Tillotama Shome (born 25 June 1979) is an Indian actress known primarily for her work in independent films. She began acting with a supporting role in

Mira Nair Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company is Mirabai Films. Among her films are '' Mississippi Masala'', '' The Namesake'', the Golden Lion–winning '' Monsoon Wedding'', ...

's film ''

Monsoon Wedding ''Monsoon Wedding'' is a 2001 comedy-drama film directed by Mira Nair, written by Sabrina Dhawan, and starring Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shah and Vasundhara Das. The story is set during a traditional Punjabi Hindu wedding in De ...

'' (2001). She won the

Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress The Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi–language films. Superlatives * Tabu holds the record for the maximum number of wins in this category, having won the awar ...

for playing the lead role of a housemaid in the drama film ''

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

'' (2018). Shome has also starred in the films ''

A Death in the Gunj ''A Death In The Gunj'' is a 2016 Indian English-language drama film written and directed by Konkona Sen Sharma. The film features an ensemble cast of Vikrant Massey, Tillotama Shome, Om Puri, Tanuja, Gulshan Devaiah, Kalki Koechlin, Jim S ...

'' (2017) and '' Lust Stories 2'' (2023), as well as the television series '' Delhi Crime'' (2022), '' The Night Manager'' (2023), and ''

Paatal Lok ''Paatal Lok'' () is an Indian neo-noir crime thriller television series on Amazon Prime Video, created by Sudip Sharma, who wrote the script along with Sagar Haveli, Hardik Mehta and Gunjit Chopra, and directed by Avinash Arun and Prosit ...

'' (2025).

Early life

Shome was born in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

to Anupam and Baisakhi Shome. Shome grew up all over India since her father was with the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

Career

Shome went to Delhi's

Lady Shri Ram College Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) is a constituent women's college, affiliated with the University of Delhi. History Established in 1956 in New Delhi by the late Lala Shri Ram in memory of his wife Phoolan Devi (Lady Shri Ram), the college bega ...

and joined

Arvind Gaur Arvind Gaur is an Indian theatre director, actor trainer, social activist, street theatre worker and story teller. He is known for socially and politically relevant plays in India. Gaur's plays are contemporary and thought-provoking, connec ...

's Asmita theatre group. She moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in the autumn of 2004 for a master's program in educational theatre at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, where she remained until visiting

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 ...

on holiday in February 2008. Thereafter, she took up residence in Mumbai and after completing some outstanding projects in New York, she returned to India in May 2008. In New York, she also taught theatre to murder convicts at a high security US prison. She made her film debut as Alice in

's feature film ''

'', and played Deepa in '' Shadows of Time'' ('' Schatten der Zeit''), directed by

Florian Gallenberger Florian Gallenberger (born 23 February 1972 in Munich) is a German film director and writer. His film ''Quiero ser (I want to be...)'' was awarded the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 2001. Career Gallenberger appeared in various ...

. She played a nun in the Australian film '' The Waiting City'' by

Claire McCarthy Claire McCarthy is an Australian screenwriter, director, producer, and visual artist. Early life McCarthy was born in Sydney, the daughter of Christine, an author and concert pianist, and John McCarthy KC. She attended Meriden School in ...

. Italo Spinelli's ''Gangor'', based on Mahashweta Devi's novel, had her play a social worker. She also worked in Qaushiq Mukherjee's ''

Tasher Desh ''Tasher Desh'' () is a 2012 Bengali-language fantasy film directed by Q. The film has been described as a "trippy adaptation" of the 1933 Rabindrath Tagore play of the same name by Indian media. It begins with a nihilist playwright searchi ...

''. She played Mrs. Ahmadi in the Hindi political thriller film ''

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

'' directed by

Dibakar Banerjee Dibakar Banerjee (born 21 June 1969) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and advertisement-filmmaker known for his work in Hindi films. Banerjee started his career in advertising, being a feature filmmaker, he still continues to ...

. About her performance in ''Shanghai'' Rediff wrote "Shome created one of this year's most heartbreaking performances in a Hindi film". Her other roles have included Lara in ''Little Box of Sweets'' (directed by Meneka Das), Jaya in ''Long After'' (short film, directed by Afia Nathaniel) and Miraal in ''Butterfly'' (directed by Tanuj Chopra). Her performance as a girl who is raised as a boy in '' Qissa'' won her the best actress title in the New Horizons Competition of the seventh

Abu Dhabi Film Festival The Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF; ), formerly the Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF), was an international film festival held in the city of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from 2007 to 2015. History The Middle East Internationa ...

(ADFF). She shared the title with Norwegian actress Julia Wildschutt.

Personal life

Shome is married to Kunal Ross, the nephew of

Jaya Bachchan Jaya Bachchan (''née'' Bhaduri; born 9 April 1948) is an Indian actress and politician. She is regarded as one of the greatest actresses of Hindi cinema. She is serving as member of the parliament in the Rajya Sabha from the Samajwadi Party ...

, thus making her the niece-in-law of Jaya and

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

Filmography

Films

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shome, Tillotama Indian film actresses Living people Actresses in Bengali cinema Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development alumni 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses from Kolkata Filmfare Awards winners Year of birth missing (living people) 1970s births Actresses in Urdu cinema Actresses in Hindi television Indian web series actresses Lady Shri Ram College alumni New York University alumni