Amrita Rao

Amrita Rao
File:Amrita Rao at the First look launch of 'Singh Sahab The Great'.jpg Rao at the first-look launch of Singh Saab the Great, 2013
Born	Amrita Deepak Rao Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Ethnicity	Indian
Occupation	Actress, model
Years active	2002–present
Relatives	Preetika Rao (sister) Deepak Rao (father)

Amrita Rao (pronounced [əmriːt̪a ːraːʋ]) is an Indian film actress and model. She has appeared in Hindi films of Bollywood as well as a few films in Telugu. Born and raised in Mumbai, Rao made her screen debut in Ab Ke Baras (2002) for which she was nominated for the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award, 2003. One of her most critically acclaimed roles was in the blockbuster romance Vivah (2006).

Roles in Welcome to Sajjanpur (2008) and Main Hoon Na (2004) earned Amrita a Stardust Best Actress Award and a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award nomination respectively. Rao made special appearances in films such as Heyy Babyy (2007), Shaurya (2008), Life Partner (2009) and Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai (2010). She has been cited as "Bollywood's quintessential girl next-door" by various media outlets. Rao has been named one of Times Of India's "50 Most Desirable Women of 2011."

Early life

Amrita Rao was born in Mumbai. Her father, Deepak Rao owns an advertising agency. Her younger sister Preetika Rao, is a model and a Southern film actress. Rao attended school at Canossa Convent Girls School. She graduated from Sophia College with a psychology degree. Rao describes her family as a "very conservative family – a traditional, Hindu, Indian family" and herself as very liberal. Her mother tongue is Konkani. She also speaks Marathi, English and Hindi.

Career

2002–2006: Early career

File:Amrita Rao Archana Kochar.jpg

Amrita walking the ramp for Archana Kochar at Lakme Fashion Week 2012

Years in modelling

Before starting her career as an actor, Rao acted in several commercials during her college days. Her first public appearance came at the age of seventeen, in 2002, when she was featured in the music video for Alisha Chinoy's Woh Pyar Mera.

Early career in acting

In 2002, Rao played her first leading role as Anjali Thapar, an Indian girl born and brought up in London, in Raj Kanwar's fantasy thriller Ab Ke Baras. Film critic Planet Bollywood wrote, "Amrita Rao comes out the real winner, with her dancing skills, innocent looks and decent acting skills."

In May 2003, Rao starred with Shahid Kapoor in the coming-of-age romance film Ishq Vishk, in the role of a college-going girl. Rao's portrayal earned her several awards, including Filmfare Best Female Debut Award (2003) and IIFA Award for Star Debut of the Year, (2004). Critic Taran Adarsh from IndiaFM wrote, "Amrita Rao is a revelation. If she was quite okay in her first film, she is incredible in her second film. Here's an actress to watch. Her emotional sequences are so powerful that they are bound to melt even the stone-hearted."

In 2004, Rao starred in Indra Kumar's adult comedy Masti, opposite Vivek Oberoi. Amongst the low number of Bollywood adult comedy movies at the time of its release, the film received positive response from critics, and also become a financial success at the box office. Her performance as Anchal, who is obsessively possessive about her husband, has been received positively.

Rao next had a supporting role in the Farah Khan action comedy, and the first film of Shah Rukh Khan's production company Red Chillies Entertainment, Main Hoon Na, where she co-starred alongside Shah Rukh Khan, Sunil Shetty, Sushmita Sen and Zayed Khan. Her role as the army officer's daughter Sanjana (Sanju) Bakshi earned Rao Best Supporting Actress, her second filmfare nomination. Rao had a minor role in Milan Luthria's Deewar, a film about 50 Indian soldiers captured by Pakistani soldiers in 1971, during the war between India and Pakistan. Amrita played the small role of Radhika, Gaurang Kaul's love interest. The film was received poorly by both audiences and critics, and was declared a flop.

Rao co-starred alongside Shahid Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt in the 2005 drama Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi!, which tells the story of a man and the Hindu god of death, Yamraj. Critical response towards the film was negative, although Rao garnered acclaim for her performance of a school teacher. Glamsham believed that the only thing that made the film watchable was the acting of Amrita Rao. That same year, Rao took on the lead role in the John Matthew Matthan drama Shikhar, a film about how some businessmen can cross any line and go to any length to get what they desire. She portrayed Madhvi, Jai's love interest. The film was very well received by critics and did average at the box office. She then appeared in the 2006 low-budget comedy Pyare Mohan opposite Vivek Oberoi. The film was inspired by the Hollywood movie See No Evil, Hear No Evil. The movie was not well received by critics; Rajeev Masand wrote, "Amrita hit career lows, producing the low-fashion chemistry."

