Sonali bendre – India

Sonali Bendre is an Indian film actress and model who predominantly worked in Hindi and Telugu films. She has also appeared in a few Tamil, Marathi and Kannada films.

Bendre started out as a model before being selected for the “Star Dust Talent Search”. She was invited to Mumbai and received training from a variety of top actors and performers of the Indian film industry. Her first role was in Aag (1994) opposite Govinda.The movie flopped,but she got noticed. And she got two awards for Filmfare Award for Lux New Face of the Year and Star Screen Awards Most Promising Newcomer. Though, she initially struggled to be a successful actress, she was eventually given critical acclaim for her performances in Diljale in 1996, followed by Bhai (1997), Sarfarosh, Zakhm, Duplicate, Kadhalar Dhinam (Tamil film), Hum Saath-Saath Hain: We Stand United (1999), Tera Mera Saath Rahen (2001) and Anahat (2003) among others. She is also known for being one of the few actresses who acted opposite all top four Khans (Salman, Aamir, Shahrukh and Saif). She has also starred opposite Bollywood actors such as Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Dutt and Anil Kapoor. She also starred opposite Telugu matinee idol Chiranjeevi in films such as Indra and Shankar Dada M.B.B.S.

In addition to her acting performances, she was also recognized as a graceful dancer through films such as Gaddar, Sapoot, Bombay, Lajja and Major Saab. In 2003, she made a special appearance as Shahrukh Khan’s doctor named Dr. Priya in Kal Ho Naa Ho (produced by Karan Johar), which also starred Saif Ali Khan and Preity Zinta. Bendre also starred in the theatre in a play called, Aap Ki Soniya.