Neena Kulkarni is a popular Indian theatre, film, and television actor. She is best known for playing the character of ‘Madhvi Vishwanathan Iyer’ in the popular TV serial, ‘Yeh Hai Mohabbatein’ (2013), aired on Star Plus.
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Wiki/Biography
Neena Kulkarni was born on Wednesday, 15 August 1955 (age 69 years; as of 2024), in Pune, Maharashtra. Her zodiac sign is Leo. She did her schooling from Canossa High School, Mahim in Mumbai. Later, she joined Elphinstone College in Mumbai to pursue her graduation in arts, and her major subject in graduation was French. [1]DNA India
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 5″
Eye Colour: Dark Brown
Hair Colour: Salt & Pepper
Family & Caste
Neena was born into an upper-middle-class family. Her father, Dr V. G. Joshi and mother, Kamal Joshi were doctors.
Relationships, Husband & Children
She dated the late Marathi actor, Dilip Kulkarni for almost six years, and the couple got married on 25 October 1980. The couple has two children, Sohaa Kulkarni and Divij Kulkarni. Sohaa is into TV production, and Divij is working in an advertising company. On 22 December 2002, Neena’s husband died due to serious heart disease.
Career
While she was in college, she started working as a model in various fashion shows. She has featured in various TV commercials, including Kalnirnay, Bisleri, Sprite, Mother Dairy, Cadbury, and Life Insurance Corporation.
In 1970, she met the Indian theatre director and actor, Satyadev Dubey. She got initial training in acting from him. Later, she acted in many popular Marathi and Hindi theatre plays, like Mohan Rakesh’s ‘Adhe Adhure,’ Shankar Shesh’s ‘Mayavi Sarovar,’ Willie Russell’s ‘Educating Rita,’ and Ajit Dalvi’s ‘Mahatma Versus Gandhi.’
In 1978, the Indian Marathi film & theatre director, Vijaya Mehta, selected her to play the role of ‘Shabbo’ in Anil Barve’s theatre play ‘Hamidabai Chi Kothi.’ Neena acted in many theatre plays of Vijaya Mehta (Bai), and later, assisted her in various acting workshops.
In 1987, she debuted in the Bollywood film, ‘Mirch Masala,’ in which she played the role of a pepper factory worker. She has appeared as a supporting actor in many Bollywood films, like ‘Daayraa’ (1996), ‘Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani’ (2000), ‘Hungama’ (2003), ‘Paheli’ (2005), and ‘Guru’ (2007).
She is a well-known Marathi actress. Her career as an actor in the Marathi films started in 1992 with the film, ‘Hach Sunbaicha Bhau.’ She has played prominent roles in many Marathi films, including ‘Pachhadlela’ (2004), ‘Sarivar Sari’ (2005), ‘Shevri’ (2006), ‘Gandha’ (2009), and ‘Kulkarni Chaukatla Deshpande’ (2019).
Apart from acting in theatre and films, she has appeared in many TV serials, like ‘Saarrthi’ (2004), ‘Baa Bahoo Aur Baby’ (2005), ‘Kayamath’ (2007), and ‘Yeh Hai Mohabbatein’ (2013).
She produced the Marathi film, ‘Shevri’ in 2006, under her own film production company, ‘Upstage Film Company.’ The film won the ‘National Film Award’ for the Best Feature Film in Marathi in 2007.
In 2012, she appeared in the Hollywood film, ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.’ In 2016, she acted in the French film, ‘A Wedding.’
She acted in the Hindi short film ‘Devi’ in 2020, along with the actors like Kajol, Shruti Haasan, and Neha Dhupia.
Facts/Trivia
- In 1970, she was featured on the Bagpiper’s calendar.
- She follows a non-vegetarian diet.
- She has got many tattoos inked on her body; out of which one is on her right arm and an ‘Om’ tattoo on her left hand.
- Her hobbies include reading and listening to music.
- She has received many prestigious awards for her performance in many films and theatre plays
- For almost three years, she worked as a writer for the column ‘Antarang’ in the Marathi newspaper ‘Loksatta.’
- She is an avid dog lover and has two dogs.
- She had to take to social media in October 2024 to address the fake news of her death being circulated on the internet.