Although highly regarded for her acting abilities, Rao's films to date had often not appealed to a wide audience, but Sooraj R. Barjatya's romantic drama Vivah (2006) made her a national star. The film depicted the journey of two individuals from engagement to marriage. Co-starring alongside Shahid Kapoor, Rao portrayed Poonam, a traditionally brought up young woman. The film was given mixed reviews by most critics but became one of the highest grossing films of the year, as well as Rao's biggest commercial success to date. The film went on to gross ₹539.0 million (US$8.0 million) worldwide. Taran Adarsh wrote, "Amrita Rao gets a new lease of life with Vivah. She looks the character and is splendid all through." At the 13th Star Screen Award, Rao received a Best Actress nomination.

2007–2011

Rao was cast alongside Mahesh Babu in the 2007 Telugu action film Athidhi. The film was directed and co-written by Surender Reddy. She played the girlfriend of Mahesh's character. Athidhi achieved success at the box office, grossing over ₹35 crore (US$5.2 million) in 4 weeks, despite having had a limited theatrical release. She received mostly positive reviews, with critics praising the chemistry between Rao and Mahesh Babu. Rediff noted, "Amrita Rao, who makes her debut in Telugu films, makes a mark." Other critics, such as Sify wrote that, " Amrita Rao is not only beautiful but also glamorous. She has proved that she could be yet another native girl for Tollywood. She emoted well with convincing histrionics fit for Telugu screen."

In 2008, she appeared in the drama film My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves opposite newcomer Nikhil Dwivedi. She played Riya, an orphan who lives a middle-class lifestyle in Mumbai and works as an assistant director for a movie producer. The film received overwhelmingly negative reviews and performed poorly at the box office. Amrita's performance was praised by some critics; OneIndia Entertainment noted, "Amrita Rao looks gorgeous, but her role isn't substantial enough." She took a small role of the Nirja Rathore in Shaurya in 2008, a film which revolves around the court-martial of a Muslim officer in the Indian army, for shooting his commanding officer. The film is set against the backdrop of the Kashmir Conflict in Northern India. Mainly inspired from the Hollywood movie A Few Good Men, Shaurya received positive reviews from the critics, but failed to perform well at the box office.

In 2008, Rao appeared in her third blockbuster, Shyam Benegal's comedy film Welcome to Sajjanpur. She played the role of Kamala, a woman who is desperate for communication from her husband Bansiram (Kunal Kapoor), a labourer at a dockyard in Mumbai. The film tells the story of several villagers, including a child widow, an abandoned wife, a harried mother, a corrupt neta, a romantic compounder and their serious and mischievous problems. The film received positive reviews and earned ₹20 million (US$300,000), making it the second-highest grossing film in Amrita's career. Hindustan Times noted, "Amrita Rao is sweetness personified." She received a Stardust Best Actress Award for her performance.

Rao starred with Harman Baweja in Victory, an Indian cricket-based sports film which focuses on a struggling cricketer who defies all odds to realize an almost impossible dream. The film received generally mixed reviews from critics, and Amrita garnered acclaim for her performance as a Herman's childhood friend Nandini. The film faced competition from other films such Raaz 2 and Dev D and failed to do well. With a huge budget, it only managed to gross ₹1 crore (US$150,000) and was declared a disaster by Boxoffice-India. That same year, Amrita took on the lead role in Neeraj Vora's comedy drama Short Kut: The Con is On opposite Akshaye Khanna, produced by Anil Kapoor. The film stars Rao as Mansi, girlfriend of Akshaye's character. Critical response towards the comedy film was negative and, though having grossed its budget back, it was considered a financial disappointment.

Rao's only film of 2011 was Love U...Mr. Kalakaar! and her second movie under Rajshri Productions. She was generally praised for her physical performance, but the movie generated mostly negative reviews and became a commercial failure. Nikhat Kazmi of the Times of India wrote, "Amrita Rao at best, but the film is so predictable and so long, it loses impact." Rao has also made special appearances in Heyy Babyy (2007), Life Partner (2007) and Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai (2010).

