten with the city. Says Vicky, “Samundar ka kinaara, yeh fiza, ek alag khushboo—iss mitti ke andar kuchh hai, yeh aapko dhakelta hai aur dekhta hai aapka jigar kitna mazboot hai (The seashore, the ambience, a unique aroma, there’s something in the soil here that pushes you and tests your endurance). Whatever it takes it also gives.”

In the past few years, it has been giving a lot. The year 2026 started off with Dhurandhar and Glory, but that’s just him warming up. His release slate includes the Hrithik Roshan-produced and Ajitpal Singh-directed series Storm (Amazon Prime Video); Dharma’s romcom Kuku Ki Kundali; Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Hindi debut produced by Hansal Mehta, and Awarapan 2 with Emraan Hashmi. That he has got it without an official Wikipedia page yet and just about 15,000 followers on Instagram is further proof that Vicky’s talent is both substantial and not defined by social media metrics.

For Vicky, acting is just living his passion daily. “I always wanted to be in front of the camera,” says the actor, who studied theatre at Patiala University. “In fact, the mere thought of doing anything like a job was like Hai rabba, if I can’t do acting, I will be done.” Nonetheless, he had to play the waiting game to get due recognition. By his own account in Punjabi cinema, for the most part, he played the familial roles of “chacha, taaya, mama”, requiring a few days of work at best. It all changed for the better with Gurvinder Singh’s powerful insurgency-set Punjabi indie, Chauthi Koot, which allowed him to shoulder a narrative. “When Gurvinder came into my life, I had to get out of the loud and melodramatic Punjabi cinema I was doing,” says Vicky. The emotional transformation didn’t go unnoticed. Filmmaker Ivan Ayr’s Meel Patthar, which released on Netflix in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, was an even bigger breakthrough. Playing a stoic and weary truck driver whose job is on the line, Vicky got a vehicle that showed his thespian prowess in all its glory.

But it was with Kohrra that the actor got the eyeballs that had long eluded him. Summoned to Mumbai for a meeting with creator and showrunner Sudip Sharma, Vicky was told he was the first and only choice to play Balbir. Humbled by the trust reposed in him, Vicky says he was numb and couldn’t meet Sharma’s eyes. “Back then, I didn’t even have an option to say ‘no’. It’s not like I had a pile of scripts to consider,” he says. Now, though, there are scripts to sift through, and his face is splashed on billboards across metros for Glory.

Back home, his rise has proven that talent and perseverance pay off. “I wouldn’t have had a name there if not for this lucrative creative spell,” he says. “They are surprised but I am seen as a misaal (role model) too.”

This newfound fame has also infused a sense of confidence. “I am enjoying myself,” he says of the recognition coming his way. “But I don’t want to exhaust myself. Acting is an all-encompassing job. When I am in character, I don’t like talking too much.” The approach has clicked, with Vicky becoming the go-to actor for playing dads with emotional baggage and shades of grey. Father or villain, he’s game for a challenge. Says Vicky, “I believe you get to know your aukaat (standing) as an actor only by working with multiple directors.” Luckily for him, most hold him in high esteem.