Check the list of the top 10 most famous people from Punjab. And the list includes Kiran Bedi, Sunil Mittal, Milkha Singh, Kapil Sharma, and many more Punjabis who have made Punjab proud worldwide.
1. Kiran Bedi
Kiran Bedi, India's first female IPS officer, is also the first woman to be appointed as the United Nations civilian police adviser. She has received the President's Police Medal, the United Nations Medal, and the Ramon Magsaysay Award. Bedi ran as the BJP's chief ministerial candidate against the Aam Aadmi Party's Arvind Kejriwal in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections but was defeated.
2. Sunil Mittal
Sunil Mittal is the chairman, founder, and group CEO of Bharti Enterprises in India. By 2009, Mittal had opened over 200 schools and was recognized as one of the world's greatest philanthropists. In 2007, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan.
3. Yash Chopra
Yash Chopra was a scriptwriter, film producer, and one of the most iconic Hindi film directors of all time. He was the founder and Chairman of Yash Raj Films and Yash Raj Studios and is regarded as one of the most influential filmmakers in Hindi cinema history. Chopra, known as the "King of Romance" in Indian cinema, won 6 National Film Awards, 11 Filmfare Awards, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, and the Padma Bhushan during his celebrated and long career.
4. Gulzar (Sampooran Singh Kalra)
Born Sampooran Singh Kalra in Dina, Punjab Province (present-day Pakistan), he is an Indian poet, lyricist, and film director who has also written poetry, dialogues, and scripts. He has received numerous honors and awards, including an Oscar and a Grammy for his work on Slumdog Millionaire. The Padma Bhushan, a Sahitya Akademi Award, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, and several Indian National Film Awards and Filmfare Awards are among his other honors.
5. Mr. Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh, a prominent economist and the 13th Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014, was born in Gah, Punjab Province (present-day Pakistan). Between 1966 and 1969, he worked for the United Nations. Prior to becoming Prime Minister, he served as India's Chief Economic Advisor, Reserve Bank Governor, and Chairman of the Planning Commission. Several universities have bestowed honorary doctorates on him.
6. Milkha Singh
Milkha Singh, also known as The Flying Sikh, was a former Indian track and field sprinter who was born in Govindpura, Punjab Province (modern-day Pakistan). He won 77 of the 80 races he competed in. He won four gold medals in Asian Games and one in the Commonwealth Games, and he famously missed out on a bronze medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics by 1/100th of a second. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1959.
7. Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh is an Indian cricketer who was a member of the Indian national team that won the ICC World Twenty20 in 2007 and the Cricket World Cup in 2011. Yuvraj Singh famously hit six sixes in a single over against England in the 2007 World Twenty20, scoring the fastest fifty runs in twenty-20 format history off only 12 balls. Singh has received the Arjuna Award and the Padma Shri.
8. Navjot Singh Sidhu
Navjot Singh Sidhu is a former Indian cricketer (cricket career lasted from 1983 to 1999) who rose to prominence in the 2000s for his television commentary, popular for his one-liners or "Sidhuism." He was the first Indian batsman to score five centuries in a single one-day international. He is the president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee at the moment.
9. Kapil Sharma
Kapil Sharma, who was born in Amritsar, is an actor, comedian, and television personality who rose to prominence after winning several seasons of Sony's Comedy Circus. He eventually got his own show, Comedy Nights with Kapil, which was a huge success with audiences. In 2016, and 2017, he was ranked 11th and 18th on Forbes' Celebrity 100 list, respectively.
10. Dharmendra
He was born Dharam Singh Deol but is better known as Dharmendra. He is an actor, producer, and politician who has appeared in over 100 successful films as the lead actor. From 2005 to 2009, he represented Bikaner in the Lok Sabha. He has received numerous honors, including the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. In 2012, he was also awarded the Padma Bhushan.