Sonal Jha Wiki, Height, Age, Husband, Children, Family, Biography & More

Sonal Jha is an Indian actress famous for appearing in Bollywood films like Lipstick Under My Burkha, 3 Storeys, and Chillar Party and TV shows such as Na Aana Is Des Laado and Balika Vadhu.

Wiki/Biography

Sonal Jha was born on Thursday, 29 July 1971 (age 52 years; as of 2023) in Patna, Bihar. Her zodiac sign is Leo. She did her graduation in Patna, Bihar. She pursued a master’s degree in history at Miranda House, Delhi University and a master’s degree in corporate communications at Ithaca College, New York. ^[1]Sonal Jha She was always interested in theatre since she was a child. She started her theatre journey at 11 by joining the Patna Indian People’s Theatre Association. In an interview, she revealed that when she was a child, she was an introvert and lacked confidence, but when she used to perform on stage, she received attention and commendation for it. At the age of 15, she began performing as an actress and singer in Patna. She has also achieved a ‘Prabhakar’ degree in Kathak, which is a form of Indian classical dance.

She moved to Delhi after some time to continue her higher studies. She decided to step away from theatre and concentrate on her education. While pursuing her post-graduation in Delhi, she faced difficulties as she had studied Hindi medium throughout her undergraduate years, and now she had to study in English. In addition to the language barrier, she faced cultural differences. When she used to feel unhappy, she would often call her father and tell him that she would not be able to complete her studies. However, her father provided gave her motivation and support to encourage her. Once she finished her education in New York, she started a job at a prestigious company in Mumbai. However, due to a lot of work pressure, she decided to leave the job. This experience of the corporate world provided her with different facets of life and taught her how to interact with individuals in this sector. In the year 2000, she started living in Mumbai along with her husband and son after her husband got a job there. In 2004, she joined the Ekjute Theater Group and started doing theatre again. During this time, she had the privilege of learning from the renowned theatre personality, Nadira Babbar, which proved to be an invaluable experience for her. Later, she started her journey as an actor. Despite facing disappointment in the initial auditions, she continued to participate in numerous plays.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 6″

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Black

Family

Parents & Siblings

Sonal’s father’s name is Nitiranjan Jha.

Her mother’s name is Indurani Jha. She has five siblings.

Husband & Children

Sonal is married.

Her son’s name is Ritwick Jha.

Career

Theatre

She has been part of many plays all over India including ‘Ithihas Tumhe Le Gaya Kanhayiya’, and ‘Suman Aur Sana.’ She has been a part of a lot of theatre plays including Bali Aur Shambhu (2010), Pagla Ghoda (2014), Tumhara Vincent (2015), CanServive (2016), and Mughal-e-Azam (2016).

Film

She made her acting debut in 2006 with the English film Return to Rajapur.

In 2008, Prakash Jha selected her to be a part of the Bhojpuri television series called Bahubali.

She has appeared in films including Chillar Party (2011) as Encyclopedia’s Mother, Aarakshan (2011) as Shanti Bua, Lipstick Under My Burkha (2017) as Leela’s Mother, 3 Storeys (2018) as Malini’s mother, and Malaal (2019) as Rajni Tripathi.

In 2023, she appeared in the film ‘Coat’ and played the role of Madho’s mother.

Television

She made her television debut in 2007 with the show Bombay Lawyers on NDTV India.

She has appeared in television shows including Hum Ladkiyan (2008) on Sony as Subhadra, Na Aana Is Des Laado (2009) on Colors as Sheela Chachi, Sapno Ke Bhanwer Main (2011) on Life OK as a Mother, Balika Vadhu (2012) on Colors as Irawati, and Ek Rishta Saajhedari Ka (2016) on Sony as Chandra Bua.

Web Series

In 2021, she made her OTT debut with the web series Sunflower on ZEE5 and played the role of Mrs Iyer.

Tattoos

• On her neck
  

  Sonal Jha’s tattoo on her neck

• On her right leg
  

  Sonal Jha’s tattoo on her leg

Facts/Trivia

• In an interview, she discussed the early stages of her career, and the challenges she faced while juggling the responsibilities of being both an actor and a mother. In the interview, she added,
  

  It was also difficult on a personal front because I had a small child and managing home, kids, family and doing television. At that time, we used to work for over 13 hours. Then commuting will take another 2-3 hours. So you can understand staying outside for 16 hours and then to look after your kids and manage your home and that was challenging emotionally I used to go through this guilt that I am not giving enough time to my kid. Something which every working women goes through. And producers didn’t use to give attention to my problems. If it was my problem then I had to resolve it myself. Because I had the support and I didn’t give up, I adjusted to the groove. It wasn’t a bread and butter thing for me since my husband was getting paid well. I didn’t quit. Because if I had quit, the kind of groundwork I had done couldn’t have materialzed again.”

• In 2012, she was last seen on the show ‘Balika Vadhu’ and after that, she did very few shows. She left acting in television shows and completely switched to theatre for four to five years.
  

  Sonal Jha in the television show ‘Balika Vadhu’

• In an interview, she revealed that she stopped watching television after 2016 due to various changes in the content. She was not happy with the way her roles were handled, specifically in the show Balika Vadhu, where her character was changed from progressive to orthodox. She would often engage in heated discussions with the creative team, questioning them why her character’s behaviour contradicted previous statements from just two episodes ago.

• In 2017, she appeared in the film ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’ which was banned by the Censor Board because of the use of sexual scenes, abusive words, and audio pornography.