Sonali Bendre

Sonali Bendre (born 1 January 1975) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi and Telugu films.

Sonali Bendre was born on 1 January 1975 in present-day Mumbai, Maharashtra in a Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu family.

She has 2 sisters.

Her father was a civil servant.

She completed her schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bangalore and completed her graduation from Ramnarain Ruia College, Mumbai.

Bendre was a model before entering the Star Dust Talent Search.

She did modelling assignments prior to making her acting debut with Aag (1994), which won her the Filmfare Award for New Face of the Year.

Bendre is a recipient of several accolades, including two Filmfare Awards and four Screen Awards.

She made her film debut with Aag (1994) at the age of 19.

For this, she won the Filmfare Award for Lux New Face of the Year and Screen Award for Best Female Debut.

The same year, she also appeared in Naaraaz, for which she was awarded Filmfare's Sensational Debut Award.

Bendre had three releases in 1995 with The Don, Gaddaar and Takkar.

Bendre later received recognition with the song "Humma Humma" from the film, Bombay.

Bendre played the leading lady in such commercially successful films as Diljale (1996), Major Saab (1998), Sarfarosh (1999) and Hum Saath Saath Hain (1999).

The year 1996 marked a turning point in her career, where she had five releases.

She starred in opposite Sunil Shetty in three films - Rakshak, Apne Dam Par and Sapoot.

Later, she played a village girl in English Babu Desi Mem opposite Shah Rukh Khan.

Lastly, she appeared in Diljale opposite Ajay Devgn, which proved to be her breakthrough performance.

It was a box-office hit.

Avinash Ramchandani of Planet Bollywood said, "Sonali Bendre is dashingly beautiful".

In 1997, Bendre starred in Bhai opposite Sunil Shetty, Tarazu opposite Akshay Kumar and Qahar opposite Sunny Deol.

1998 was another successful year for Bendre.

She first appeared in Keemat – They Are Back opposite Saif Ali Khan, in Humse Badhkar Kaun and Angaaray opposite Nagarjuna.

She then appeared opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Duplicate, which was an average success.

She received Zee Cine Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Female nomination for the film.

Her next two films opposite Ajay Devgn were major box office success, Major Saab, where India Today called her "insipid" and Zakhm, where Anish Khanna noted that she made "an impact".

Bendre has also worked in the Tamil film Kadhalar Dhinam (1999) and the Telugu film Murari (2001).

She earned a Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu nomination for the latter.

In 1999, Bendre appeared opposite Aamir Khan in Sarfarosh.

Filmfare noted, "Sonali does justice to her first real role, the only one worth talking about, that is."

She received IIFA Best Actress Award nomination.

Bendre next portrayed Dr. Preeti in Hum Saath-Saath Hain opposite Salman Khan, which became the highest-grossing film of the year.

Her performance in Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai (2000) won her the Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Her other successful Telugu films include Indra, Khadgam, Manmadhudu (all 2002) and Shankar Dada MBBS (2004).

Bendre then starred in the Marathi film Anahat (2003).

This was followed by a hiatus from acting.

She has since appeared as a judge on various reality shows like India's Got Talent and India's Best Dramebaaz.

Later, Bendre starred in the television series Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye (2014) and The Broken News (2022).

Along with her acting career, Bendre is a celebrity endorser for brands and products.

She is married to filmmaker Goldie Behl with whom she has a son.