Richa Langella ( Antara Gangopadhyay; born 20 March 1986) is an

Indian American Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from India. The terms Asian Indian and East Indian are used to avoid confusion with Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans in the United States, who ar ...

former actress and model who predominantly appeared in

Telugu film Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Based in Film Nagar, Hyderabad, Telug ...

s. She presently resides at

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. She was cast along with the prominent actors like Venkatesh Daggubati,

Ravi Teja Bhupatiraju Ravi Shankar Raju (born 26 January 1968), known professionally as Ravi Teja, is an Indian actor and film producer known for his work in Telugu cinema. Recognised for his roles in action comedy films, he is popularly referred to as ...

Prabhas Uppalapati Venkata Suryanarayana Prabhas Raju (; born 23 October 1979), known mononymously as Prabhas, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. One of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema, he is known as Rebel Star in ...

Rana Daggubati Ramanaidu Daggubati, (; born 14 December 1984) known professionally as Rana Daggubati, is an Indian actor, film producer, and entrepreneur who primarily works in Telugu cinema, in addition to Tamil cinema, Tamil and Hindi cinema, Hindi films. H ...

Dhanush Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja (born 28 July 1983), known professionally as Dhanush, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, lyricist and playback singer who primarily works in Tamil cinema. Having starred in Dhanush filmography, 50 films over his car ...

, and

Silambarasan Silambarasan Thesingu Rajendar (born 3 February 1984), popularly known as Simbu or by his initials as STR, is an Indian actor, producer, and playback singer who primarily works in Tamil cinema. He is the eldest son of director T. Rajendar. ...

. Her notable films include ''

Leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

'' (2010) and later worked on several commercially successful Telugu films such as '' Nagavalli'' (2010), ''

Mirapakaay ''Mirapakay'' ( Chilli) is a 2011 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film directed by Harish Shankar and produced by Ramesh Puppala under Yellow Flowers. The film stars Ravi Teja in the lead role, alongside Richa Gangopadhyay, Deeksha Seth ...

'' (2011), '' Sarocharu'' (2012), and '' Mirchi'' (2013).

Early life

Richa Gangopadhyay was born on 20 March 1986, to a Bengali Brahmin family in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. Her family moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

when she was only three. Her father works as the Vice President of Netshape Technologies, while her mother works as the deputy director of the prestigious Institute of Museums and Library Services, after having been nominated by President Obama to serve as a member of the IMLS Board. Her parents settled in the U.S. in 1989 after spending her first year in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, with Gangopadhyay being brought up in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. While attending Okemos High School, as a junior, she was featured in the local media for founding a youth-tutoring program for at-risk children in

Lansing Lansing () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. It is the sixth-most populous city in Michigan with a popul ...

, which she ran for four years. She went on to major in Dietetics and Health Administration at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

but graduated with a Bachelor of Science in communications with a minor in Theatre Arts. After completing her undergraduate studies, she completed her master's degree in Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis.

Career

Early career and modeling (2005–08)

In August 2007, Gangopadhyay won the Miss India Michigan pageant and in December of that year, was crowned

Miss India USA Miss India USA is a beauty pageant for young women of Indian descent who are residents of the United States. The pageant was established in 1980 by the India Festival Committee headed by Dharmatma Saran. The winner of the Miss India USA pageant ...

2007 at the 26th annual Miss India USA pageant, held at Royal Albert's Palace in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. Gangopadhyay also secured the title of Miss Photogenic. She represented the U.S. in the 17th Annual Miss India Worldwide Pageant held in Johannesburg, and secured a place in the Top 10. Gangopadhyay left the U.S. in 2008 for Mumbai, India to embark on a career in films. She subsequently graduated with a diploma in acting from

Anupam Kher Anupam Kher (born 7 March 1955) is an Indian actor, director and producer who works primarily in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, he has acted in more than 540 films. A veteran of Indian cinema, Kher is recipient of two Na ...

's acting school, Actor Prepares, and completed her portfolio, earning offers for work in fashion shows and for modeling. In early 2009, Gangopadhyay featured in a commercial for Dabur Vatika Almond Hair Oil alongside Bollywood actress

Preity Zinta Preity G. Zinta (pronounced ; born 31 January 1975) is an Indian actress primarily known for her work in Hindi films. After graduating with degrees in English honours and criminal psychology, Zinta made her acting debut in '' Dil Se..'' in 19 ...

, while also appearing in several print ads and TV commercials for Peter England People, Pepe Jeans, Malabar Gold and Kalaniketan.

Public recognition and success in films (2010–2013)

Gangopadhyay debuted with

and

Priya Anand Priya Anand (born 17 September 1986) is an Indian actress and model who predominantly appears in Tamil language, Tamil films. She has also appeared in a few Telugu language, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam films. After pursuing higher s ...

in 2010 Telugu film ''

'', produced by

AVM Productions AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio founded by A. V. Meiyappa Chettiar. It is the oldest film studio in India. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai. It has produced over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, ...

and directed by

Sekhar Kammula Sekhar Kammula (born 4 February 1972) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer who works in Telugu cinema. He has garnered two Filmfare Awards South, and six state Nandi Awards for his directional works. Sekhar Kammula was among the ...

