He is an alumnus of Brandeis University, having previously been educated at a boarding school at Kodaikanal, where he performed in school plays. According to him, it was after watching actor Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront (1954) that he decided to become an actor. After his graduation, he did a few courses in the New York Film Academy, and thereafter enrolled in the Acting Studio in New York, during the period he also performed in plays.
Arunoday was born on 17 February 1983 in Churhat, in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh, India. He is the grandson of Arjun Singh, an Indian Politician who was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.
In 2011, he acted alongside Irrfan Khan and Aditi Rao Hydari, another newcomer in Sudhir Mishra's Yeh Saali Zindagi (2011). His performance earned him a nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the 18th Screen Awards. He next appeared in Jism 2 opposite Sunny Leone and Randeep Hooda. In 2014 he appeared in David Dhawan's comedy film Main Tera Hero opposite Varun Dhawan, Ileana D'Cruz and Nargis Fakhri; and the supernatural thriller film Pizza. His next release was Mr. X as Dr. Steve Rhodes opposite Emraan Hashmi and Amyra Dastur. In 2016, Singh appeared in Ashutosh Gowariker's epic-adventure romance film Mohenjo Daro, alongside Hrithik Roshan and Pooja Hegde.
After finishing his studies he started giving auditions, and finally made his debut with Sikandar (2009), directed by Piyush Jha, playing a Kashmiri freedom fighter. His second film was Anil Kapoor's home production Aisha (2010), an adaptation of the novel, Emma by Jane Austen, with Sonam Kapoor. Also in the same year, he appeared in Vinay Shukla's take on Gender and sexuality in Mirch, through a collage of five stories, with Raima Sen and Konkana Sharma, where he played the central character of a struggling film Director. On December 13 2016, he tied the knot with Lee Elton, who he met three years ago in Goa. Lee owns a cafe in Goa.
