Gauri Pradhan Tejwani (
née
The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Pradhan) is an Indian actress and model who primarily 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 ...
television. Pradhan is best recognised for her portrayal of Gauri Agarwal Mittal in ''
Kutumb'', Nandini Thakkar Virani in ''
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi
''Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'' ( ''Because Even a Mother-in-Law Was a Daughter-in-Law Once'') is an Indian Hindi-language soap opera that aired from 3 July 2000 to 6 November 2008 on Star Plus. The show was co-produced by Shobha Kapoor a ...
'', Dr. Deepika Ghosh in ''
Special Squad'', Captain Shona Das in ''
Left Right Left'' and Anita Sharma in ''
Tu Aashiqui
''Tu Aashiqui'' () is a 2017 Indian musical drama romance television show based on two lovers' efforts to unite. Series aired on Colors TV on 20 September 2017 to 12 October 2018. It is produced by Mahesh Bhatt under Gurudev Bhalla production h ...
''.
Early life and education
Pradhan spent her former years in
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 ...
,
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir may refer to:
* Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019
* Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019
* Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...
, India in
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 ...
family. Her father Major Subhash Vasudeo Pradhan is a retired Indian
Army Officer
An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an Military, armed force or Uniformed services, uniformed service.
Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warra ...
and her mother Asha is a
homemaker
Homemaking is mainly an American English, American and Canadian English, Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational ...
. Pradhan is the second of three siblings; her elder brother Bharat, is a
petrochemical
Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable s ...
engineer, while her younger sister Geetanjali, is a
M.D.
A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...
Pradhan is the only one in her family to have pursued modelling and acting as a career.
Her childhood was spent travelling throughout the country owing to the nature of her father's job. As a result, she studied in different schools, one of them was the
Carmel Convent School
Carmel Convent School is a group of Catholic schools in India. It has branches in Delhi Chanakyapuri, Giridih, Gorakhpur, Bhopal, Bangalore, Rourkela, Khopoli, Faridabad, Jorhat, Chandigarh, Gwalior, Kolkata, Durgapur, Madhupur, Dhanbad, Manch ...
in
Udhampur
Udhampur (ˌʊd̪ʱəmpur) is a city and a municipal council in Udhampur district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters of Udhampur District. Named after Raja Udham Singh, it serves as the district capit ...
. After her father's retirement, the family settled in
Pune
Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
(
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 ...
), where she attended
Sir Parshurambhau College for a course in BSc (
Electronics
Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...
). Later she enrolled for a course in
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
from an institute affiliated with
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
.
Career
Modelling career (1995–1998)
Pradhan's modelling stint commenced at age 18, primarily in Pune. In 1998, while still in her second year of a BSc course she moved to Mumbai to take part in
Femina Miss India
Miss India, also known as Femina Miss India, is a national beauty pageant in India that selects representatives to compete in the Miss World competition, one of the Big Four international beauty pageants. It is organized by ''Femina (India), F ...
. She along with
Smriti Irani
Smriti Zubin Irani ( Malhotra; born 23 March 1976) is an Indian politician, former actress, fashion model, and television producer. An eminent member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Smriti Irani has held various significant roles within t ...
are those contestants who reached great stardom on TV.
Dipannita Sharma
Dipannita Sharma is an India, Indian actress and model.
Career
Sharma came into the limelight after making it to the final five of the Femina Miss India, Miss India 1998 contest. She also won 'Miss Photogenic' title in the same contest. She has ...
was also a contestants and made it to top 5. She did a lot of ramp shows and has done television
commercials
A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...
for many well known companies such as
Sprite, Bru,
Dabur
Dabur Ltd is an Indian multinational consumer goods company, founded by S. K. Burman and headquartered in Ghaziabad. It manufactures Ayurvedic products and fast-moving consumer goods. Dabur derives around 60% of its revenue from the consumer c ...
,
Pond's
Pond's is an English brand of beauty and health care products, currently owned by Unilever.
History
Pond's Cream was invented in the United States as a patent medicine by pharmacist Theron T. Pond (1800–1852) of Utica, New York, in 1846. M ...
,
Santoor
The Indian santoor instrument is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer, and a variation of the Iranian santur. The instrument is generally made of walnut wood and has 25 bridges. Each bridge has 4 strings, making for a total of 100 strings. It ...
,
Colgate,
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...
, Breeze, etc.
