Fatima Sana Shaikh (born 11 January 1992) is an Indian actress, who works 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 ...

films. Shaikh appeared as a child artist in such films as ''

Chachi 420 ''Chachi 420'' () is a 1997 Indian Hindi-language comedy film, co-written, produced and directed by Kamal Haasan. The film is an official remake of the 1996 Tamil film '' Avvai Shanmughi''., which itself was an adaptation of 1993 film '' Mrs. Dou ...

'' (1997) and ''

One 2 Ka 4 ''One 2 Ka 4'' (: One and Two Makes Four) is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Shashilal K. Nair. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, and Jackie Shroff. The score and soundtrack were composed by A. R. ...

'' (2001). In 2016, she portrayed wrestler

Geeta Phogat Geeta Phogat (born 15 December 1988) is a freestyle wrestler who won India's first-ever gold medal in wrestling at the Commonwealth Games in 2010. She was also the first Indian female wrestler to have qualified for the Olympic Games. Personal ...

in the top-grossing sports film '' Dangal''. She has since starred in the streaming projects ''

Ludo Ludo (; ) is a Abstract strategy game, strategy-based board game for two to four players, in which the players race game, race their four from start to finish according to the rolls of a single dice, die. Like other cross and circle games, Ludo ...

'' (2020), ''

Ajeeb Daastaans ''Ajeeb Daastaans'' () is a 2021 Hindi-language anthology film, consisting of four short film segments directed by Shashank Khaitan, Raj Mehta, Neeraj Ghaywan and Kayoze Irani. The film was produced by Karan Johar and Netflix. At the 2021 ...

'' (2021) and '' Modern Love Mumbai'' (2022), and portrayed

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 ...

in the biographical drama ''

Sam Bahadur Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw (3 April 1914 – 27 June 2008), also known as Sam Bahadur ("the Brave") was an Indian Army general officer who was the Chief of the army staff during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, and ...

'' (2023).

Early and personal life

Fatima Sana Shaikh was born on 11 January 1992 born and brought up in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. Her mother, Raj Tabassum, is from

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

, and her father, Vipin Sharma, is from

Jammu Jammu () is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute ...

. Shaikh identifies as an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

. She had received experience in photography prior to becoming an actress. The actress has opened up about her personal experiences of living with epilepsy to help raise awareness of the neurological condition.

Career

Shaikh began her career as a child artist in ''

'' and ''

''. Years later, she played Zoya in the Indian drama film '' Tahaan'', which received "The German Star of India award" at "Bollywood and Beyond" festival at

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, Germany in 2009. Shaikh was selected for

Nitesh Tiwari Nitesh Tiwari (born 22 May 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and lyricist known for his works in Hindi films. He debuted as a co-director in '' Chillar Party'' (2011) which won the National Film Award for Best Children's Film. He ...

's biographical sports film '' Dangal'' along with Sanya Malhotra, who had never acted before. Shaikh was chosen to portray

. To prepare for her role, she watched several videos on wrestling to understand "how wrestlers move, walk, their body language". Both Malhotra and Shaikh went through five rounds of auditions, physical training and workshops with Tiwari and

Aamir Khan Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, and television personality who works in Bollywood, Hindi films. Referred to as "Mr. Perfectionist" in the media, he is known for his work in a variety of film g ...

. They were trained by coach and former wrestler Kripa Shankar Patel Bishnoi. Released in 2016, ''Dangal'' received critical acclaim and became the highest-grossing Indian film ever with earnings of more than worldwide. She played Zafira Baig, a warrior-archer Thug in the

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

action-adventure film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as ...

, '' Thugs of Hindostan''. Shaikh portrayed

, along with

Vicky Kaushal Vicky Kaushal (; born 16 May 1988) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards, and has appeared in ''Forbes India'' Celebrity 100 list of ...

and Sanya Malhotra in ''Sam Bahadur'' (2023) based on the life of Sam Manekshaw directed by

Meghna Gulzar Meghna Gulzar is an Indian writer, director and producer. She is best known for directing critically acclaimed films; '' Talvar'' (2015) and '' Raazi'' (2018). Born to Gulzar and actress Raakhee, Gulzar joined her father as an assistant to ...

.Shaikh will be featuring in a Hindi remake of Tamil movie Aruvi which will be produced by Applause Entertainment.

Filmography

Films

Television

Music videos

Accolades

Media

Shaikh was ranked in The Times Most Desirable Women at No. 48 in 2020.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaikh, Fatima Sana 1992 births Living people Kashmiri actresses Kashmiri actors Actresses in Hindi cinema Indian film actresses Actresses from Mumbai Indian child actresses Indian television actresses Indian soap opera actresses Actresses in Hindi television Indian atheists Actresses from Hyderabad, India Kashmiri atheists People with epilepsy