Urmila Matondkar

About Urmila Matondkar

Urmila Matondkar is an Indian actress. Known for her work in Hindi films, in addition to Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Marathi cinema, she has received numerous accolades, including the Filmfare Award and the Nandi Award. During her career as a leading actress, she established a distinctive on-screen persona, was identified with her intense style and dancing skills.After making her debut as a child in the 1977 film Karm, Matondkar gained wide recognition with Masoom (1983), following which she appeared in few other films. Her first adult role came with the Malayalam film Chanakyan (1989), and her first adult role in Hindi cinema came with the action drama Narsimha (1991), both of which were commercial successes.

Matondkar established herself as a leading actress of Bollywood with the romantic drama Rangeela (1995), following which she achieved further success with the drama Judaai (1997), the crime film Satya (1998), the romantic comedy Khoobsurat (1999), and the thriller Jungle (2000). She also achieved success in Telugu and Tamil cinema with starring roles in Antham (1992), Gaayam (1993), Indian (1996) and Anaganaga Oka Roju (1997). She garnered critical recognition for portraying a range of intense characters in several psychological thrillers and horror films, including a serial killer in Kaun (1999), an obsessive lover in Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya (2001), a possessed woman in Bhoot (2003) and a violent avenger in Ek Hasina Thi (2004). During these years, Matondkar collaborated with independent filmmakers in art-house, including the dramas Tehzeeb (2003), Pinjar (2003), Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara (2005), Bas Ek Pal (2006) and the Marathi film Ajoba (2014).In addition to acting in films, Matondkar is involved with several humanitarian causes and is vocal about issues faced by women and children. She has participated in concert tours and stage shows, and featured as a talent judge for various dance reality shows, including Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa.

Matondkar established herself as a leading actress of contemporary Hindi cinema by featuring in Varma's musical romance Rangeela, one of the top-grossing productions of the year. Co-starring Aamir Khan and Jackie Shroff, the film emerged as a blockbuster with a gross of ₹334 million. Matondkar played Mili Joshi, an effervescent fun-loving friend of a street-toughened orphan, who ambitions of becoming an actress. At the 41st Filmfare Awards, Rangeela was nominated for 12 awards including a first Best Actress nomination for Matondkar. The film was screened at the International Film Festival of India.

She also starred alongside Mohanlal in the Malayalam action Thacholi Varghese Chekavar. She played Maya, the only witness in a homicide who is kept under house arrest by her parents. She played Sapna, the daughter of an RTO official in S. Shankar's Indian (1996), which marked her first Tamil film. It was also dubbed and released in Hindi under the title Hindustani. Featuring Kamal Haasan in dual roles alongside Matondkar and Manisha Koirala, it was the most expensive Indian film at that time, with a budget of 150 million. Nirupama Subramanian of India Today felt the film was a commercial potboiler and wrote, "Indian has dances, foot-tapping melodies by A. R. Rahman and two pretty women, Manisha Koirala and Urmila Matondkar". Both Indian and Hindustani were commercial successes. The film was India's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Award...

Movies Appeared in

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Urmila Matondkar Interview for Blackmail

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