Mrunal Thakur

Mrunal Thakur (born 1 August 1992) is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Hindi and Telugu films. Thakur is a recipient of several accolades including a Filmfare Awards South, three SIIMA Awards and an ITA Award.

Thakur began her acting career in television, starring in the soap operas '' Mujhse Kuchh Kehti...Yeh Khamoshiyaan'' (2012) and ''Kumkum Bhagya'' (2014–2016), which earned her the ITA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Thakur made her Hindi film debut with ''Love Sonia'' (2018) and played the leading lady in the commercially successful films ''Super 30'' and ''Batla House'' (both 2019). After a career downturn, Thakur gained popularity with the Telugu romantic dramas ''Sita Ramam'' (2022) and ''Hi Nanna'' (2023), winning the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu for the former.

Early life

Mrunal Thakur was born on 1 August 1992 to a Marathi-speaking family in Dhule, Maharashtra. She attended St. Joseph's Convent School, Jalgaon, and Vasant Vihar High School, near Mumbai. Thakur left KC College without graduating as she was pursuing a television career at the time of studying.

Career

Early career and television (2012–2016)

While attending college, Thakur landed a lead role as Gauri Bhosle opposite Mohit Sehgal in the Star Plus series '' Mujhse Kuchh Kehti...Yeh Khamoshiyaan''. The show aired from 2012 to 2013. Later in 2013, Thakur appeared in an episodic appearance on the mystery thriller '' Har Yug Mein Aayega Ek – Arjun'', in which she played a journalist named Sakshi Anand.

In February 2014, Thakur was cast for Zee TV's soap opera ''Kumkum Bhagya'', for which she began shooting the following month. The show, co-starring Sriti Jha, Shabir Ahluwalia, Arjit Taneja, and Supriya Shukla, started airing on 15 April, and saw Thakur portray Bulbul Arora Khanna, a woman who along with her elder sister (played by Jha) helps their mother (played by Shukla) run a marriage hall. The show received mostly positive to mixed reviews from critics. Thakur quit the show in January 2016.

Thakur appeared as a Contestant on ''Box Cricket League 1'' in 2014 and ''Nach Baliye 7'' in 2015. In 2016, she danced in a special episode of &TV's '' Saubhagyalakshmi'', and had a guest appearance in ''Tuyul & Mbak Yul Reborn''. Her final appearance before she retired from television was on the Indonesian serial ''Nadin'', where she played Tara.

Expansion to Hindi films (2014–2021)

Thakur made her film debut with the Marathi film '' Hello Nandan'' and her next was also a Marathi film '' Vitti Dandu'', both of which were released in 2014. She played Rubi in former and Sandhya in latter. Her next Marathi film was '' Surajya'', where she played the role of Dr. Swapna.

In 2016, Thakur began work on her first Hindi project, the international film ''Love Sonia'', for which she stayed at Kolkata. The film was released in September 2018 after various delays and featured her in the titular role of a village girl who brings to light the issue of global human trafficking. For preparation, Thakur stayed at a brothel to study the body language of prostitutes. Although the film was generally well reviewed, it was a failure at the domestic box office.

Thakur's Bollywood debut came in 2019 with Vikas Bahl's biographical drama ''Super 30'', narrating the story of mathematician Anand Kumar (played by Hrithik Roshan in the film) and his educational program of the same name, in which she portrayed Supriya, a classical dancer and Kumar's love interest. It emerged as a commercial success and one of the top-grossing Hindi films of 2019. In the same year, she played John Abraham's wife Nandita Kumar in Nikkhil Advani's ''Batla House'', based on the 2008 Batla House encounter case. It grossed over worldwide becoming a commercially successful venture.

In 2020, Thakur appeared in a Netflix venture, the four-part anthology horror film ''Ghost Stories'' as Ira in the Segment: Karan Johar's segment. The same year she appeared in a music video "Gallan Goriya", alongside John Abraham.

In 2021, Thakur starred in the sports drama, ''Toofaan'', directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and co-starring Farhan Akhtar, which premiered on 16 July 2021 on Amazon Prime Video. In addition, she co-starred in the action thriller '' Dhamaka'', directed by Ram Madhvani and co-starring Kartik Aaryan and Amruta Subhash, which released on Netflix on 19 November 2021. She also appeared in two music videos in the year 2021, "Bad Boy x Bad Girl" with Badshah and "Aise Na Chhoro" with Guru Randhawa.

Expansion to Telugu films (2022–present)

The sports drama ''Jersey'', a remake of the 2019 Telugu film of the same name, co-starring Shahid Kapoor, finally released in 2022 after getting delayed multiple times due to COVID-19 pandemic. Thakur co-starred with Shahid Kapoor in the film, which received critical praise but failed commercially. Thakur made her Telugu film debut opposite Dulquer Salmaan in Hanu Raghavapudi's period romantic drama ''Sita Ramam'' (2022). The film received positive reviews and emerged as a sleeper hit, with her character gaining praise from the viewers. Her performance in ''Sita Ramam'' received several awards and nominations, including the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu.

Thakur had five releases in 2023, the first four being Hindi films. '' Gumraah'' and ''Aankh Micholi'' bombed badly, while ''Lust Stories 2'' and the Ishaan Khatter starrer war action film '' Pippa'' were released digitally. In her last 2023 release, Thakur starred in the Telugu romance ''Hi Nanna'' opposite Nani, which became her sole box-office success of the year.

In 2024, Thakur played an entrepreneur Indu, in her third Telugu film, ''The Family Star'' opposite Vijay Deverakonda. The film received negative reviews from critics and was a flop in box office . Thakur will next appear in Maddock Films' ''Pooja Meri Jaan'' alongside Huma Qureshi.

Media image

''The Telegraph'' finds Thakur to be "honest and heartwarming". On her choice of films, she said, "I just want to be associated with good scripts, to play woman of substance, and see what she's contributing to." Thakur ranked 8th in ''Eastern Eye''s Top 30 under 30 Global Asian Stars List of 2021. In 2022, Thakur curated a food donation drive in collaboration with "All About Them", a foundation that helps stray and community animals. Thakur is a celebrity endorser for several brands and products, including Lakme and Dulux.
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