Barun Sobti’s Career Evolution: The Actor Who Chose Complex Stories Over Easy Stardom

There was a time when Barun Sobti was known primarily for one character: Arnav Singh Raizada from Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon? The television drama turned him into a household name and established him as one of the most recognizable romantic leads of his generation.

More than a decade later, however, Sobti's career looks considerably different.

His recent work has taken him towards crime dramas, emotionally complicated characters, and stories created specifically for the streaming era. From Asur to Kohrra, the actor has increasingly chosen parts that depend less on conventional star image and more on characterization.

That evolution has become particularly visible in 2026, with Sobti returning as Amarpal Garundi in Netflix's second season of Kohrra and appearing in Prime Video's Babita Singh Reporting.

The Character That Made Barun Sobti a Television Star

Sobti's breakthrough came with Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon?, where he played Arnav Singh Raizada opposite Sanaya Irani.

The character was written as an intense, emotionally guarded businessman, and Sobti's performance made Arnav one of the defining male characters of Indian television in the early 2010s.

But the popularity also created a challenge that many television actors face: being strongly associated with the character that made them famous.

In later years, Sobti deliberately moved away from relying solely on the romantic-lead image.

In a recent interview, he reflected on his career by saying that he has “evolved, not changed”, explaining that his choices gradually moved towards the kind of work he had wanted to do as an actor.

That distinction is important to understanding his career. Sobti's transition was not an overnight reinvention. It was a gradual shift in the kind of scripts and characters he was willing to pursue.

From Television to Films and Digital Storytelling

After establishing himself on television, Sobti began exploring films and digital projects.

His film credits include Main Aur Mr. Riight, Tu Hai Mera Sunday and 22 Yards, while his streaming work has included projects such as Asur, Badtameez Dil, Raat Jawaan Hai and Kohrra.

This phase allowed him to experiment with characters that were considerably different from the romantic hero audiences had initially associated with him.

His approach to OTT also appears to have been connected to the kind of writing available in the medium. In a 2024 Filmfare interview, Sobti spoke about his willingness to return to television under the right circumstances but expressed reservations about the pressures that daily television production can place on writing.

For an actor who has repeatedly spoken about the importance of strong scripts, the streaming boom created more opportunities to explore that preference.

Asur Showed Another Side of Barun Sobti

One of the important steps in Sobti's post-television career was Asur.

The psychological crime thriller placed him in a very different storytelling environment from mainstream television romance. The series allowed him to work within a darker narrative involving criminal psychology, investigation, and questions surrounding morality.

The importance of Asur in his career lies less in simply being an OTT credit and more in the direction it represented.

Sobti was beginning to build a body of work in which the character, rather than his established television image, became the primary attraction.

Kohrra Became a Major Career Turning Point

If Asur demonstrated Sobti's ability to move into darker storytelling, Kohrra took that progression considerably further.

The Netflix crime drama, created by Gunjit Chopra, Diggi Sisodia, and Sudip Sharma, follows police investigations against the social and personal complexities of Punjab. Sobti plays Assistant Sub-Inspector Amarpal Garundi.

Garundi is far removed from the polished romantic hero associated with Sobti's early career.

The character is flawed, complicated, and often difficult to read. Instead of presenting a conventionally heroic police officer, the series places Garundi inside a world of personal pressures, professional responsibilities, and moral ambiguity.

Sobti's performance in the first season was recognized at the Filmfare OTT Awards, where he won Best Supporting Actor, Series (Male): Drama.

The success of the series also demonstrated something important about his career: audiences were willing to accept Sobti in roles that had almost nothing in common with Arnav Singh Raizada.

2026: Garundi Returns in Kohrra Season 2

Sobti's association with Kohrra continued into 2026. Netflix officially brought back the series for a second season, with Sobti returning as Garundi and Mona Singh joining the story as Sub-Inspector Dhanwant Kaur. The second season premiered on Netflix on February 11, 2026.