2013–present

After a two and a half year absence from the screen, Rao starred in the national award winning courtroom comedy drama film Jolly LLB (2013). She played the lead role as Sandhya, girlfriend of Arshad Warsi's character. The film showed the life of a lawyer and his journey against the monopolistic behavior of the rich and judicial corruption, but the storyline is inspired by the 1999 hit-and-run case of Sanjeev Nanda. Although the film received mixed reviews, it won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi, and the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. Rao's performance was singled out for praise.

Rao co-starred alongside Sunny Deol in the action movie Singh Saab the Great (2013), directed by Anil Sharma. The film chronicles a common man who takes pride in his honesty. Rao portrayed the journalist role as Shikha Chaturvedi, in the film which runs closely with that of Deol's throughout the film. The movie faced several controversies and ran into trouble with the SGPC, which has objected to the title of the film. While the film was largely panned by critics, Rao earned positive reviews for her performance. Namrta Joshi of Outlook felt that, "Amrita Rao plays a role that definitely feels like something she has already done, all the emotional support." The film received predominately negative reviews but was a moderate box-office success with revenues of ₹29 crore (US$4.3 million).

Later that year, she appeared in Prakash Jha's political drama Satyagraha, as part of an ensemble cast that included Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Manoj Bajpai. Rao played the role of Sumitra, the daughter-in-law of Amitabh Bachchan's character. Rao was praised in particular. Resham Sengar of Zee News wrote, "Ms. Rao has the sweetly cherubic looks. She is convincing in most of the emotional scenes. But again, her scope of performance is just limited to mouthing a few important dialogues." The movie was not well received by critics and failed to make a profit at the box office. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV noted, "Satyagraha spares no effort to reflect the rising tide of public anger against a creaking, corrupt and callous system that treats citizens of the country like a load of dirt. The script draws inspiration from several real-life scams and political shenanigans, and constructs a predictable narrative that underlines the undeniable might of social media." Despite having moderate reviews, the film grossed over ₹60 crore (US$8.9 million) at the domestic box office.

Filmography

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Actor

Title	Year	Role	Notes
Ab Ke Baras	2002	Anjali Thapar/ Nandini
The Legend of Bhagat Singh	2002	Mannewali
Ishq Vishk	2003	Payal Mehra
Masti	2004	Aanchal Mehta
Main Hoon Na	2004	Sanjana (Sanju) Bakshi
Deewaar	2004	Radhika
Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi!	2005	Piya
Shikhar	2005	Madhavi
Pyare Mohan	2006	Piya
Vivah	2006	Poonam
Heyy Babyy	2007	-	Special appearance in song "Heyy Babyy"
Athidhi	2007	Amrita	Telugu debut
My Name is Anthony Gonsalves	2008	Riya
Shaurya	2008	Neerja Rathod
Welcome to Sajjanpur	2008	Kamala
Victory	2009	Nandini
Short Kut: The Con is On	2009	Mansi
Life Partner	2009	Anjali	Special appearance
Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai	2010	Tara's sister	Special appearance
Love U...Mr. Kalakaar!	2011	Ritu
Jolly LLB	2013	Sandhya
Singh Saab the Great	2013	Shikha Chaturvedi
Satyagraha	2013	Sumitra
The Legend Of Kunal	2015	Kanchanmala	Pre-production
Prakash Jha's untitled		TBA	Pre-production

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result
2003	Star Screen Awards	Most Promising Newcomer – Female	Ab Ke Baras	Nominated
2003	Filmfare Awards	Best Female Debut	Ab Ke Baras	Nominated
2004	Zee Cine Awards	Best Female Debut	Ishq Vishk	Nominated
2004	IIFA	Star Debut of the Year – Female	Ishq Vishk	Won
2004	Stardust Awards	Superstar of Tomorrow – Female	Ishq Vishk	Won
2005	Filmfare Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Main Hoon Na	Nominated
2007	Star Screen Awards	Best Actress	Vivah	Nominated
2007	Star Screen Awards	Jodi No. 1 (along with Shahid Kapoor)	Vivah	Nominated
2009	Stardust Awards	Best Actress	Welcome to Sajjanpur	Won

Other awards won

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result
2004	Sansui Awards	Best Female Debut	Ishq Vishk	Won
2007	GR8 Women Awards	Young Achiever	Vivah	Won
2007	Anandalok Awards	Most Promising New Talent	Vivah	Won
2007	Sports World Awards	Jodi of the Year (along with Shahid Kapoor)	Vivah	Won
2012	Kolkata Kalakar Awards	Best Actress Category (Bollywood)	Love U...Mr. Kalakaar!	Won

External links

• Amrita Rao at the Internet Movie Database