Bhagyashree Patwardhan Dassani ( Patwardhan; born 23 February 1969), known mononymously as Bhagyashree, is an Indian actress. She is known for her roles in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

language film and television. She is a recipient of a

Filmfare Award The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Time ...

, in addition to receiving nomination for Indian Television Academy Award. In addition to acting in films, she has been engaged in various philanthropic activities. Her recent television work includes featuring as a talent judge for dance reality show DID Super Moms. Since 1989, she has been married to Himalaya Dassani, with whom she has one son Abhimanyu Dassani and one daughter Avantika Dassani.

Early life

Bhagyashree is from the Marathi royal family of Sangli in

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. She is the granddaughter of Chintamanrao Dhundirao Patwardhan, the last ruling

Raja Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. T ...

of the princely state of Sangli during the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

in India. Her father, Vijay Singhrao Madhavrao Patwardhan, is the titular

of Sangli. She is the eldest of three daughters, the other two being Madhuvanti and Purnima.

Career

She started her acting career with the 1987 television serial ''Kachchi Dhoop'', which was based on Louisa May Alcott's '' Little Women''. She was approached to act in the serial by

Amol Palekar Amol Palekar (born 24 November 1944) is an Indian actor, director and producer of Hindi and Marathi cinema. Early life and education Palekar was born to Kamlakara and Suhasini Palekar in a Marathi language, Marathi speaking middle-class family ...

, a renowned actor-director who offered her the role as the original actress had abandoned the project abruptly. She made her film debut in the 1989 commercially successful Hindi film '' Maine Pyar Kiya'', starring alongside Salman Khan where she played Suman. This remains her most successful and best known film to date, for which she won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. After marriage to Himalaya Dassani in 1990, she acted in three films: Peepat's ''Qaid Main Hai Bulbul'', K.C. Bokadia's '' Tyagi'' and Mahendra Shah's '' Paayal'', all opposite her husband in 1992. She also acted with Avinash Wadhawan in ''Ghar Aaya Mera Pardesi'' in 1993. This was her last Hindi film in the 1990s and she went on to appear in a few Tamil,

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

and Telugu films. She made her Telugu debut in the film ''Yuvaratna Rana'' (1998). She also appeared in episodes of the television series '' CID'' and '' Kabhie Kabhie''. She returned to Hindi films in the mid-2000s appearing in ''Maa Santoshi Maa'' (2003), '' Humko Deewana Kar Gaye'' (2006) and '' Red Alert: The War Within'' (2010). After a gap of several years, she made her comeback to television with the TV serial '' Laut Aao Trisha'' aired on Life OK from 2014 to 2015. In 2019, she appeared in the Kannada film '' Seetharama Kalyana''. She is set to return to Telugu films with the Telugu remake of the 2014 Hindi film '' 2 States''. In 2021, she appeared in the bilingual releases '' Thalaivi'' and '' Radhe Shyam''. In February 2022, she entered as a contestant in StarPlus's ''Smart Jodi'' with her husband, Himalaya Dasani. In 2023, she made a cameo appearance in '' Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan'', where she reunited with her first co-star Salman Khan after 34 years. Her husband and son also made cameos alongside her.

Other ventures

In March 2015, Bhagyashree became brand ambassador of the Bhagyashree Scheme, launched by the Government of Maharashtra. Bhagyashree Scheme caters to girl child from below poverty line families.

Personal life

Bhagyashree married Himalaya Dasani on 19 January 1989. They have two children, a son and a daughter. Her son, Abhimanyu Dasani, won the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for his performance in the 2019 film '' Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota''. Her daughter, Avantika Dassani, debuted with the web-series '' Mithya''.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Indian film actresses Indian television actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema Living people Actresses from Mumbai Marathi actresses Actresses in Bhojpuri cinema Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Marathi cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema People from Sangli district Filmfare Awards winners Child actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Hindi television 1969 births