ITA Award for Best Actor Drama Popular

See also: ITA Award for Best Actress Drama Popular and ITA Award for Best Actor Drama Jury

ITA Award for Best Actor Popular
The 2025 recipient: Harshad Chopda
Type	Best Actor Popular
Awarded for	Most Popular Actor in Drama Category
Country	India
Presented by	Indian Television Academy Awards
Formerly called	Desh Ka Sitara
First award	2001
Final award	2025
Highlights
Most wins	Harshad Chopda (6)
Most nominations	Harshad Chopda (9)
First winner	Amar Upadhyay for Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (2001)
Latest winner	Harshad Chopda for Bade Achhe Lagte Hain 4 (2025)
Website	Website

ITA Award for Best Actor Drama Popular is an award given by the Indian Television Academy as a part of its annual event to the male actor who receives the highest votes by the public. First awarded in 2001, the award was originally named Desh Ka Sitara but was later renamed to Best Actor Popular.

Superlatives

Harshad Chopda holds the record for the most wins in the category, having won the award six times. Chopda has achieved five consecutive wins from 2021 to 2025.

Ronit Roy, Dheeraj Dhoopar, Karan Mehra, and Nakuul Mehta are next in line, each of whom have won the award twice.

Winners and nominees

2000s

Year	Photo	Actor	Character	Show	Ref
2001		Amar Upadhyay	Mihir Virani	Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi	[1]
		Kiran Karmarkar	Om Agarwal	Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii
		Harsh Chhaya	Lalit Sharma	Justujoo
		Shivaji Satam	A.C.P. Pradyuman	CID
		Kanwaljit Singh	Gautam Kapoor	Saans
2002		Cezanne Khan	Anurag Basu	Kasautii Zindagii Kay
		Kiran Karmarkar	Om Agarwal	Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii
		Amar Upadhyay	Mihir Virani	Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi
		Varun Badola	Dev Malik	Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand
		Suresh Oberoi	Dr. Raj Pradhan	Dhadkan
2003		Ronit Roy	Mihir Virani	Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi	[2]
		Kiran Karmarkar	Om Agarwal	Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii
		Cezanne Khan	Anurag Basu	Kasautii Zindagii Kay
		Mihir Mishra	Dr. Rahul Mishra	Sanjivani - A Medical Boon
2004		Ronit Roy	Mihir Virani	Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi	[3]
		Rajeev Khandelwal	Sujal Garewal	Kahiin to Hoga
		Varun Badola	Abhimanyu Saxena	Astitva...Ek Prem Kahani
		Apurva Agnihotri	Armaan Suri	Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin
		Kiran Karmarkar	Om Agarwal	Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii
2005		Hiten Tejwani	Karan Virani	Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi
		Ronit Roy	Rishabh Bajaj	Kasautii Zindagii Kay
		Apurva Agnihotri	Armaan Suri	Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin
		Rajeev Khandelwal	Sujal Garewal	Kahiin to Hoga
		Hussain Kuwajerwala	Sumit Wadhwa	Kumkum – Ek Pyara Sa Bandhan
2006		Rohit Roy	Rahul Lamba	Viraasat	[4]
		Ram Kapoor	Jai Walia	Kasamh Se
		Eijaz Khan	Kavya Nanda	Kkavyanjali
		Sharad Kelkar	Nahar Singh	Saat Phere: Saloni Ka Safar
		Hussain Kuwajerwala	Sumit Wadhwa	Kumkum – Ek Pyara Sa Bandhan
2007		Rajat Tokas	Prithviraj Chauhan	Dharti Ka Veer Yodha Prithviraj Chauhan
		Sharad Malhotra	Sagar Pratap Singh	Banoo Main Teri Dulhann
		Ram Kapoor	Jai Walia	Kasamh Se
		Rajeev Khandelwal	Captain Rajveer Singh Shekhawat	Left Right Left
		Rohit Roy	Rahul Lamba	Viraasat
2008		Angad Hasija	Aalekh Rajvansh	Sapna Babul Ka...Bidaai
		Ram Kapoor	Jai Walia	Kasamh Se
		Harshad Chopda	Prem Juneja	Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil
		Sharad Malhotra	Sagar Pratap Singh	Banoo Main Teri Dulhann
		Shabbir Ahluwalia	Milind Mishra	Kayamath
2009		Karan Mehra	Naitik Singhania	Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai
		Ronit Roy	Dharamraj Mahiyavanshi	Bandini
		Sushant Singh Rajput	Manav Deshmukh	Pavitra Rishta
		Avinash Sachdev	Dev Purohit	Chotti Bahu
		Angad Hasija	Alekh Rajvansh	Sapna Babul Ka...Bidaai

