Shriya Pilgaonkar (born 25 April 1989)
is an
Indian actress, director and producer 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 ...
films and web series. Born to actors
Sachin Pilgaonkar and
Supriya Pilgaonkar, she made her acting debut with the Marathi film ''
Ekulti Ek'' (2013), for which she earned the
Maharashtra State Film Award for Best Debut.
Following her Hindi film debut with ''
Fan'' (2016), Pilgaonkar went onto establish herself with successful web series such as ''
Mirzapur'' (2018), ''
Guilty Minds'' and ''
The Broken News'' (both 2022) and ''
Taaza Khabar'' (2023). For ''Guilty Minds'', she was nominated for the Best Actress Award at the
2022 Filmfare OTT Awards. She has also acted in and directed various plays.
Early life
Pilgaonkar was born on 25 April 1989 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 ...
and is the only child of famed actors
Sachin Pilgaonkar and
Supriya Pilgaonkar. As a child, Pilgaonkar trained to become a
professional swimmer and won several medals while in school.
Believing that she might become a translator or a
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
when she grew up, Pilgaonkar also took classes in
Japanese when she was a child.
Later deciding to take a different route, Pilgaonkar completed her
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in
Sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
at
St. Xavier's College 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 ...
. Pilgaonkar also learned
Kathak
''Kathak'' is one of the eight major forms of Classical Indian dance, Indian classical dance. Its origin is attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern India known as ''Kathakar'' ("storyteller"), who communicated stories from the ...
as a child.
Career
Early work (2012–2017)
At the age of five, Pilgaonkar first appeared on television in the
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 ...
serial ''
Tu Tu Main Main'', playing a boy named Bittu.
Pilgaonkar made her stage debut in 2012 with her performance in Karan Shetty's 10-minute short play ''Freedom Of Love''. The play was a part of the NCPA's Short and Sweet Festival. In the play, she acted, sang, and danced.
Pilgaonkar made her big screen debut with the 2013 Marathi film ''
Ekulti Ek.'' In the film, she plays the role of Swara. She was offered the role of Swara by her father (
Sachin Pilgaonkar) who wrote, directed, and produced the film. Pilgaonkar said, "He has been credited for launching many a talent, including my mother. When he offered me the film, I didn't want a favour. But he corrected me, saying, 'I am not stupid to invest resources without reason'."
This movie led her to win many awards, including
Maharashtra State Film Award for Best Debut Actress.
A critic of ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'' stated, "It's the perfect launch for his (
Sachin Pilgaonkar) daughter Shriya into films and she does not disappoint."
Following her role in ''Ekulti Ek'', she starred in plays, ''Internal Affairs'' and ''Common People''.
She then worked in the French film ''
Un plus une'', helmed by Oscar-winning director
Claude Lelouch
Claude Barruck Joseph Lelouch (; born 30 October 1937) is a French film director, writer, cinematographer, actor and producer. Lelouch grew up in an Algerian Jewish family. He emerged as a prominent director in the 1960s. Lelouch gained critical ...
.
In the film, she played the role of Ayanna, an Indian dancer, and actor.
Pilgaonkar made her Bollywood debut in the 2016 film ''
Fan''. Pilgaonkar was selected for her role from the audition of 750 girls conducted by
Maneesh Sharma
Maneesh Sharma (born 6 January 1980) is an Indian filmmaker who is known for his work in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. He has directed films such as Band Baaja Baaraat, ''Band Baaja Baaraat'' (2010), Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, ''Ladies vs Ricky Bahl'' ...
, and she considered getting a role alongside
Shah Rukh Khan
Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as the "Padishah, Baadshah of Bollywood" and "King Khan", he has Shah Rukh K ...
a big breakthrough.
In the film, she plays the role of Neha, a
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
-based call center girl, and Gaurav's friend.
After the release of ''Fan'', Pilgaonkar was overwhelmed by the response.
Taran Adarsh from ''
Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is an Indian entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000.
The website provides n ...
'' termed her "wonderful".
Breakthrough (2018–2020)
Pilgaonkar played a strong and independent woman Sweety Gupta opposite
Ali Fazal, in the series ''
Mirzapur''. Saraswati Datar of ''
The News Minute
''The News Minute'' is an Indian digital news platform based in Bangalore, Karnataka. It was founded by Vignesh Vellore who is also the current CEO in 2014. Apart from Karnataka, it also has bureaus in the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, ...
'' noted, "Shriya as Sweety put in a great performance, but her role is woefully underwritten and unidimensional." The series was a massive success, and became a breakthrough for her, however she later confirmed that her character wouldn't be returning after the first season. In 2019, she did the film ''
House Arrest
House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...
'' with Fazal.
In 2020, she first played Nimmo alongside
Sunny Kaushal in ''
Bhangra Paa Le'', which received negative reviews. In the same year, she played a social media influencer, Suhani in the first season of ''
The Gone Game'' and a RAW agent Divya in ''
Crackdown''. She received positive response for both the series, and ''
India Today
''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...
'' stated that she "impresses" as Divya aka Mariam. Her only work in 2021, was the bilingual film ''
Kaadan''.
