Sai Ketan Rao

Sai Ketan Rao^[1] (born 10 July 1994) ^[2][3][4] is an Indian actor. He is known for portraying the lead role of Raghav Rao^[5][6] in StarPlus's Mehndi Hai Rachne Waali.^[7][8][9]

Sai Ketan Rao
Born	(1994-07-10) 10 July 1994 (age 30) Lonavala, Maharashtra, India
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2016–present
Known for	Mehndi Hai Rachne Waali

He was then seen in Star Plus's Chashni as Raunaq Babbar (Reddy). He played the double lead role of Agasthya Singh Chaudhary^[10][11] / Surya Pratap Reddy^[12][13] in Star Plus' Imlie.^[14]

Ketan's television debut was with Agni Sakshi.^[15] He also worked in Hindi web series and a few Telugu web series. His web series include Three Half Bottles (2019) on ZEE5, Love Studio (2020) on YouTube, Lovely (2021) on ShreyasET, and Aham Bhramhasmi^[16] (2021) on MX Player and Hungama Digital. He acted in Tollywood films such as Ajay Passayyadu (2019) and Strangers (2021) on Amazon Prime, and Mounam^[17] (2020) on Aha.

Rao participated as a contestant on the reality TV show, Bigg Boss OTT Season 3. He entered the show on June 21, 2024 and became one of the top four finalists. The series is streamed on JioCinema Premium.^[18]

Early life

Sai Ketan Rao^[19] was born into a middle-class family in Lonavala, Maharashtra. His father is an architect from Maharashtra, while his mother is a nutritionist from Hyderabad.

He started his schooling in Solapur, Maharashtra but soon shifted to Pune, Maharashtra and finally settled down in Hyderabad, Telangana. He completed his tenth grade in Hyderabad from Vignan School and pursued B. Tech^[20][21] in Computer Science from Hyderabad Institute of Technology and Management. After completing his graduation, he completed his MBA^[22] in System Operations from Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management, Hyderabad Campus.

Ketan was a state-level boxer until suffering an injury due to bike accident.^[23]

Personal life

In June 2024, he talked about his troubled childhood while the live streaming of Bigg Boss OTT 3. He revealed that his father abandoned the family and his mother raised him and his younger sister as a single parent.^[24][25]

Career

Rao worked for an Australian company after completing his education, but he had a strong inclination towards acting since childhood,^[26] and joined Ramanaidu Film School. He started his acting career after completing theatre arts and worked on short films and feature films. He has a film production company by the name Aurum Motion Pictures.^[27]

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Language	Channel	Ref.
2017	Agni Sakshi	Pratap	Telugu	Star Maa	[28]
2021	Mehndi Hai Rachne Waali	Raghav Rao / RR	Hindi	StarPlus	[29]
2023	Chashni	Raunaq Babbar (Reddy)			[30][31]
2023–2024	Imlie 3	Agasthya Singh Chaudhary			[32][33]
		Surya Pratap Reddy			[34][35]
2024	Bigg Boss OTT 3	Contestant (4th Place)		JioCinema	[36]

Short films

Year	Title	Role	Language	Notes	Reference
2016	Devil In Disguise	Aryan Mishra	Telugu	Cameo
2017	Phasgaya Banda	Antony	Hindi	Supporting
2018	Panileni Gang		Telugu	Lead
	Malli Kothaga
	Vadha
2019	My Dear Ravana	Lakshman		Villain
2020	Mounam			Guest
	Chuppi		Hindi, Telugu
2022	aAh!	Amar	Hindi	Cameo
	Final Act		Telugu	Lead	[37]
2024	Mumbai guy vs UP girl	Chinmay Rane	Hindi		[38][39][40]
2025	Pereira House	Inspector Danish Khan			[41]
	Bestfriend Too Hot To Handle

Films

Year	Title	Role	Language	Reference
2017	Nene Raju Nene Mantri	Pellikoduku	Telugu
2019	Ajay Passayyadu	Vikram		[42]
2019	Vykuntapali	Abhi
2021	Strangers	Varun
2021	Most Eligible Bachelor	Harsha's Friend
2022	Pellikuturu Party	Geeky Udey		[43][44]
	Vala	Kabir		[45]
2025	Baaghi 4		Hindi	[46]

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Language	Platform	Notes	Reference
2019	Three Half Bottles	Aditya	Hindi	Zee5	Lead
	Beyond Breakup		Telugu	MX Player	Guest
2020	Love Studio	Nishant		YouTube	Lead
2021	Lovely	Rohit
	Aham Bhramhasmi	Darsh		Amazon Prime, MX Player
	The Baker and The Beauty	Rohan Kapoor		Aha	Cameo

Music videos

Year	Title	Production	Singer	Writer	Starring	Ref.
2022	Mashhoor Banegi	AUM Studios	Prateek Gandhi	Ritika Chawla	Shivangi Khedkar	[47][48]
	Ishq Ho Jayega	Aurum Motion Pictures		Ragini Mahajan		[49][50][51]
2023	Phir Kabhi	Minara Music	Amit Mishra [52]	Shabbir Ahmed & Lovely Singh	Sanaya Pithawala	[53][54][55]
2024	Jee Nahi Paunga	Red Ribbon Musik	Shariq Shez	Rehana Faaiz	Urmita Ghosh	[56]
2025	Haste Haste	SVMT Music & Desi Tadka Music	Amarinder		Eugeniya Belousova	[57]

Special appearances

Year(s)	Title	Role	Language	Channel	Refs
2024	Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin	Surya Pratap Reddy	Hindi	StarPlus	[58]
	Udne Ki Aasha

Accolades

Year	Organizer	Category	Show	Result	Ref.
2021	IWMBuzz Style Awards	Emerging Fashion Icon (Male)	Mehndi Hai Rachne Waali	Won	[59]
2022	21st Indian Television Academy Awards	Best Actor (Popular)		Nominated Top 20	[60]
	Iconic Gold Awards	Best Debut TV Actor of the Year (Male)		Won	[61][62]
	14th Gold Awards	Best Onscreen Jodi (with Shivangi Khedkar)		Nominated	[63]
		Debut in a Lead Role (Male)		Nominated
	22nd Indian Television Academy Awards	Popular Actor - Drama TV		Nominated	[64]
	Bollywood Life Awards 2022	Best Breakthrough Star		Won	[65]
		Best Social Media TV Couple (with Shivangi Khedkar)		Nominated	[66]
2023	23rd Indian Television Academy Awards	Best Actor		Nominated	[67]
			Chashni	Nominated
	Grand Tycoon Global Achievers Awards (Film Fare Middle East)	Emerging Talent of the Year		Won
	Mestarlet Excellence Awards 2023	Rising Actor of the Year - Male	Imlie	Won	[68]
2024	24th Indian Television Academy Awards	Best Actor (Popular)		Nominated	[69]