The new season moves Garundi to Dalerpura Police Station, where he works under Dhanwant Kaur.

Netflix described the relationship between the two officers as an important element of the new season, contrasting Garundi's more instinctive approach with Dhanwant's methodical style.

The return of Garundi is significant for Sobti because it gives him the opportunity to continue developing a character that has become closely associated with his OTT career.

At the same time, the second season places him alongside a new commanding officer, creating a different professional and interpersonal dynamic.

Babita Singh Reporting Adds Another Dimension

Sobti's 2026 slate has also included Babita Singh Reporting, an investigative drama released on Prime Video.

The film stars Nimisha Sajayan in the title role, with Sobti and Anshuman Pushkar also in the cast. Prime Video describes the story as following suspended police officer Babita Singh, who begins investigating the murder of her childhood friend after returning to Rewa.

Directed by Ambiecka Pandit, the film has Saurabh Malhotra, Manuj Mittra, and Tina Tharwani as producers, with Amazon Studios listed as the studio on Prime Video's official page.

The project again places Sobti within an investigative setting, but the narrative is centered on Sajayan's character rather than positioning him as the conventional romantic lead.

That recurring movement towards ensemble and character-driven storytelling is one of the clearest patterns in Sobti's recent work.

Why Barun Sobti's Career Evolution Matters

Sobti's journey reflects a larger change in India's entertainment industry.

Television once provided actors with enormous visibility but could also make it difficult to escape a successful character. The growth of streaming platforms has changed that equation by creating more space for performers to move between genres, languages, formats, and character types.

Sobti himself has spoken about this shift.

In a 2025 interview, he discussed the problem of typecasting and argued that actors also need to examine their own range rather than placing all responsibility on filmmakers or audiences.

His own filmography provides an interesting context for that observation.

The actor who became famous playing an intense romantic hero has subsequently played characters connected with crime investigation, psychological drama, family relationships, and contemporary urban storytelling.

The transformation has not required him to abandon the popularity of his early career. Instead, he has gradually added new layers to the public's understanding of him.

What Sets His Choices Apart?

Sobti's recent career is less about appearing everywhere and more about choosing projects that offer him something different.

In interviews, he has repeatedly emphasized his relationship with writing and scripts. In a 2026 interview with Bombay Times, he spoke about his preference for strong content and described the availability of serious work through OTT as something that changed the opportunities available to actors.

That philosophy helps explain why his recent work has increasingly been associated with streaming dramas.

Rather than trying to recreate the formula that initially made him popular, he has used the recognition generated by television to explore a different professional identity.

The Celebrity Hour Take

Barun Sobti's career is interesting precisely because his biggest success did not become his permanent identity.

Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon? gave him immense recognition, but his subsequent choices show an actor attempting to make the work bigger than the image.

Asur pushed him into psychological and crime-oriented storytelling. Kohrra gave him one of his most layered characters in Garundi. His later projects continue that preference for stories where actors have room to explore people who are imperfect, conflicted, and sometimes difficult to categorize.

In that sense, Sobti's career is not really a story about leaving television behind.

It is a story about expanding what audiences expect from an actor who first became famous on television.

His current work also suggests that he is more interested in longevity through character-driven storytelling than in repeatedly reproducing the formula of his breakthrough.

For viewers who discovered him as Arnav Singh Raizada, the contrast can be striking. For Sobti as an actor, however, the progression appears much more deliberate: finding better scripts, taking on more complicated characters, and allowing each project to add something new to his career.

Sources & Verification

This profile was independently researched using Netflix's official Kohrra pages and Netflix's announcement for Season 2, Prime Video's official listing for Babita Singh Reporting, and interviews and reporting from established publications including Filmfare, India Today, Bombay Times, and The Indian Express. Career details were cross-checked against multiple sources where possible.

No unverified personal claims, fabricated quotations, or unsupported social-media reactions have been included.