Bhagyashree Patwardhan Dassani ( Patwardhan; born 23 February 1969), known

mononymously A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

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 Abhimanyu Dassani (born 21 February 1990) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. The son of actress Bhagyashree, he made his acting debut in 2018 with the action film ''Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota'', for which he won Filmfare Award for Best Ma ...

and one daughter Avantika Dassani.

Early life

Bhagyashree is from the

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

royal family of

Sangli Sangli (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Sāṁgalī''; ) is a metropolitan town and the headquarters of Sangli District in Maharashtra, in south-western India. It has earned the nickname "Turmeric City of India" for being the hub of the Asia's largest produ ...

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

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 Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Good Wives'' (1869), ''Little Men'' (1871), and ''Jo's Boys'' ...

's ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, originally published in two volumes, in 1868 and 1869. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters— Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details th ...

''. 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 ''Maine Pyar Kiya'' (), also known by the initialism ''MPK'', is a 1989 Indian Hindi-language romantic musical film directed by Sooraj Barjatya in his directorial debut. Produced by Tarachand Barjatya, the film was co-written by S. M. Ahale ...

'', starring alongside

Salman Khan Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; born 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who predominantly works in Hindi films. In a career spanning over three decades, his awards include two National Film Awa ...

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 The Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut (previously known as Filmfare Award for Lux New Face of the Year) is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films to recognise a performance by a female actor in their deb ...

. After marriage to Himalaya Dassani in 1990, she acted in three films: Peepat's ''Qaid Main Hai Bulbul'', K.C. Bokadia's ''

Tyagi Tyagi, originally called Taga, is a cultivator caste who claim Brahmin status. The landholding community is confined to Western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan. They are often considered the highest of the agricultural castes. Durin ...

'' and Mahendra Shah's ''

Paayal ''Paayal'' is a 1992 Bollywood film starring Bhagyashree along with her real life husband Himalaya Dasani. She plays a spoilt brat of a rich father. It was an uncredited adaptation of Malayalam movie Nokkethadhoorathu Kannum Nattu Cast *Bh ...

'', all opposite her husband in 1992. She also acted with

Avinash Wadhawan Avinash Wadhawan is an Indian film and television actor. He has appeared in films like, '' Junoon'', '' Geet'' and '' Balmaa''. He played Anup Shekhar in '' Balika Vadhu'' and Indrajeet Rajvansh in '' Sapna Babul Ka... Bidaai''. Filmography ...

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 Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

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 Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

films. She made her

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 ''Humko Deewana Kar Gaye'' (Indian English, translation: ''You Made Me Crazy in Love'') is a 2006 Indian Bollywood, Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Raj Kanwar, produced by Raj Kanwar, Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar and starring A ...

'' (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 ''Laut Aao Trisha'' is an Indian serial on Life OK, based on the Chilean telenovela ''¿Dónde está Elisa? (Chilean TV series), ¿Dónde está Elisa?'' produced by TVN (Chile), TVN, which has had many other international adaptations. It was fir ...

'' aired on

Life OK Life OK was an Indian pay television channel owned by Star India. It was launched on 18 December 2011 replacing Star One. It also started airing in the United States on 1 March 2012, and in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 28 May of that s ...

from 2014 to 2015. In 2019, she appeared in the Kannada film ''

Seetharama Kalyana ''Seetharama Kalyana '' is a 2019 Indian Kannada-language action drama film written and directed by A. Harsha and produced by Anitha Kumaraswamy under the Channambika Films banner. The film has an ensemble cast with Nikhil Kumar and Rachita ...

''. 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 ''Thalaivii'' () is a 2021 Indian biographical drama film based on the life of Indian actress-politician J. Jayalalithaa. The film stars Kangana Ranaut as Jayalalithaa, Arvind Swamy as M. G. Ramachandran, Nassar as M. Karunanidhi, Raj Arjun ...

'' and ''

Radhe Shyam ''Radhe Shyam'' is a 2022 Indian period romantic fantasy Drama film written and directed by Radha Krishna Kumar. Produced by UV Creations and T-Series, the film was shot simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi languages and stars Prabhas and ...

''. In February 2022, she entered as a contestant in

StarPlus StarPlus is an Indian Hindi-language general entertainment pay television channel owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. Its programming consists of family dramas, romantic comedies, youth-oriented realit ...

's ''Smart Jodi'' with her husband, Himalaya Dasani. In 2023, she made a cameo appearance in ''

Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan ''Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan'' (), also known by the initialism ''KBKJ'', is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Farhad Samji and produced by Salman Khan Films. The film, a remake of the 2014 Tamil film '' Veeram'', star ...

'', 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 The Government of Maharashtra is the executive branch of the Indian states of india, state of Maharashtra. The government is led by the List of chief ministers of Maharashtra, chief minister (currently Devendra Fadnavis since 5 December 2024) ...

. 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 The Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films to recognize a performance by a male actor in a debut role. List of winners 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s ...

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