Aditi Rao Hydari

Aditi Rao Hydari is an Indian actress who works mainly in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu films.

In 2004 and again in 2009, it was reported that Aditi was married to Satyadeep Mishra in 2002, an Indian lawyer and former actor.

In early 2004, Hydari completed work on her first acting project titled Sringaram, where she portrayed the lead role of a devadasi, a temple dancer of the 19th century.

The Tamil film was directed by Sharada Ramanathan and produced by Padmini Ravi, a noted Bharatanatyam dancer.

Hydari was offered the role after Ramanathan saw her dance performance at a conference, and was also impressed with her "vulnerable and fresh face" and her resemblance to dancer Shobana.

After being screened at numerous international film festivals throughout 2005 and 2006, the film received critical acclaim upon being shown in India and fetched several accolades, including three National Film Awards.

Born into the Tyabji–Hydari family, she made her film debut with the Malayalam film Prajapathi (2006).

She went on to have supporting roles in several Hindi films, including the dramas Yeh Saali Zindagi (2011) and Rockstar (2011), the horror film Murder 3 (2013), the thriller Wazir (2016), and the period drama Padmaavat (2018).

The actress had declined to comment on her marital status in a 2012 interview, but in a 2013 interview, she mentioned that she and Mishra were now separated.

Hydari had met Mishra when she was 17 years old, and it was with him that she had her first serious relationship.

She married him at the age of 24, but they kept the marriage a secret, since she was trying to be an actress.

Although now separated, the two have kept in touch over the years and remain close friends.

Hydari began her career as a Bharatanatyam dancer, having become interested in the art form following her association with Leela Samson from the age of 11.

She worked as a part of Samson's dance group, Spanda, teaching students and travelling through India and abroad to perform in stage events.

Aditi's father, who died in 2013, was a Sulaimani Bohra Muslim.

Aditi's mother, Vidya Rao, is a practising Buddhist who was born the daughter of a Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin father from Mangalore and a Telugu mother.

Hydari is thus of mixed lineage whether in terms of religion (Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist), community (Bohra, Brahmin, Telugu) or language (Konkani, Telugu, Kannada, Urdu).

Both of Hydari's parents belong to the nobility of erstwhile Hyderabad state.

Aditi's father, Ehsaan Hydari, was the grandson of Akbar Hydari, sometimes Prime Minister of Hyderabad state, and the nephew of Muhammad Saleh Akbar Hydari, former Governor of Assam.

Aditi's mother, Vidya Rao, is a classical singer accomplished in the thumri and dadra genres of Hindustani music.

Her mother (Aditi's maternal grandmother), Shanta Rameshwar Rao (not to be confused with the writer Shanta Rama Rao), was the founder of Vidyaranya High School in Hyderabad and chairperson of the publishing house Orient Blackswan (owned by her father, the Raja).

vidhya is the daughter of J. Rameshwar Rao, last ruling Raja of Wanaparthy.

He was one of the four highest-ranking nobleman in the court of the Nizam of Hyderabad.

His ancestral Jagir, Wanaparthy, was one of the four largest feudal estates under Hyderabad state; the holders of these estates held the title of "Maharaja."

Indian film producer, screenwriter, and director Kiran Rao, ex-wife of actor Aamir Khan, is Aditi's maternal first cousin.

Aditi's parents separated when she was two years old, and she has no siblings.

While her father remained in Hyderabad, her mother took Aditi with her and moved to New Delhi, giving rise to a bitter legal battle for custody and her father's visiting rights.

Due to the bitterness between her parents, Aditi saw little of her father in childhood, and had a difficult relationship with him in her adulthood.

After many years, her father remarried, but he never had any other children.

Aditi's mother never remarried, but she had an active social life and career, so after the custody issues abated and Aditi was old enough, she sent Aditi away to boarding school.

This was the Rishi Valley School near Madanapalle in Andhra Pradesh.

Aditi later graduated from Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi.

Hydari spent her early childhood and later school vacations in New Delhi and also Hyderabad, where much of her family lived.

She started learning Bharatanatyam at age six and became a student of acclaimed Delhi-based exponent Leela Samson.

Hydari uses both of her parents' surnames.

She explained, "I wanted to keep both, as my mom has brought me up, but my father is also a part of me. Hydari is a rare name so I kept both Rao and Hydari."

Hydari had a starring role in Mani Ratnam's romantic drama Kaatru Veliyidai (2017), for which she won a SIIMA Award.

She received a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu for her starring role in Sammohanam (2018).

She has since starred in other Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films such as Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018), Sufiyum Sujatayum (2020) and Maha Samudram (2021), and the Hindi anthology film Ajeeb Daastaans (2021) and series Jubilee (2023).

Aditi Rao Hydari was born in Hyderabad to Ehsaan Hydari and his wife Vidya Rao.