Bhumika Chawla

Bhumika Chawla (born Rachna Chawla on 21 August 1978) is an Indianactress. She made her film debut in the Telugu film Yuvakudu(2000) and has since then worked in various Indian film industries andappeared in over thirty films in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi,Bhojpuri, Punjabi and Malayalam. She is probably bestknown for her critically acclaimed performances in Kushi,Okkadu (2003), Tere Naam, Missamma, Gandhi, My Fatherand Anasuya.

Early life

Chawla was born in a Punjabi family in New Delhi, India andcompleted her schooling there. Her father was an Army officer. Shemoved to Mumbai in 1997 and started her career with Ad films andHindi music video albums. She appeared in the Zee TV seriesHip Hip Hurray.

Career

Chawla started off her film career in the Telugu film industry,starring in the feature film Yuvakudu (2000) alongside actorSumanth. Her second release, Kushi (2001), in which shestarred opposite Pawan Kalyan was a box office success, winningher the Filmfare Best Actress Award (Telugu) following which sheacted in several films in Telugu, including Okkadu (2003)opposite Mahesh Babu and Simhadri (2003) opposite Jr. NTR,which became two of the year's highest grossers in Telugu.Meanwhile, she made her debut in the Tamil film industry as well,starring in the film Badri (2001) opposite actor Vijay, whichwas followed by her second Tamil film Roja Kootam (2002).

After a number of critically and commercially successful films in theSouth, Chawla starred in her first Bollywood film, Tere Naam(2003), alongside Salman Khan. The film was one of the year'shighest grossers. It was a critical success and her performance in thefilm won her many positive notices as well as several nominations forBest Debut at different award ceremonies. She was nominated for herfirst Filmfare Best Actress Award and won the Best Debut trophy atthe Zee Cine Awards ceremony.

Subsequently, she got to star in a number of Hindi films as Run(2004), a remake of the same-named Tamil film, Dil Ne JiseApna Kahaa (2004), again opposite Salman Khan, Silsilay (2005)and Dil Jo Bhi Kahey... (2005) alongside Amitabh Bachchan. Shereturned to Telugu, acting in the films Naa Autograph (2004) (aremake of the Tamil film Autograph) and Jai Chiranjeeva,alongside Chiranjeevi and Sameera Reddy. Whilst Chawla'sperformance in the former won her accolades and the CineMAA JuryAward for Best Actress, the latter went to become a super hit film.

In 2006, Chawla appeared in the Tamil film Sillunu Oru Kaadhal,alongside real-life couple Surya and Jyothika which became abig hit worldwide, whilst playing a vital role in the Hindi filmFamily - Ties of Blood, in which she shared screen space withAmitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar, and starring in the Telugufantasy film, Mayabazar. Following which, she acted in theHindi film Gandhi, My Father as Gulab Gandhi and enacted the titleroles in the Telugu films Sathyabhama, in which she played a woman whosuffers from Short-term memory loss, and Anasuya, acrime thriller, and in the Bhojpuri film, Gangotri (2007film), a sequel to the successful 2006 Bhojpuri film Ganga, actingagain alongside Amitabh Bachchan.

In 2008, she made her debut in the Punjabi film industry, starringin Yaariyan, opposite Gurdas Maan, following which she debutedin Malayalam as well, starring in Bhramaram alongsideMohanlal. Currently, she is working on half-a-dozen films inTamil, Telugu and Hindi, which include Thangar Bachan'sKalavadiya Pozhudugal opposite Prabhu Deva in Tamil, Yagamalongside Navdeep and Sathyaraj in Telugu and Classmates,a remake of the Classmates (film), in Hindi.

Personal life

Bhumika Chawla married her long-time boyfriend and Yoga teacherBharat Thakur on 21 October 2007 at Devlali, Nashik in aGurdwara. She went regularly to Thakur's courses and is saidto have dated him for four years, before eventually marryinghim.The couple has a son born on February2014. Bhumika has two siblings; one brother, who isan army officer, and one sister, both elder to her.

Gallery of Bhumika Chawla