Rana Ranbirਰਾਣਾ ਰਣਬੀਰ

Early life

Rana Ranbir Singh was born on 9 April 1970 in Dhuri, in Punjab's Sangrur district. He took a bachelor's degree from Desh Bhagat College, Dhuri, and then a postgraduate degree in theatre and television from Punjabi University, Patiala. At both college and university his classmate was Binnu Dhillon, and the two would go on to define Punjabi screen comedy together. Even as a student he was writing — his book Sach Soch te Supne was published while he was still in college.

Before films, Ranbir worked the full circuit of Punjabi popular culture: radio shows, stage theatre plays like Khetan Da Putt, and television. That grounding in live performance gave him a range — from broad comedy to serious drama — that few of his peers could match.

Career

In the 2000s he started on television with Bhagwant Maan in comedies like Jugnu Mast Mast and Naughty No. 1, alongside serious TV productions such as Chitta Lahoo and Parchavain. He also anchored Zee Punjabi's road show Excuse Me Please, becoming a familiar face across Punjab.

His film career took off with Munde U.K. De (2009), where his comic turn as Khoji was widely noticed, and exploded with Jatt & Juliet (2012), in which he played Shampy Singh Chawla — a role he reprised in the sequel. What set him apart was his ability to move between registers: he was memorable in the hard-hitting Punjab 1984 (2014), played Lottery in Gippy Grewal's Ardaas (2016), and crossed into Hindi cinema with Jab Harry Met Sejal (2017).

He never abandoned the stage or the pen. His plays, radio work and books kept him connected to the literary side of Punjabi culture, and directors valued him as an actor who could improvise dialogue on set. That combination — comic instinct plus a writer's ear — made him one of the most castable performers of his generation, equally convincing as a buffoon and as a man carrying grief.

Major works

His filmography runs through the backbone of modern Punjabi cinema: Jatt & Juliet and Jatt & Juliet 2, Disco Singh, Punjab 1984, Ardaas, Ambarsariya, Manje Bistre, Daaka, Shava Ni Girdhari Lal and Jatt & Juliet 3. As a writer he has contributed lyrics and scripts, including the song Boliyaan for Rangeelay (2013), and he has directed stage works such as Aala Afsar and Mitti Da Moh.

Recent years have kept him busy with Carry On Jatta 3 (2023), Jatt & Juliet 3 (2024) and the comedy Hoshiar Singh, confirming his status as one of the few actors equally trusted by comedy directors and by filmmakers of serious cinema.

Personal life

Ranbir keeps a low public profile off-screen. He continues to write and perform, and remains one of the few Punjabi film personalities equally at home in theatre, radio, television and cinema.

Legacy

Rana Ranbir represents the writer-performer tradition in Punjabi entertainment — an actor who thinks like an author. His move from radio and stage to some of the biggest Punjabi films of the 2010s showed that classical training could thrive inside commercial cinema, and his serious turns in films like Punjab 1984 and Ardaas proved his comedy was built on genuine acting craft.