Meghna Kothari is an Indian actress. She has acted in

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

movies and in

Gurinder Chadha Gurinder Kaur Chadha, (born 10 January 1960) is a Kenyan-born British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in England. The common theme in her work showcases the trials of Indian women residing ...

's film ''

Bride and Prejudice ''Bride and Prejudice'' (also known as ''Bride and Prejudice: The Bollywood Musical'') is a 2004 romantic comedy-drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha. The screenplay by Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges is a Bollywood-style adaptation of Jane A ...

'' where she played the role of Maya Bakshi based on the character Mary Bennett and is known for the famous cobra dance choreographed by

Saroj Khan Saroj Khan fondly known as Masterji (born Nirmala Nagpal; 22 November 1948 – 3 July 2020) was an Indian dance choreographer in Hindi cinema. She was born in Bombay State (present day Maharashtra), India. She was best known for the danc ...

. She learned Kathak dance under the tutelage of Reba Vidyarthi and the peerless

Birju Maharaj Pandit Birju Maharaj (born Brijmohan Nath Mishra; 4 February 1938 – 17 January 2022) was an Indian dancer, composer, singer, and exponent of the Lucknow "Kalka-Bindadin" Gharana of Kathak dance in India. He was a descendant of the Maharaj fa ...

at the

National Institute of Kathak Dance National Institute of Kathak Dance, also known as Kathak Kendra, is the premier dance institution for the Indian classical dance form of Kathak, and a unit of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, situate ...

. She started her acting career with a cameo in Aahat (TV series) (produced by B. P. Singh) along with theatre director

Satyadev Dubey Satyadev Dubey (13 July 1936 – 25 December 2011) was an Indian theatre director, actor, playwright, screenwriter & film director. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1971. He won the 1978 National Film Award for Best Scre ...

. Her debut film was '' Prem Aggan'' with

Fardeen Khan Fardeen Khan (; born 8 March 1974) is an Indian actor who mainly works in Hindi films. Born to actor and film producer Feroz Khan, he is part of the Khan family. He made his acting debut in the film '' Prem Aggan'' (1998), for which he won the ...

. In theater, she took training at Living Theatre and has acted in plays directed by the legendary

Ebrahim Alkazi Ebrahim Alkazi (18 October 1925 – 4 August 2020) was a Saudi Indian theatre director and drama teacher. A rigid disciplinarian, he instilled in his acting students an awe and reverence that they still carry with them, with several of them ...

. She is the daughter of Rita Ganguly and Keshav Kothari, who was the secretary of

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English language, English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture (India) ...

. Her brother is poet Arijeet. Actress Gita Ghatak is her maternal aunt and renowned folklorist

Komal Kothari Komal Kothari (1929–2004) was an Indian folklorist and ethnomusicologist. Komal Kothari had devoted his life to investigation and documentation of folk traditions of western Rajasthan. Kothari received the honour of Padma Shri and Padma Bhusha ...

is her paternal uncle. She is married to Sandeep Chattopadhyay (

Chatterjee Chatterjee (), also known as Chattopadhyay is a Bengali Hindu surname, used by the Kulin group of the Bengali Brahmin caste. Together with Banerjees, Mukherjees, Bhattacharjees, and Gangulys, Chatterjees form the Kulin Brahmins, the highest ...

)a director, who received the

National Film Award for Best Short Fiction Film National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

at the

50th National Film Awards The 50th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 2002. Awards were announced by ...

for the film Sunder Jibon and the lead actor in the film

Chitrasutram ''Chitrasutram (The Image Threads)'' is a 2010 Malayalam film, written & directed by Vipin Vijay, produced by Altaf Mazid, Zubeen Ahmad, Sushanta Roy under the banner of Unknown Films. The film was also supported by Hubert Bals Film Fund, Rotte ...

directed by Vipin Vijay. She returned to limelight after comedians Biswa Kalyan Rath and

Kanan Gill Kanan Singh Gill is an Indian stand-up comedian, actor, author and YouTuber. He won the Punch Line Bangalore Competition. He is known for the YouTube series ''Pretentious Movie Reviews'' where he reviews campy Bollywood films along with fellow s ...

made a sketch (Pretentious Movie Reviews) about the film Prem Aggan. She, along with

Hansal Mehta Hansal Mehta (born 29 April 1968) is an Indian filmmaker. He started his career with television show '' Khana Khazana'' (1993–2000) and later moved on to directing films like '' Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!!'' (2000), '' Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai?'' (2002) ...

, featured in the music video of the song 'Likh Ke Mehndi Se Sajna Ka Naam' sung by

Anuradha Paudwal Anuradha Paudwal (born 27 October 1954) is an Indian playback singer and politician who works predominantly in Hindi cinema and Odia cinema. She has been described in media as one of the most prominent Bhajan singers and also as one of the m ...

. She keeps herself busy organizing short filmmaking workshops via the collective 'Ctrl Alt Cinema'.

Filmography

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kothari, Meghna Indian film actresses Living people 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema Year of birth missing (living people) Indian female dancers