Career progression (2022–present)
Pilgaonkar had four web releases in 2022. She first played Advocate Kashaf in ''
Guilty Minds'', alongside
Varun Mitra, which won her critical acclaim.
Saibal Chatterjee of ''
NDTV
New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. It was founded in 1984 by economist Prannoy Roy and journalist Radhika Roy.
NDTV began as a production house for news segments, ...
'' stated, "Shriya Pilgaonkar is mesmerising as the honest-to-a-fault advocate." She then appeared in the second season of ''The Gone Game'' and hosted the web reality show, ''
The Great Indian Bride''. In her final role of the year, she played an investigative journalist Radha in ''
The Broken News''. Namrata Thakker from ''
Rediff.com'' noted, "Shriya Pilgaonkar as Radha steals the show as the fiery, righteous journalist. She has flaws despite being an ethical journalist and that makes her character more humane."
In 2023, Pilgaonkar first played the titular role in the short film, ''Sita''. She then played a sex worker Madhubala in ''
Taaza Khabar'', with
Bhuvan Bam
Bhuvan Avnindra Shankar Bam (; born 22 January 1994) is an Indian comedian, writer, singer, actor, songwriter and YouTube personality from Delhi. He is known for his comedy channel on YouTube named ''BB Ki Vines.''
Early life and education ...
.
Manik Sharma of ''
Firstpost
Firstpost is an Indian news website owned by Network18 Group, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC TV18. It has posted misinformation on multiple occasions.
The Network 18 group was originally owned by Raghav Bahl. In January 2012, the gro ...
'' termed her "consistently good" and added that she played the role with "confidence". For this, she won the
ITA Award for Best Actress Comedy - OTT. Pilgaonkar later played an independent pregnant woman Siya alongside
Mrinal Dutt and
Suhail Nayyar in the film ''
Ishq-e-Nadaan''. In her final work of the year, she played an outspoken wife Nirmala, in ''
Dry Day'' opposite
Jitendra Kumar. Rahul Desai from ''
Film Companion
Anupama Vinod Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist and film critic who served as the festival director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival from 2015 to 2023. She is also the founder and editor of the now-defunct digital platform Film Compani ...
'' said, "Shriya Pilgaonkar is underutilised in a narrative that's driven by her character's tenacity."
Pilgaonkar will next appear in ''Abhi Toh Party Shuru Hui Hai''.
Other work and media image

''
Filmfare
''Filmfare'' is an Indian English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of India's most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, ...
s Tanisha Bhattacharya noted, "Pilagonkar's performances in shows from diverse genres have raised the bar of what she has to offer as a gifted artist." Udita Jhunjhunwala of ''
Scroll.in'' stated, "Shriya has evolved into one of the most dependable actors in web series." Pilgaonkar was placed at the 40th position in
Times's 50 Most Desirable Women List of 2020. Pilgaonkar has modeled and is also known in the advertisement world. She has worked with celebrities such as
Shahid Kapoor
Shahid Kapoor (; born 25 February 1981) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. Initially recognised for portraying romantic roles, he has since taken on parts in action films and thrillers, and is the recipient of List of awards and n ...
and
Vikrant Massey, in advertisements.
She has been a celebrity endorser of brands such as
Rin,
Vivel and
Mom's Magic, with her mother Supriya Pilgaonkar.
In addition to being an actress, Pilgaonkar is also a director and a producer of short films. In 2012, she went to
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
for summer school, which led her to work on her own short films.
In an interview with ''
Mumbai Mirror
The ''Mumbai Mirror'' is an Indian English-language newspaper published in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Launched in 2005 as a compact daily newspaper, its coverage focused on city specific local news and civic issues concerning education, healthcare an ...
'', she said, "Once I felt confident, I directed ''Painted Signal'', a short film, and ''Panchgavya''",
a documentary which she co-directed with Hana Kitasei. It examines the plight of cows as they wander around Bikaner in
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...
.
She also co-directed and edited the short film ''Dresswala'' with Siddharth Joglekar, which was an official selection at the 2012
Mumbai Film Festival
The Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) is a public trust that organises the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in the city of Mumbai, India. Priyanka Chopra, Priyanka Chopra Jonas is the chairperson of the trust while Shivendra Singh Dungarpur serves ...
.
Both ''Painted Signal'' and ''Dresswala'' received average responses from critics and were screened at international film festivals.
Filmography
Films
Television
Web series
Theatre
*''All plays are in English unless otherwise noted.''
Awards and nominations
See also
*
List of Hindi film actresses
*
List of Indian film actresses
This is an alphabetical list of notable Cinema of India, Indian film actresses.
Given below is a list that includes actresses from different time periods—from early pioneers of silent cinema and the golden age of Indian films to contempor ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilgaonkar, Shriya
Living people
Actresses in Marathi cinema
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Indian film actresses
Indian television actresses
Actresses from Mumbai
Marathi actresses
Film directors from Mumbai
Indian women film directors
Indian stage actresses
Actresses in Hindi television
20th-century Indian actresses
Indian women film producers
Film producers from Mumbai
21st-century Indian actresses
Businesswomen from Maharashtra
1989 births
St. Xavier's College, Mumbai alumni