2010s

Year	Photo	Actor	Character	Show	Ref
2010		Sushant Singh Rajput	Manav Deshmukh	Pavitra Rishta
		Karan Mehra	Naitik Singhania	Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai
		Arhaan Behll	Krishna Singh	Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya
		Ronit Roy	Dharamraj Mahiyavanshi	Bandini
		Nandish Sandhu	Veer Singh Bundela	Uttaran
2011		Arhaan Behll	Krishna Singh	Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya
		Sushant Singh Rajput	Manav Deshmukh	Pavitra Rishta
		Harshad Chopda	Anurag Ganguly	Tere Liye
		Karan Mehra	Naitik Singhania	Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai
		Nandish Sandhu	Veer Singh Bundela	Uttaran
2012		Barun Sobti	Arnav Singh Raizada	Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon?
		Samir Soni	Kunal Chopra	Parichay
		Gurmeet Choudhary	Maan Singh Khurana	Geet – Hui Sabse Parayi
		Dilip Joshi	Jethalal Gada	Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah
		Kushal Tandon	Virat Singh Vadhera	Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai
2013		Karan Singh Grover	Asad Ahmed Khan	Qubool Hai
		Ram Kapoor	Ram Kapoor	Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
		Anas Rashid	Sooraj Rathi	Diya Aur Baati Hum
		Gurmeet Choudhary	Yash Sindhia	Punar Vivaah
		Vivian Dsena	Rishabh Kundra	Madhubala - Ek Ishq Ek Junoon
2014		Harshad Arora	Zain Abdullah	Beintehaa	[5]
		Anas Rashid	Sooraj Rathi	Diya Aur Baati Hum
		Ashish Sharma	Rudra Pratap Ranawat	Rangrasiya
		Shabir Ahluwalia	Abhishek Mehra	Kumkum Bhagya
		Shaheer Sheikh	Arjun	Mahabharat
2015		Karan Mehra	Naitik Singhania	Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai	[6]
		Shabir Ahluwalia	Abhishek Mehra	Kumkum Bhagya
		Karan Patel	Raman Bhalla	Yeh Hai Mohabbatein
		Shakti Arora	Ranveer Vaghela	Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi
2016		Shabir Ahluwalia	Abhishek Mehra	Kumkum Bhagya	[7]
		Shaheer Sheikh	Dev Dixit	Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi
		Karan Patel	Raman Bhalla	Yeh Hai Mohabbatein
		Vivian Dsena	Harman Singh	Shakti - Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki
		Shravan Reddy	Aryan Chimaji	Krishnadasi
2017		Nakuul Mehta	Shivaay Singh Oberoi	Ishqbaaaz	[8]
		Vivian Dsena	Harman Singh	Shakti - Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki
		Aasif Sheikh	Vibhuti Narayan Mishra	Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain!
		Zain Imam	Neil Khanna	Naamkarann
		Barun Sobti	Advay Singh Raizada	Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon 3
2018		Harshad Chopda	Aditya Hooda	Bepannah	[9]
		Nakuul Mehta	Shivaay Singh Oberoi	Ishqbaaaz
		Randeep Rai	Sameer Maheshwari	Yeh Un Dinon Ki Baat Hai
		Zain Imam	Neil Khanna	Naamkarann
		Vivian Dsena	Harman Singh	Shakti - Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki
2019		Dheeraj Dhoopar	Karan Luthra	Kundali Bhagya
		Harshad Chopda	Aditya Hooda	Bepannah
		Randeep Rai	Sameer Maheshwari	Yeh Un Dinon Ki Baat Hai
		Vivian Dsena	Harman Singh	Shakti - Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki

