Dino Morea Indian Actor Born 1975 in Bengaluru

Early life

Dino Morea was born on 9 December 1975 in Bengaluru, India. His father is Italian and his mother is from Kerala, and he lived in Italy for the first eleven years of his life before the family returned to India. He attended Clarence High School and Bangalore Military School, then studied at St Joseph's College in Bengaluru. During his school and college years he represented India in under-13 tennis. He started modelling professionally after college, and a fashion campaign led to his first acting offer.

Career

Morea first made a name as a model. In 1995 he won the Gladrags Manhunt contest and went on to the Manhunt International final in Singapore, where he became the first Indian to place second. He added the Gladrags Supermodel title in 1999, and in February 1999 he appeared on the cover of the international edition of Elle.

His acting career started on television with Captain Vyom in 1998, in which he played a character named Sonic. His first film was Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi in 1999, which brought him a Zee Cine Award nomination for best male debut. In 2000 he appeared in the Tamil-language film Kandukondain Kandukondain, an ensemble adaptation of a Jane Austen novel directed by Rajiv Menon.

The 2002 supernatural thriller Raaz, directed by Vikram Bhatt, established him in Hindi cinema. He played Aditya Dhanraj opposite Bipasha Basu, and the pair were honoured with a Zee Cine Award in the Dynamic Duo category and a Star Screen Award for best jodi. That year he also starred in Gunaah. In 2003 he appeared in Baaz: A Bird in Danger and Sssshhh..., the latter earning him a Stardust nomination for Superstar of Tomorrow. Films from 2004 included the action thriller Plan, Insaaf: The Justice, in which he played a police officer, and Rakht.

In 2006 he starred in the thriller Aksar and in Tom, Dick, and Harry, and appeared in Holiday and Fight Club – Members Only. Later credits include Life Mein Kabhie Kabhiee, Bhram (in which he played a supermodel), Heroes, Acid Factory and Pyaar Impossible! in 2010. That year he also took part in the reality show Khatron Ke Khiladi.

Morea moved into production in 2012 with Jism 2 and founded the production company Clockwise Films in 2013. He played Anand Joshi in Happy New Year (2014), then appeared less often in cinema. From 2020 he worked mainly on streaming series, among them Mentalhood and Hostages in 2020, Tandav in 2021, Kaun Banegi Shikharwati in 2022, and Rana Naidu and The Royals in 2025. He also had a role in the comedy sequel Housefull 5 in 2025.

Recognition

His performance in The Empire in 2021 earned an Indian Television Academy Award. Earlier honours linked to Raaz included the Zee Cine and Star Screen awards. He has also been named to the Gladrags Hall of Fame and appeared in several annual rankings published by Indian media.

Public roles

Morea is captain of the All Stars Football Club, a celebrity team that plays matches to raise money for charity. In 2012 he co-founded the merchandising company Cool Maal with the cricketers MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, and in 2013 he co-founded the lifestyle venture Playground. In 2019 he and a restaurateur received an award from PETA for a project to replace horse-drawn carriages in Mumbai with electric vehicles. He has served as a brand ambassador for events including the Bangalore Marathon.

Personal life

Morea lives in Bandra, Mumbai. He is known for his fitness routine and speaks several languages, including English, Hindi, Italian and Kannada.