Mahima Chaudhry

was called upon to appear in TV ads for brands like Pepsi where she co-starred with big names like Aamir Khan and Aishwarya Rai earlier on. However it was her anchoring stint in various channels that brought her the major turnaround when she was spotted by filmmaker Subhash Ghai who later introduced her in cinema through his film Pardes in 1997 after being a selected in an audition with over 3000 candidates.

Film debut and rise to prominence ( 1997-1999) Mahima Chaudhry started her acting career by co-starring with ShahRukh Khan as the female lead in the movie Pardes. The musical romance movie which narrated the love between an Indian American man and an Indian girl amidst other parental plans was one of the biggest commercial and critical successes of Hindi cinema at that time. The cult movie was the perfect platform for Mahima to launch her film career as she was an overnight sensation among Hindi movie goers in the year 1997. She was seen doing her part of well looking goon on screen and came up with a Filmfare Award winning performance that year. She then went on to make her Telugu film debut after a year’s gap in the year 1999 with the moderately successful romantic film Manasulo Maata alongside Jagapathi Babu and Srikanth in the lead. She however shortly returned to Bollywood with Prakash Jha’s Ajay Devgn starrer emotional drama flick Dil Kya Kare, which saw her playing a wife who comes across shocking revelations of her family with the entry of a third women in their life’s. The highly critically acclaimed movie saw her getting under the skin of the character aplomb and delivering a befitting performance underplaying the complex psychological nuances to the part. Career peak phase ( mid 1999-2004) Raj Kanwar was next in line to cast her in his action drama flick Daag: The Fire which had her opposite Sanjay Dutt and Chandrachur Singh and was her very first dual part in movies and the movie was a super hit outing. After a mediocre outing in Sunny Deol’s Pyaar Koi Khel Nahin, she resurfaced with a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress nominated performance in Akshay Kumar starrer romantic drama flick Dhadkan in the year 2000. She then came back with power packed performances in potboilers like Deewane and Kurukshetra and added to her as the leading lady of Hindi cinema. She then went on to play some strong and bold parts in movies like Lajja as a young bride fighting dowry system, Priyadarsan’s Suniel Shetty starrer Yeh Teraa Ghar Yeh Meraa where she played a stubborn tenant who refuses to give up her home and in Dil Hai Tumhaara all of which panned out to be priceless additions to her filmography. She then went to take up quirky over the top parts in movies like Dobara playing a frustrated housewife, a struggling writer in the thriller flick The Film. However she had a strong hearted comeback in Kamal’s Ajay Devgn starrer Zameer: The Fire Within where she played a paralyzed girl whose existence culminates in a series of unfortunate events. Her performance was noted although the movie could not garner much favourable responses. Array of other films ( 2005-2016) Film Star Home Delivery Southe: The Other Women Sandwich Sarhad Paar Gumnaam – The Mystery Mumbhaii- The Gangster Dark Chocolate ( 2016)