2020s

Year	Photo	Actor	Character	Show	Ref
2020		Dheeraj Dhoopar	Karan Luthra	Kundali Bhagya	[10]
		Sudhanshu Pandey	Vanraj Shah	Anupamaa
		Rrahul Sudhir	Vansh Raisinghania	Ishq Mein Marjawan 2
		Sharad Malhotra	Veeranshu Singhania	Naagin 5
		Sumedh Mudgalkar	Krishn	RadhaKrishn
2021		Harshad Chopda	Abhimanyu Birla	Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai	[11]
		Nakuul Mehta	Ram Kapoor	Bade Achhe Lagte Hain 2
		Gaurav Khanna	Anuj Kapadia	Anupamaa
		Abrar Qazi	Rudraksh Khurana	Yeh Hai Chahatein
		Mohsin Khan	Kartik Goenka	Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai
		Sumedh Mudgalkar	Krishna	RadhaKrishn
2022		Harshad Chopda	Abhimanyu Birla	Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai	[12]
		Gaurav Khanna	Anuj Kapadia	Anupamaa
		Sumedh Mudgalkar	Krishna	RadhaKrishn
		Karan Wahi	Aditya Singh	Channa Mereya
		Karan Kundra	Host	Dance Deewane Junior
		Maniesh Paul	Host	India's Best Dancer
2023		Harshad Chopda	Abhimanyu Birla	Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai	[13]
		Nakuul Mehta	Ram Kapoor	Bade Achhe Lagte Hain 2
		Adnan Khan	Viaan Raghuvanshi	Katha Ankahee
		Harshad Arora	Dr. Satya Adhikari	Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin
		Sudhanshu Pandey	Vanraj Shah	Anupamaa
2024		Harshad Chopda	Abhimanyu Birla	Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai	[14]
		Krushal Ahuja	Aniruddh Bose	Jhanak
		Mahir Pandhi	Digvijay Mahajan	Vanshaj
		Mishkat Varma	Adhiraj Pradhan	Kavya - Ek Jazbaa, Ek Junoon
		Rohit Purohit	Armaan Poddar	Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai
2025		Harshad Chopda	Rishabh Kapoor	Bade Achhe Lagte Hain 4	[15]
		Arjit Taneja	Virat Singh Ahuja	Kaise Mujhe Tum Mil Gaye
		Rohit Purohit	Armaan Poddar	Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai
		Krushal Ahuja	Aniruddha Bose	Jhanak
		Shagun Pandey	Ved Birla	Saru

See also

• ITA Award for Best Actress Drama Popular
• ITA Award for Best Actor Drama Jury
• ITA Award for Best Actress Drama Jury

References

1. "IndianTelevisionAcademy.com". 29 May 2012. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
2. "The 03th ITA Awards 2003 – The Indian Television Academy" . Retrieved 13 December 2023.
3. "The 04th ITA Awards 2004 – The Indian Television Academy" . Retrieved 13 December 2023.
4. "The 06th ITA Awards 2006 – The Indian Television Academy" . Retrieved 13 December 2023.
5. "14th Indian Television Awards Full winners' list: Harshad Arora, Anil Kapoor, Ashish Sharma win trophies". Bollywood Life. 2 November 2014.
6. "ITA Awards 2015 | Winners List: Karan Patel, Shakti Arora, Radhika Madan, Anita Hassanandani and Others Win Big". IB Times India. 7 September 2015.
7. "ITA Awards 2016: Mouni Roy, Shabbir Ahluwalia emerge big winners, see pics, video". The Indian Express. 14 November 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
8. "ITA Awards 2017 winners list: Jennifer Winget, Vivian Dsena and Nakuul Mehta take home the trophies". The Indian Express. 7 November 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
9. "Indian Television Academy Awards 2018: Complete list of winners". The Indian Express. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
10. Keshri, Shweta (15 February 2021). "ITA Awards 2021 full winners list out. Surbhi Chandna and Pratik Gandhi win big". India Today. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
11. "ITA Awards 2022: Harshad Chopda Win Big; Here's the Complete Winners List". News18. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
12. "ITA Awards 2022 complete winners list: Varun Dhawan, Nakuul Mehta, The Kashmir Files win big". The Indian Express. 12 December 2022.
13. "ITA Awards 2023: Tejasswi Prakash, Harshad Chopda win big; Hrithik Roshan dances to 'Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai'". The Indian Express. 11 December 2023.
14. "Harshad Chopda wins best actor". IBtimes.
15. "ITA Awards 2025 Winners List: Who Won Best Actor, Actress? Harshad Chopda, Rupali Ganguly, Kanwar Dhillon Are". filmibeat. 9 December 2025.

External links

• Indian Television Academy Awards