Debut, breakthrough and success (1999–2009)

Pradhan made her acting debut with the historical tele-series ''
Noorjahan
Noor Jehan (21 September 192623 December 2000) was a Pakistani playback singer and actress who worked in both British India and later in Pakistan's cinema. Her career lasted over six decades, during which she recorded 10,000 songs. Jehan had ...
'' which was telecasted in
Doordarshan
Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...
in 1999. She never thought of becoming an actor, but when
Cinevistaas offered her the lead role in ''Noor Jahan'', she decided to give it a shot.
She also appeared in three music videos (which were
Talat Aziz
Talat Aziz (born 11 November 1956) is an Indian ghazal singer and actor.
Early life
Aziz was born in Hyderabad, India to Abdul Azeem Khan and Sajida Abid, a famous Urdu writer and poet. He attended Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet.
His fam ...
's ''Khubsoorat'',
Hans Raj Hans
Hans Raj Hans is an Indian singer and politician. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a recipient of the civilian honour of Padma Shri. He sings Punjabi folk and Sufi music as well as in movies and has also released his own 'Pun ...
's ''Jhanjar'', and
Sonu Nigam
Sonu Nigam (born 30 July 1973) is an Indian playback singer, music director, dubbing artist and actor. He is one of the most versatile singers and widest vocal ranges in the history of Indian music. His songs vary from romantic to break-up, cla ...
's ''Yaad'') during the year 2000 to 2001.
In October 2001, Pradhan rose to fame with tele-series ''
Kutumb'' on Sony TV where she played the lead role of Gauri Agarwal Mittal. The show ended in 2002, but the channel & production house brought the second season of the show, ''
Kutumb'', with the same leads. Soon after in 2003, she did an episodic role as Shweta in ''
Krishna Arjun'' on
Star Plus
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 reali ...
, and she then appeared in another family drama named ''
Naam Gum Jayegaa'' on
Sony TV Sony Television, Sony TV, or Sony HD may refer to any of the following television-related products from Japanese conglomerate Sony:
* Television sets designed and manufactured by Sony Corporation in Japan
** Trinitron, television hardware brand (196 ...
as the female lead Priyanka Singh. In 2003, she also appeared as Mayuri / Gauri in the horror tele-series ''
Kya Hadsaa Kya Haqeeqat
''Kya Hadsaa Kya Haqeeqat'' () is an Indian thriller anthology television show that was first broadcast on Sony Entertainment Television from 16 August 2002 to 9 May 2004. The broadcast consisted mainly of short stories in a mini format. The ...
''.
In 2002, she participated in one of the episodes of the singing reality show ''Kisme Kitna Hai Dum'' on
Star Plus
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 reali ...
along with other television actors.
After a string of cameos and a short series, Pradhan was approached in 2004 to play the lead as Nandini Thakkar in ''
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi
''Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'' ( ''Because Even a Mother-in-Law Was a Daughter-in-Law Once'') is an Indian Hindi-language soap opera that aired from 3 July 2000 to 6 November 2008 on Star Plus. The show was co-produced by Shobha Kapoor a ...
'' on Star Plus. In the same year, she appeared in ''
Isse Kehte Hai Golmaal Ghar
''Isse Kehte Hai Golmaal Ghar'' () is an Indian television Telefilm that aired on Sahara One channel in 2004. The series premiered on 30 October 2004 starring Gauri Pradhan Tejwani, Manav Gohil, Shagufta Ali, Lovleen Mishra, Ashok Lokhande and ...
'' that aired on
Sahara One
Sahara One is an Indian Hindi general entertainment channel based in New Delhi. It was operated by Sahara India Pariwar.
History
Sahara One was launched as Sahara TV on 28 March 2000, which later was renamed as Sahara Manoranjan in April 200 ...
channel as the main lead opposite
Manav Gohil
Manav Gohil (born 9 November 1974) is an Indian actor. He has been active in the Hindi film industry for more than two decades and is best known for his roles in Hindi television shows, including the soap opera '' Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii'', the ...
. The series premiered on 30 October 2004, and aired every Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
IST #REDIRECT Ist
{{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...
.
In March 2005, she entered the show ''
Special Squad'' on Star One as the Forensic Expert and Special Squad head Dr. Deepika Ghosh. Pradhan has also made special appearances in other Indian series like ''
Rihaee'' and ''
Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin
''Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin'' () is an Indian soap opera which aired on Sony TV from 1 September 2003 to 4 May 2006. The series was an Indian-themed version of the Colombian drama ''Yo soy Betty, la fea''.
