Deepa Sahi is an Indian actress and producer, best known for her role as Maya in the 1993 movie '' Maya Memsaab'', opposite actor Farooq Sheikh. She made her directorial debut with the movie '' Tere Mere Phere'' in 2011.

Early and personal life

Deepa Sahi, an ethnic Punjabi, was born in

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

in an Army background and is the youngest sibling in her family. She grew up in

Meerut Meerut (, ISO 15919, ISO: ''Mēraṭh'') is a city in the western region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Meerut district, it is northeast of the national capital, New Delhi, and is ...

. Her family later shifted to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, but she continued to stay in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. She had an elder sister who died at the age of 18. Sahi pursued her education at Indraprastha College for Women, and was a gold medalist in Sociology from

Delhi School of Economics Delhi School of Economics (DSE), popularly referred to as D School, is an institution of higher learning within the Delhi University. The Delhi School of Economics is situated in University of Delhi's North Campus in Maurice Nagar. Establishe ...

. Sahi later joined the NSD with the aim of becoming a director. However, she started receiving acting offers from her NSD days, which prompted her to shift to acting. Sahi decided to direct her first film in the early days of her career but the film, ''Nana Karte Pyaar'' which was supposed to star

Nana Patekar Vishwanath Patekar (born 1 January 1951), better known as Nana Patekar, is an Indian actor, film maker, mainly working in Hindi language, Hindi and Marathi language, Marathi cinema. Widely regarded as one of the finest and most influential actors ...

and Hema Malini failed to take off due to a recession. She is married to film director Ketan Mehta, who is the nephew of freedom fighter Usha Mehta. It is the second marriage for both of them. Her cousins Meena and Tana are theatre actresses active in Delhi's theatre circuit.

Early career

An alumnus of NSD,

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, Sahi started off with a theater career, with strong social activism a core value of the productions she was involved with. In her early film career she collaborated with noted auteur

Govind Nihalani Govind Nihalani (born 19 December 1940) is an Indian film director, cinematographer, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Hindi cinema, particularly the movement of parallel cinema. He has been the recipient of six National Film Aw ...

and made her debut with the 1984 film ''

Party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

''. This was well received, and she subsequently acted in '' Aghaat'' (1985). Her thespian achievement, however, will always remain her role as the independent-minded and empowered lower-caste Punjabi woman she played in the highly acclaimed

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

'' Tamas'' (1986).

Commercial cinema

After marrying film director Ketan Mehta, she acted in several of his films including '' Hero Hiralal'' (1988), '' Maya Memsaab'' (1992) and '' Oh Darling! Yeh Hai India!'' (1995). She wrote the screenplay for '' Oh Darling! Yeh Hai India!''. '' Maya Memsaab'' was controversial for featuring an explicit sex scene between Sahi and then upcoming actor

Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as the "Padishah, Baadshah of Bollywood" and "King Khan", he has Shah Rukh K ...

. Her other notable films include '' Hum'' (1991), '' Trinetra'' (1991) and '' Ek Doctor Ki Maut'' (1991). Her last film appearances was in her husband's film '' Aar Ya Paar'' (1998) She got a

Filmfare ''Filmfare'' is an Indian English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of India's most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, ...

best supporting actress nomination for ''Hum'' and National Award (Jury) for ''Maya Memsaab''. In 2015, she returned to acting after 18 years appearing in her husband's film '' Manjhi – The Mountain Man'' in a cameo role as

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

Production career

She became a producer in 1993. She has produced seven films to date: Besides this, she has produced 12 TV series and is promoter of Maya Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. one of India's leading animation studios. She was the CEO of Maya Entertainment from 2000 to 2002 and was responsible for the long-term strategy of the company; she made many entries into other animation avenues such as MAAC, etc. After her stint as the CEO of Maya Entertainment, she returned to her first love cinema. She made her directorial debut with the 2011 film '' Tere Mere Phere''. Together with Ketan Mehta, she co-founded an animation company, Cosmos-Maya.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sahi, Deepa 20th-century Indian actresses Living people People of Punjabi descent Indraprastha College for Women alumni National School of Drama alumni Indian film actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema Indian women film producers Film producers from Uttarakhand Year of birth missing (living people) Indian women screenwriters Indian women film directors Hindi film producers Hindi-language film directors Film directors from Uttarakhand Women artists from Uttarakhand Artists from Uttarakhand Actresses from Dehradun Screenwriters from Uttarakhand Writers from Dehradun Women writers from Uttarakhand 21st-century Indian actresses Businesspeople from Dehradun Businesswomen from Uttar Pradesh 20th-century Indian businesswomen 20th-century Indian businesspeople 21st-century Indian businesswomen 21st-century Indian businesspeople