Khushbu

Khushbu Sundar (born Nakhat Khan; 29 September 1970) is an Indian politician, actress, film producer and television presenter.

She is known for her works predominantly in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films.

Khushbu was born as Nakhat Khan on 29 September 1970 into a Muslim family in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

Her parents gave her the stage name Khushbu when she started her career as a child actress.

She has been living in Chennai for nearly 40 years now.

Khushbu started her career as a child artist in the Hindi film The Burning Train (1980) in the song "Teri Hai Zameen Tera Aasman".

Between 1980 and 1985 she performed as a child actor in the Hindi films Naseeb, Laawaris, Kaalia, Dard Ka Rishta, and Bemisal.

Her sensitive performance in the emotional film 1982-Hindi movie, Dard Ka Rishta was appreciated by audiences.

The Fairy song "Main Pariyon Ki Shehzaadi" from the movie is still a very popular song at Annual Day School performances, children's parties and Fairy themed parties in India.

She made her adult role acting debut in the much acclaimed 1985 Hindi film Meri Jung in a supporting role as Anil Kapoor's younger sister.

In the same year, she got her first lead role in the film Jaanoo cast opposite veteran actor Jackie Shroff.

This was followed byTan-Badan (1986) paired with Govinda.

Khushbu was introduced to South Indian screens by D. Ramanaidu and K. Raghavendra Rao through the Telugu film Kaliyuga Pandavulu (1986).

Khushbu moved her base to Chennai and started focussing on Tamil and other South Indian film industries.

Prabhu and Khushbu appeared in serveral films together including Dharmathin Thalaivan (1988), Vettri Vizhaa (1989), My Dear Marthandan (1990), Chinna Thambi (1991), Pandithurai (1992), Uthama Raasa (1993), Maravan (1993) and Chinna Vathiyar (1995).

Khushbu then forayed into television, plunged into politics and also devoted time as a homemaker.

In 2021, she made a comeback with Rajinikanth in Annaatthe.

Khushbu and sprinter Usain Bolt are honorary members of Richmond Football Club, based in Melbourne, Australia.

Khushbu played a significant supporting role in Deewana Mujh Sa Nahin (1990), alongside Aamir Khan and Madhuri Dixit.

Khushbu joined the DMK on 14 May 2010.

She was welcomed by DMK Leader Karunanidhi at the party headquarters in Chennai.

Khushbu joined the Indian National Congress on 26 November 2014 after meeting with then Congress President Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, and then Vice-president Mr. Rahul Gandhi.

She was the National Spokesperson of the INC. Khushbu was very critical of Narendra Modi's policies and has often taken to Twitter to criticise the ruling dispensation.

Khushbu quit DMK on 16 June 2014.

The Bharatiya Janata Party fielded Khushbu for the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election from Thousand Lights constituency in Chennai.

Khushbu was made the number-one ticket holder of Richmond Football Club in March 2017.

She became the first Indian, and is the only Indian female to be bestowed with such an honour in the AFL.

Khushbu was introduced to Australian Rules Football, and nominated for the role of honorary member of Richmond Tigers by former Ministerial Adviser Mr. Nitin Gupta.

On 14th Aug 2017, Khushbu was invited by the RMIT University to speak with their Media and Coms Students, about the 'Representation of women in Indian Cinema', at a session moderated by Dr. Vikrant Kishore.

She also did a lengthy Q and A with students and guests, and spoke about her own experiences of working in Indian cinema for over 37 years, and 200 films.

Around 200 plus students and guests had turned up to listen and interact with Khushbu.

She was given a standing ovation by the audiences, both at the beginning and the end of session.

On 15th Aug 2017, Khushbu was invited as chief guest at the Deakin University Indian Club’s (DUIC) Indian Independence Day celebrations event by DUIC Founder President Mr Amogh Chakravarthy.

Deakin University’s Deputy Vice Chancellor for Global Engagement Professor Gary Smith and former ministerial adviser Mr Nitin Gupta were the guests of honour at the celebrations, which were hosted at the University’s Burwood Campus.

On 12 October 2020, Khushbu joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.

She is currently a National Executive Committee Member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Khushbu resigned from Congress on 12 October 2020 ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections in 2021.

The congress secretary of Media said that Khushbu was being pressurized by her husband Sundar C. to join the BJP.

Khushbu claimed that her previous party "does not want an intelligent woman" and there is no freedom to speak the truth within the party and called the Congress as "mentally retarded".

The National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) filed 30 complaints at different police stations in the state over her statements for allegedly making derogatory remarks against people with disabilities.