Plot
Based largely on the show, ''Yo s ...
'' on
Sony TV Sony Television, Sony TV, or Sony HD may refer to any of the following television-related products from Japanese conglomerate Sony:
* Television sets designed and manufactured by Sony Corporation in Japan
** Trinitron, television hardware brand (196 ...
.
In 2006, she participated in reality shows such as ''
Nach Baliye 2
''Nach Baliye'' ( ''Dance Partner'') is an Indian Hindi-language celebrity dance reality television series that airs on Star Plus. It is loosely based on ''Dancing With The Stars''.
Production Concept
The show is a competition where 10 televis ...
'' (a celebrity couple dance reality show) and ''Jodee Kamaal Ki'' (a celebrity couple game show) on
Star One
Star One was an Indian pay television channel based in Mumbai and owned by Star TV, with worldwide distribution handled by Fox International Channels. Launched on 1 November 2004, Star One was launched in the UK on Sky in November 2006.
Sta ...
along with her husband
Hiten Tejwani
Hiten Tejwani is an Indian television actor known for his work in several fictional shows.
Early life and family
Hiten Tejwani was born into a Sindhi Hindu family.
Hiten Tejwani married his '' Kutumb'' and ''Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi' ...
, and played the part of Kanan in the romantic drama-series ''
Kaisa Ye Pyar Hai
''Kaisa Ye Pyar Hai'' () is an Indian series that aired on Sony Entertainment Television, produced by Balaji Telefilms, starring Iqbal Khan as Angad Khanna and Neha Bamb as Kripa Sharma. The show ended on 5 October 2006.
Plot
Angad Khanna i ...
''.
In May 2008, she entered the youth oriented show ''
Left Right Left'' (that aired on
SAB TV
Sony SAB is an Indian Hindi-language general entertainment pay television
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription busi ...
) as Captain Shona Das, an army consultant. In that vary year, she along with her husband Hiten Tejwani appeared as contestant in two reality shows; ''
Kabhi Kabhii Pyaar Kabhi Kabhii Yaar
This is the list of original programming currently and formerly broadcast by the Indian television channel Sony Entertainment Television (SET) in India.
Current broadcasts
Former broadcasts Acquired series
Anthology series
Comedy seri ...
'' and ''
Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?''. In 2008, Pradhan and her husband also hosted some of the episodes of the celebrity couple dance reality show ''
Nach Baliye 4'' on
Star Plus
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 reali ...
.
In 2009, Pradhan did a long cameo in Star Plus's afternoon long-running hit show ''
Kumkum – Ek Pyara Sa Bandhan'' as Aditi Kapoor along with her husband.
Later career and supporting parts (2010–present)
After having twins, Pradhan took a five-year break from television and decided not to work till her children turned four. During her break, she pursued her passion for
porcelain painting
China painting, or porcelain painting, is the decoration of glazed porcelain objects, such as plates, bowls, vases or statues. The body of the object may be hard-paste porcelain, developed in China in the 7th or 8th century, or soft-paste porce ...
. She learned about this form of painting under Sangita Shetty Chowhan. Gauri is also one of the partners of the company called Colours On Fire, owned by Chowhan.
In 2010, Pradhan along with her husband opened a restro-bar named Barcode 053 (a franchise of Crepe Station Café) at
Andheri
Andheri (Help:IPA/Marathi, �n̪d̪ʱeɾiː is a suburb situated in Western Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Government and politics
For administrative purposes, Andheri is bifurcated into Andheri (west) and Andheri (east). Andheri (west) comes ...
in Mumbai. In the same year she also appeared in one of the episodes of the female celebrity game show ''
Meethi Choori No 1
Meethi Choori No 1 is a 2010 Indian reality show aired on Imagine TV starring several Indian television actresses. It was produced by SOL Productions.
Concept
The show was a chat show which includes 8 actresses, from among whom a few actres ...
'' which aired on
NDTV Imagine
Imagine TV was a Hindi general entertainment channel owned by Turner Broadcasting System, and based in New Delhi.
The channel was known for shows such as '' Ramayan (2008), Chandragupta Maurya, '' Swayamvar'', '' Baba Aiso Varr Dhoondo'', '' ...
.
In 2014, after a long hiatus of five years, she made her comeback on television with
Ekta Kapoor
Ekta Kapoor (born 7 June 1975) is an Indian television and film producer, known for her work in Hindi television and Bollywood cinema. She is the founder of Balaji Telefilms, Balaji Telefilms Limited, where she serves as joint managing directo ...
