Sujata Mehta is an Indian actress of Gujarati origin who has acted in plays and

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

films, most known for her lead role in ''

Pratighaat ''Pratighaat'' () is a 1987 Hindi feminist drama film directed by N. Chandra, starring Sujata Mehta as lead. It was a remake of the Telugu film ''Pratighatana'' (1985), directed by T. Krishna, with Vijayshanti as the lead. Made on a low-budget ...

'' (1987) supporting roles in '' Yateem'' (1988) and '' Gunaah'' (1993). She also played the lead role in the critically acclaimed and National Award winning Malayalam movie Purushartham (1987).

Early career

Sujata started her acting career by participating in Gujarati stage plays wherein she played small cameos and, on sheer hard work and perseverance, graduated to playing lead roles.

Bollywood career

Her first big break came in

N. Chandra Chandrashekhar Narvekar (born 4 April 1952) is an Indian producer, writer and director, known for gritty realism, in his early dark and loud films. His most successful commercial films are ''Ankush'', '' Pratighaat'', ''Tezaab'' and ''Narsimha''. ...

's social film ''

'' (1987) with

Nana Patekar Vishwanath Patekar (born 1 January 1951), better known as Nana Patekar, is an Indian actor, screenwriter, film maker, and a former Indian Territorial Army officer, mainly working in Hindi and Marathi cinema. He is regarded as one of the finest an ...

, where she played a college teacher who is stripped naked in public by gangsters. The role was originally played by

Vijayashanti Vijayashanti (born 24 June 1966) is an Indian actress, producer and politician. In a film career spanning 40 years, she has acted in 187 feature films in a variety of roles in various languages predominantly in Telugu, Tamil, in addition to H ...

in the Telugu film ''Pratighatna'' (1986). Sujata was noticed and appreciated for her stellar performance in the film. In her next film ''Yateem'' (1988), directed by

J. P. Dutta Jyoti Prakash Dutta (born 3 October 1949) is an Indian Bollywood film producer, writer and director, best known for making patriotic action war films. Personal life Dutta is married to the Bollywood film actress Bindiya Goswami with whom he ha ...

, she played a lustful step-mother who attempts to seduce her step-son, is rebuffed by him, and then falsely accuses him of raping her. Her performance in ''Yateem'' won her accolades and critical acclaim and also a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress nomination. Sujata did not confine herself to a certain image. She played all kinds of roles, irrespective of being positive or negative. She was also seen in some other films like ''Tyaagi'' (1992), '' Gunaah'' (1993), ''Aaaj ki Aurat'' (1993), '' Dhartiputra'' (1993), ''Hulchul'' (1995), ''Judge Mujrim'' (1997) and others.

TV career

After appearing in the TV series '' Khandaan'' (1985) and ''

Shrikant Shrikant is a male Indian given name. People with the name *Shrikant Bhasi (born 1968), Indian businessman *Shrikant Jadhav (born 1960), Indian cricketer *Shrikant Jichkar (1954–2004), Indian politician *Shrikant Joshi (born 1958), Indian busin ...

(1987)'' she has returned to Indian TV soap operas, playing mother's roles on shows like '' Yeh Meri Life Hai'' and '' Kyaa Hoga Nimmo Kaa'' (2006).

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Sujata Living people Gujarati people Indian film actresses Indian stage actresses Indian television actresses Indian soap opera actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Gujarati theatre Actresses in Hindi television Year of birth missing (living people)