Actors and their tattoos—which ones are your favorite?

Film stars spend their working lives in costume. So when one of them chooses a design to wear on their own skin for good, fans pay attention. Over the years, many Bollywood tattoos have turned into news stories of their own. Some honour a parent. Some carry a lover’s name. A few were made for a film role and nothing more.

In this article, I’ll walk you through the tattoos of well known Hindi film actors and the stories they have shared about them. I have kept to details that the stars gave in interviews or that major papers and magazines reported. Where a story is only gossip, I say so or leave it out.

Bollywood Tattoos: Why Do Stars Get Inked?

The reasons are much the same as for anyone else. A tattoo can be a way to keep someone close. It can mark a hard time you got through. It can also be pure fun. Stars just do it in public, so their choices get copied. When Saif Ali Khan got his wife’s name inked in Hindi, the design became a talking point across the country.

One word you will see below is “nape”. It means the back of the neck, just under the hairline. Long hair can hide a tattoo there, and a bun can show it off.

Tattoos That Honour Family

Priyanka Chopra

Priyanka has the words “Daddy’s lil girl…” on her right wrist. The words are in the handwriting of her father, Dr Ashok Chopra. Reports say she got it in 2012, a year before he died of cancer in 2013. She has spoken often about how close they were. He went with her to award shows and cheered louder than anyone when she won. Her old line about him is touching: “You make friends with grief.”

Akshay Kumar

Akshay got his first tattoo in 2007, during a shoot in Australia. It is the name of his son, Aarav, on his back. He later added his daughter Nitara’s name on his right shoulder when she was about six months old. Then came “Tina” on his left shoulder. Tina is the pet name of his wife, Twinkle Khanna. Vogue India reported that the artist came to his home and that the names are in a plain English font.

Imran Khan

Imran already had two tattoos, on his neck and arm. In January 2015, on a family holiday in Goa, he got a third one on his chest. It shows the footprints of his daughter Imara, who was about ten months old. The idea came from his own mother. She had kept his baby footprints on a sheet of paper all these years. The Times of India reported that the same artist who did one of his earlier tattoos inked this one too.

Sanjay Dutt

Sanjay has the names of his parents on his chest. His mother Nargis’s name is in Urdu. His father Sunil Dutt’s name is in Devanagari, the script used for Hindi.

Tattoos for Love

Saif Ali Khan

This is perhaps the most famous one. Saif and Kareena Kapoor started dating on the set of Tashan in 2008. Soon after, he got her name tattooed in Hindi on his left forearm. He said the idea came after a chat with Kareena about David Beckham’s tattoo for his wife. “This is what I have done and it’s a pretty serious commitment,” he said in an interview. MensXP named the artist as Vishwas Dorwekar of Hakim Aalim’s salon.

In 2024, fans spotted the name covered by a new design. Later reports said the old tattoo could be seen again.

Hrithik Roshan

In 2009, Hrithik got the name of his then wife, Sussanne Khan, on his left wrist. It was a birthday surprise. She got a pair of angel wings with his name on her arm. The two also share matching Star of David tattoos on the side of their right wrists. They parted ways in 2014 after 14 years of marriage, but they stayed friends.

Deepika Padukone

Deepika’s “RK” tattoo on her nape was linked to her former partner, Ranbir Kapoor. It was gossip page material for years. What happened to it later is not clear. Over time, reports said it was hidden with makeup, changed into a flower, or removed. Deepika herself never gave a straight answer. In a 2020 interview, she only winked when asked.

She has a second tattoo that gets less attention. A thin vine circles her left ankle and ends on top of her foot with her initials, “DP”. She got it around the time of Lafangey Parindey, which released in 2010. “This is the most painful place to get a tattoo done,” she once said, “and I love it.”

Tattoos With a Message

Kangana Ranaut

Kangana’s nape tattoo grew in stages. In 2020 she explained it on Twitter. “More than a decade ago I got two wings on the nape of my neck but they didn’t make any sense,” she wrote. A few months later she added a crown. Then she ran a sword through it all. “Suddenly my tattoo came alive, glory comes only after the pain.” She also has a small angel on her left ankle.

Sanjay Dutt’s Samurai and Shiva

Sanjay Dutt may have more ink than any other actor in Hindi films. On his right arm there are two samurai soldiers, one above the other. One is in black and grey and the other in colour. They are said to stand for a life of struggle. From his left shoulder to his upper arm runs a large Lord Shiva design with “Om Namah Shivaya” written below it. He got a Tibetan Om on his neck during the Goa shoot of the comedy All The Best.

Ajay Devgn

Ajay has a Lord Shiva tattoo on the left side of his chest. You may have seen it in Singham and Shivaay. He told an interviewer that his friend Sanjay Dutt talked him into it, and that he got it inked during the filming of All The Best. Reports from around 2010 also mentioned a trishul style design on his neck as a look for a film.

Tattoos Made for the Camera

Not every tattoo on screen is real or lasting. In 2014, Alia Bhatt showed the word “Pataka” on her nape. Many people linked it to her film Highway, which has a song with that word. It turned out to be for Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania. “I play a firecracker kind of girl and hence the tattoo,” she told The Times of India. Before that, she had refused to say if it was temporary or permanent.

Tattoos Are Old News in India

Film stars did not bring tattoos to India. The practice is very old here. Among many tribal communities of north and central India, women wear a style called godna. The designs show nature, gods and daily life.

In Chhattisgarh, members of the Ramnami Samaj tattoo the word “Ram” on their bodies. The custom started in the 1890s with a man named Parasuram. He tattooed his forehead after he was refused entry to a temple because of his caste. Today the oldest members carry the name all over their bodies. Many younger ones have stopped, fearing they may face bias at work. In Nagaland, Konyak men once earned face tattoos for taking an enemy’s head in war.

Around the world, the oldest known tattoos belong to Ötzi, the Iceman found in the Alps. He lived about 5,300 years ago. Scientists counted 61 marks on his body.

Thinking of Getting Your Own?

If a star’s tattoo has inspired you, take a little time first. The US Food and Drug Administration warns that infections can come from dirty needles. They can also come from ink that is contaminated, even in a sealed bottle. Redness and swelling for a short time are normal. A rash, a sore that will not heal, or a fever is not. See a doctor if that happens, and tell your artist the ink brand and batch.

Some people react to the pigments years later. Removal can leave scars and may not clear the ink fully. Also note that India’s national blood donor guidelines ask people to wait 12 months after a tattoo before giving blood. For more practical points, read our list of things to remember while getting your first tattoo.

Choose a clean, licensed studio and ask to see fresh needles opened in front of you. And pick a design you will still like in twenty years.

If you enjoy star stories, you may also like our pieces on Ranbir Kapoor on the Sanjay Dutt biopic, Alia Bhatt’s CoExist initiative and the Forbes list of highest paid Bollywood actors.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Priyanka Chopra’s tattoo say?

It says “Daddy’s lil girl…” in her late father’s handwriting. It is on her right wrist.

Does Saif Ali Khan still have the Kareena tattoo?

Fans saw it covered by a new design in 2024. Later reports said the original name could be seen again on his left forearm.

Was Alia Bhatt’s “Pataka” tattoo real?

She never said. She told reporters it was for her role in Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and would not say if it was temporary or permanent.

Can I donate blood after getting a tattoo in India?

India’s blood donor guidelines ask you to wait 12 months after a tattoo. Check with the blood bank for the latest rule before you go.