Kaushal played his best friend Kamli, a fictionalised amalgamation of various real-life friends of Dutt.[30] In preparation, he spent time with Paresh Ghelani, who served as the primary inspiration for the role.[30] Rachit Gupta from The Times of India considered Kaushal's work to be "one of the finest performances in the film" and Samrudhi Ghosh of India Today wrote that he "holds his own against Ranbir’s superlative performance, and shines in the funny as well as emotional scenes".[31][32] Both Raazi and Sanju proved to be among the highest-grossing Hindi films of 2018, and with earnings of over ₹5.79 billion (US$81 million), the latter ranks among Indian cinema's biggest grossers.[33][34] In his final release of the year, Kaushal reunited with Kashyap for Manmarziyaan, a love triangle set in Punjab and co-starring Abhishek Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu.[35] Anupama Chopra took note of how well he used silences to convey his character's pain and desire.[36] For Sanju, Kaushal won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor (tied with Gajraj Rao for Badhaai Ho).[37]