. She was recommended to an assistant director of ''Leader'', who in turn recommended her to Sekhar Kammula. Gangopadhyay went to

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 ...

to audition for the film on her birthday. She was selected instantly and the shooting started 2 days later. In the film, she played the role of Archana, a news reporter, daughter of a politician and love interest of the title character, played by debutant

. The film opened in theatres worldwide to positive reviews and did well commercially, with Gangopadhyay's performance described as "pretty and charming" and "good in a performance oriented role" by critics. After the success of the film, director P. Vasu signed her up to appear in '' Nagavalli'', a sequel to his 2005 film ''

Chandramukhi ''Chandramukhi'' () is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language psychological comedy horror film written and directed by P. Vasu. It is a remake of Vasu's Kannada film '' Apthamitra'' (2004) which itself was based on the Malayalam film '' Manichitrathaz ...

''. The film featured an ensemble cast of Venkatesh,

Anushka Shetty Sweety Shetty (born 7 November 1981), known by her stage name Anushka Shetty, is an Indian actress known for her works in Telugu and Tamil cinema. She is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards South, two Nandi Awards, two SIIMA Awards and o ...

, Shraddha Das and

Poonam Kaur Poonam Kaur is an Indian actress and model who primarily appears in Telugu and Tamil films. She is also a politician, based in Telangana and a member of the Congress Party. Career Born and raised in Hyderabad, India, Poonam Kaur did her sc ...

. The film opened to mixed reviews, with Gangopadhyay's portrayal of a girl psychologically possessed by the ghost of Nagavalli, leading to critics dubbing her as "impressive" and "convincing". Her first release in 2011 was the action film ''

'', starring opposite

for the first time. She was signed after the director of the film,

Harish Shankar Sanganabhatla Harish Shankar (born 31 March 1977) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his works exclusively in Telugu cinema, and Telugu drama, Telugu theater. He made his directorial debut with ''Shock (2006 film), Shock'' ( ...

, who had noticed her at the success party of her previous film ''Leader''. He initially offered her the role played by Deeksha as she was an NRI, but when they met to review the script, he was convinced that Gangopadhyay would do justice to the character of Vinamra, a traditional Telugu Brahmin girl. The film opened to good reviews with Gangopadhyay's performance being described as "good and just about hold her own in the dance sequences" by critics. Gangopadhyay was next seen in two Tamil films; the first being ''

Mayakkam Enna ''Mayakkam Enna'' () is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language psychological drama film written and directed by Selvaraghavan and produced by Gemini Film Circuit in association with Aum Productions its own banner. It stars his brother Dhanush, along wit ...

'', a drama film featuring

and directed by

Selvaraghavan Selvaraghavan is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and actor who has directed and acted predominantly Tamil cinema, Tamil films and few Telugu cinema, Telugu films. He had his directorial debut with ''Thulluvadho Ilamai'' (2002). Still, hi ...

, which earned her tremendous positive reviews and appreciation from all over. She then appeared alongside

Dharani Dharanis (IAST: ), also known as (Skt.) ''vidyās'' and ''paritas'' or (Pal.) ''parittas'', are lengthier Buddhist mantras functioning as mnemonic codes, incantations, or recitations, and almost exclusively written originally in Sanskrit while Pa ...

's ''

Osthe ''Osthe'' (''The Best'') is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film directed by S. Dharani, a remake of the 2010 Bollywood film ''Dabangg''. It stars Silambarasan, Richa Gangopadhyay, Sonu Sood, Jithan Ramesh, Santhanam, VTV Ganesh ...

'', the Tamil remake of the 2010 Hindi film ''

Dabangg ''Dabangg'' () is a 2010 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Abhinav Singh Kashyap and produced by Malaika Arora and Arbaaz Khan under Arbaaz Khan Productions with Dhilin Mehta under Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision. The fil ...

'', winning critical acclaim for her role as Neduvaali. In 2012, she made her debut in Bengali, her mother tongue, through the film '' Bikram Singha : The Lion Is Back'', opposite the prolific

Prosenjit Chatterjee Prosenjit Chatterjee (born 30 September 1962) is an Indian actor and producer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading actors of modern Bengali cinema. He predominantly works in Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali cinema. He is the son of Bollyw ...

, a remake of the Telugu film '' Vikramarkudu''. She also featured in the Telugu films '' Sarocharu'', '' Mirchi'' and '' Bhai'' opposite actors

and

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophy, philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most importa ...

, which were released in 2012 and 2013.

Personal life

In October 2013, she announced that she would leave the film industry and move back to the United States to pursue her MBA and focus on her long-term career ambitions. She completed an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

degree from

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

in May 2017. Gangopadhyay is married to her business school classmate Joe Langella. The couple have a son who was born in May 2021.

Filmography

Awards

*2012: Edison Award for Best Debut Actress – ''

'' * 2012: Edison Award for Best Actress – ''

'' * 2012: Norway Tamil Film Festival Award for Best Actress for ''Mayakkam Enna''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gangopadhyay, Richa 1986 births Living people American film actresses Actresses from Michigan Female models from Michigan Indian emigrants to the United States American actresses of Indian descent American people of Bengali descent Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Bengali cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema American expatriate actresses in India Michigan State University alumni Olin Business School (Washington University) alumni 21st-century American actresses