Personal life and education

Sonali was born in Mumbai into a Marathi speaking Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu family. She studied in Bangalore and Mumbai in Kendriya Vidyalaya Malleswaram and Holy Cross Convent High School, Thane. Thereafter she went to Welham Girls School, Dehradun. She married film director Goldie Behl on 12 November 2002. On 11 August 2005, she gave birth to a son, Ranveer, at the Breach Candy Hospital.

Career

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 and Ajay Devgn. 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.

Television career

She also hosted a dance show on television named Kya Masti Kya Dhoom....! and was one of the judges of Indian Idol on Sony Entertainment television. She also hosted the 50th Filmfare Awards with Saif Ali Khan and Farida Jalal on 26 February 2005. She was a judge on Mr & Mrs Television, Indian Idol 4 and India's Got Talent. In 2012, she also appeared as a judge on reality dance series, Hindustan Ke Hunarbaaz, on Life OK, along with choreographer Terence Lewis.

She also appeared as a judge in India's Best Dramebaaz on Zee TV. She is next appearing as narrator in the TV Show Mission Sapne to be aired on Colors in March-April 2014. Sonali has been finalized to play the lead role in Star Life OK's television serial Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh. The serial started airing in October 2014. She plays the main character called Shoba Sachdev.

Bollywood comeback

At the end of June 2012, Sonali Bendre was rumoured to quit judging India's Got Talent 4. She was said to be likely replaced by Ritesh Deshmukh. However, later, it turned out she opted out of the show in order to give her dates for her comeback vehicle, Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Dobaara!, for some period, the channel hasn't spoken to Bendre. Later, at the beginning of July, Sonali Bendre announced she will be making her comeback by portraying a character connected to the one played by Akshay Kumar in the movie. Her part was described by the director Milan Luthria: "Sonali's character is called Mumtaz. The name spells enigma and is very crucial to the plot of the film. The character doesn't fit into the usual mould of a mother or a sister or bhabhi but has an identity of its own. That is what makes it special. And that's why Sonali agreed to be a part of the film." She took a sabbatical from movies after 2004, then after giving birth to her son she started doing television. She refused to star in many movies, saying she wants to focus on her family, especially her son. But after she was offered Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Dobara, she said yes because of her friendship with Ekta and Shobha Kapoor and the fact she worked with both Luthria (Chori Chori) and Kumar (Tarazu, Sapoot, Angaaray, Keemat) before.

Filmography

As Actress

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
1994	Aag	Parul	Hindi	Hindi debut Filmfare Award for Lux New Face of the Year
1994	Naaraaz	Sonali	Hindi
1995	The Don	Anita Malik	Hindi
1995	Gaddaar	Priya	Hindi
1995	Takkar	Mohini	Hindi
1995	Bombay	Herself	Tamil	Special appearance in the song "Humma Humma"
1996	Rakshak	Dr. Pooja Malhotra	Hindi
1996	English Babu Desi Mem	Bijuriya	Hindi
1996	Diljale	Radhika	Hindi
1996	Apne Dam Par	Herself	Hindi	Special appearance in the song "Aara Hile Chapara Hile"
1996	Sapoot	Kajal	Hindi
1997	Bhai	Meenu	Hindi
1997	Tarazu	Pooja	Hindi
1997	Qahar	Neelam	Hindi
1998	Keemat - They Are Back	Mansi	Hindi
1998	Duplicate	Lily	Hindi
1998	Humse Badhkar Kaun	Anu	Hindi
1998	Major Saab	Nisha	Hindi
1998	Angaaray	Roma	Hindi
1998	Zakhm	Soniya	Hindi
1999	Kadhalar Dhinam	Roja	Tamil
1999	Kannodu Kanbathellam	Kalyani	Tamil
1999	Hum Saath Saath Hain	Preeti	Hindi
1999	Dahek	Sabina Bahkshi/Neelima Bahkshi	Hindi
1999	Sarfarosh	Seema	Hindi
2000	Chal Mere Bhai	Piya	Hindi	cameo appearance
2000	Dil Hi Dil Mein	Roja	Hindi
2000	Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai	Khushi	Hindi	Star Screen Award Best Supporting Actress
2000	Dhai Akshar Prem Ke	Nisha	Hindi	cameo appearance
2000	Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hain	Saawni	Hindi
2000	Preethse	Kiran	Kannada	kannada debut
2001	Murari	Vasundhara	Telugu	Telugu debut
1999	Love You Hamesha	Shivani	Hindi
2001	Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega	Sapna Chopra	Hindi
2001	Lajja	Herself	Hindi	Special appearance in the song "Mujhe Saajan Ke Ghar Jaana Hai"
2001	Tera Mera Saath Rahen	Madhuri	Hindi
2002	Indra	Pallavi	Telugu
2002	Khadgam	Swathi	Telugu
2002	Manmadhudu	Harika	Telugu
2003	Anahat	Queen Sheelavathi	Marathi
2003	Pyaar Kiya Nahin Jaatha	Disha	Hindi
2003	Palnati Brahmanayudu	Siva Nageswari	Telugu
2003	Chori Chori	Pooja	Hindi
2003	Kal Ho Naa Ho	Priya	Hindi	cameo appearance
2004	Shankar Dada MBBS	Dr. Sunita/ Chitti	Telugu
2004	Aga Bai Arrecha!	Herself	Marathi	Special appearance in the song "Cham Cham Karta Hai"
2013	Once Upon A Time in Mumbai Dobaara!	Mumtaz Khan	Hindi	cameo appearance

TV shows

Year	Serial	Role	Channel
2014 -2015	Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye	Shobha Sachdev	Life OK
2013 - Present	India's Best Dramebaaz	Judge	Zee Tv

Awards and nominations

List of Acting Awards and Nominations

Year	Film	Award	Category	Result
1995	Aag	Filmfare Awards	Filmfare Award for Lux New Face of the Year	Won
1995	Aag	Star Screen Awards	Star Screen Award Most Promising Newcomer - Female	Won
2000	Sarfarosh	International Indian Film Academy Awards	IIFA Award for Best Actress	Nominated
2001	Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai	Star Screen Awards	Star Screen Award Best Supporting Actress	Won
2001	Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai	International Indian Film Academy Awards	IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actress	Nominated
2004	Anahat	Star Screen Award	Best Actress Marathi	Won
2011	India's Got Talent	Golden Petal Awards	Most Chahiti Personality	Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]