's show, ''
Meri Aashiqui Tumse Hi
''Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi'' ( Only you are my love) is an Indian soap opera based on Emily Bronte's British novel ''Wuthering Heights'' and produced by Ekta Kapoor of Balaji Telefilms. The series aired from 24 June 2014 to 19 February 2016 on Co ...
'' (which aired on
Colors TV
Colors TV is an Indian general entertainment pay television channel owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. Its programming consists of Soap opera, family dramas, Comedy, comedies, fantasy shows, youth-oriented Rea ...
) as Falguni Parekh. From 2017 to 2018, she played the role of Anita Sharma on
Colors TV
Colors TV is an Indian general entertainment pay television channel owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. Its programming consists of Soap opera, family dramas, Comedy, comedies, fantasy shows, youth-oriented Rea ...
's show ''
Tu Aashiqui
''Tu Aashiqui'' () is a 2017 Indian musical drama romance television show based on two lovers' efforts to unite. Series aired on Colors TV on 20 September 2017 to 12 October 2018. It is produced by Mahesh Bhatt under Gurudev Bhalla production h ...
''. From 2023 to 2024, she played the role of Preeti Suri on
SAB TV
Sony SAB is an Indian Hindi-language general entertainment pay television
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription busi ...
's show ''
Pashminna – Dhaage Mohabbat Ke
''Pashminna – Dhaage Mohabbat Ke'' () is an Indian Hindi-language romantic drama television series that aired from 25 October 2023 to 23 March 2024 on Sony SAB. Produced by Siddharth P. Malhotra and Sapna Malhotra under Alchemy Films Private ...
''.
Personal life

Pradhan met her husband
Hiten Tejwani
Hiten Tejwani is an Indian television actor known for his work in several fictional shows.
Early life and family
Hiten Tejwani was born into a Sindhi Hindu family.
Hiten Tejwani married his '' Kutumb'' and ''Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi' ...
in
Hyderabad
Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
while shooting for a commercial for Breeze soap. Later on, they met on the sets of tele-series ''
Kutumb'' and were coincidentally cast as the lead pair. The onscreen chemistry led to the brewing of romance between them and they started dating. While playing the characters of star crossed lovers Karan and Nandini in another daily soap ''
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi
''Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'' ( ''Because Even a Mother-in-Law Was a Daughter-in-Law Once'') is an Indian Hindi-language soap opera that aired from 3 July 2000 to 6 November 2008 on Star Plus. The show was co-produced by Shobha Kapoor a ...
'', they decided to get married.
After two years of courtship, they got married as per Maharashtrian customs at a private ceremony in the Sun-n-Sand Hotel in Pune on 29 April 2004, with about 40–50 guests in attendance. Soon after they went to
Ko Samui
Ko Samui (or Koh Samui), often locally shortened to Samui (, ), is an island off the east coast of Thailand. Geographically in the Mu Ko Samui, Chumphon Archipelago, it is part of Surat Thani Province, though as of 2012, Ko Samui was granted munic ...
in Thailand for honeymoon. Their reception was held at
Juhu
Juhu (Pronunciation: ͡ʒuɦuː is a suburb of Mumbai. It is known for the sprawling Juhu Beach. It is surrounded by the Arabian Sea to the west, Versova to the north, Vile Parle to the east and Santacruz to the south. Juhu is among the most ...
's Army Club on 9 May 2004, with over 400 guests.
On 11 November 2009, they became parents to twins, a son Nevaan and daughter Katya.
Filmography
Films
Television
Special appearances
Web Series
Music videos
Awards and nominations
See also
*
List of Indian television actresses
This is the list of notable Indian actresses appears in Indian Entertainment industry in India, television soap operas.
Television actresses are female actors who perform in television shows, serials, and reality shows. These actresses portr ...
*
List of Hindi television actresses
This is a list of notable Hindi television actresses.
Television actresses
See also
* List of Hindi television actors
*List of Indian television actresses
* List of Hindi film actresses
References
{{reflist
Hindi television content relat ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pradhan, Gauri
Pradhan,Gauri
Indian television actresses
Marathi actresses
Female models from Jammu and Kashmir
Indian women television presenters
Indian television presenters
Living people
Actresses in Hindi television
Actresses from Jammu and Kashmir
People from Jammu (city)
Year of birth missing (living people)
Actresses from Mumbai