Paresh Rawal is an Indian actor of Gujarati background.
Making his film debut in 1984, he mainly played supporting and villain roles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Since 2000 he has mostly played comic roles.

Paresh was born in Paliad, Gujarat, India. He is married to Swaroop Sampat, an actress and winner of the Miss India contest in 1979. Paresh and Swaroop have two sons: Aditya and Aniruddh. Paresh Rawal is an alumnus from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management and Higher Studies, Vile Parle, Mumbai. Rawal moved to Mumbai at the age of 22 to pursue a career in civil engineering. He eventually became an actor after being exposed to Bollywood while in Mumbai.
Rawal made his debut with the 1984 film Holi. He then appeared in over 100 films throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Paresh Rawal's biggest hit was Hera Pheri.
Before he attained national recognition, in 1991 Rawal achieved recognition and adulation for his role of a bank robber in Kshana Kshanam. His quirky accent and mannerisms made him an instant hit. He acted in quite a few Telugu films by the RGV school of direction like Money and Govinda Govinda.
In 1994, he won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in the films Woh Chokri and Sir. For the latter, he also received his first Filmfare Award for Best Comedian. This was followed by Ketan Mehta's Sardar, which saw him playing the lead role of freedom fighter Vallabhbhai Patel, a role that got him not only national but international acclaim. He followed it with the film Tamanna (1996), in which he played the role of a Hijra (person of "third" gender, typically male transgender) who raises a young, orphaned girl, played by Pooja Bhatt.
In 2000, Rawal played a dim-witted and boisterous, but kind-hearted Marathi landlord Baburao Ganpatrao Apte in the film Hera Pheri, who takes in Raju (Akshay Kumar) and Shyam (Sunil Shetty) as paying guests in his house