Amrita Rao: Bollywood Actress

Amrita Rao is an Indian Bollywood actress who primarily appears in Hindi-language films. Rao is renowned for her stereotypical girl-next-door roles and has received two Stardust Awards, an IIFA Award, and two Filmfare Award nominations.

Rao’s acting debut in Ab Ke Baras (2002) earned her a nomination for a Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Rao received the IIFA Award for Star Debut of the Year – Female for her first commercial success in the romantic film Ishq Vishk (2003), in which she played a college student. In addition, she starred in the comedy Masti (2004), the satire Welcome to Sajjanpur (2008), the romantic drama film Vivah (2006), and the masala action comedy Main Hoon Na (2004). She won the Stardust Award for Best Actress for her role in the latter two.

Her next hit at the box office was Jolly LLB (2013), which won a national award. Additionally, she started starring in supporting roles in the biography Thackeray (2019), the political drama Satyagraha (2013), and the action drama Singh Saab the Great (2013). She played a vocalist in the 2016 soap opera Meri Awaaz Hi Pehchaan Hai, which marked her television debut.

Amrita is not only an actress but also a memoirist. Anmol Sood is her spouse, and the two of them have a son.

Amrita Rao Career:

Debut, breakthrough and success (2002–2006)

During her college years, Rao and her sister Preetika starred in a number of advertisements before she began her acting career. She made her first public appearance in the music video for the song Woh Pyar Mera by Alisha Chinai.

Alongside debutante Aarya Babbar, Rao portrayed Anjali Thapar in Raj Kanwar’s fantasy thriller Ab Ke Baras in 2002, which was her first major role. Despite the film’s commercial failure, Rao’s portrayal of a teenager from the United States who frequently dreams of living a parallel life in India earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Rao later costarred with Ajay Devgn in The Legend of Bhagat Singh, a period biographical film. She portrayed Bhagat Singh’s fiancé, Mannewali, in the movie that tells the narrative of Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh. With a box office receipt of just? 129 million (US$2.7 million in 2002), the movie did not do well. As a college student in May 2003, Rao costarred with Shahid Kapoor in their first of many joint ventures, the coming-of-age romance Ishq Vishk. Rao made a breakthrough with the movie, which was a box-office hit. Critics appreciated Amrita’s performance as well as the movie. Amrita won the IIFA Award for Female Star Debut of the Year for her acting.

In 2004, Rao appeared in three motion pictures. Indra Kumar’s first release of the year was Masti, an adult comedy in which she co-starred with Vivek Oberoi. The ensemble cast of the movie, which brought in about? 34.14 crores (US$4.1 million) globally, including Ajay Devgn, Vivek Oberoi, Riteish Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani, Lara Dutta, Tara Sharma, and Genelia D’Souza. Rao’s performance as the excessively protective wife was hailed by critics. Rao then starred in supporting roles in Farah Khan’s popular movie Main Hoon Na alongside Shah Rukh Khan, Suniel Shetty, Sushmita Sen, and Zayed Khan. With over? 84 crore (US$10 million) in worldwide receipts, the film was the second highest-grossing Indian film of 2004. Rao played the supporting role of Radhika, the romantic interest of Akshaye Khanna.

In the drama Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi! From 2005, Rao costarred with Shahid Kapoor. Although Rao was praised for her performance as a teacher, the movie was poorly received by critics. In the same year, Rao starred as Madhvi in the drama Shikhar, starring John Matthew Matthan. After that, she acted in Pyare Mohan (2006), a comedy that was partly based on the 1989 American film See No Evil, Hear No Evil, and marked her second collaboration with Vivek Oberoi. According to Rajeev Masand’s divided review of the movie, Amrita experienced career lows while producing the low-fashion chemistry.

In the 2006 romance Vivah, which was directed by Sooraj R. Barjatya, Rao played the lead female role. The movie showed two people’s journey from engagement to marriage. In her fourth film with Shahid Kapoor, Rao portrayed Poonam, a young woman who was brought up in a traditional way. Even though critics gave it mixed reviews, the film ended up being one of the highest-grossing films of the year and Rao’s biggest commercial success to date. “Vivah movie adds Amrita a new lease on life,” Taran Adarsh said. She does a great job portraying the part. Amrita was selected for the Screen Award for Best Actress for her role in the film Vivah.

Career fluctuations and setbacks (2007–2016)

Rao starred with Mahesh Babu in the action movie Athidhi, which was released in Telugu in 2007. Surender Reddy co-wrote and directed the movie. Critics gave her largely favorable reviews, complimenting Rao and Mahesh Babu’s chemistry. According to Rediff.com’s Radhika Rajamani, “Amrita Rao, who makes her debut in Telugu films, makes a mark.” “Moviebuzz” for Sify stated that Amrita Rao is elegant in addition to being gorgeous. She has demonstrated that she might be another Tollywood native girl. With believable histrionics appropriate for the Telugu screen, she emoted effectively.

2008 saw Rao’s two major releases: the drama My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves, starring newcomer Nikhil Dwivedi, and the comedy Welcome to Sajjanpur, directed by Shyam Benegal. Anthony Gonsalves’ My Name Is received a lot of negative reviews and did poorly at the box office. While several reviewers praised Rao’s performance as a middle-class orphan, OneIndia Entertainment commented, “Amrita Rao looks gorgeous, but her role isn’t substantial enough.”In the film Welcome to Sajjanpur, Rao plays Kamala, a lady who desperately needs to communicate with her husband Kunal Kapoor who works in a Mumbai dockyard. With? 20 million (US$240,000) at the box office and positive reviews from critics, the movie made a good impression and became Rao’s second highest-grossing film career. Additionally, the Hindustan Times claims that Amrita Rao embodies sweetness. Her performance earned her the Stardust Award for Best Actress. In that year’s courtroom drama Shaurya, Rao played Nirja Rathore.

2009 marked Rao’s first appearance as a judge on the television show Perfect Bride. She was one of the judges, along with Shekhar Suman and Malaika Arora. In 2009, she starred with Harman Baweja in the film Victory. Movies like Raaz 2 and Dev.D. competed with it, which hurt the film’s performance. Boxoffice-India declared it a flop as it only made? 1 crore (US$120,000) despite having a huge budget. Anil Kapoor produced Neeraj Vora’s comedy-drama Short Kut: The Con is On that same year, in which Rao starred opposite Akshaye Khanna.

The film features Rao as Mansi, the girlfriend of Akshaye’s character. Critic reviews of the film and Rao’s performance were unfavorable: Everything is plastic and noisy, and the actors all sing their lines at the top of their lungs, according to Shubhra Gupta of the Indian Express. The Times of India’s Gaurav Malini claimed that Amrita Rao makes an excessive effort to be attractive but falls short in every way. Even though it had recovered its budget, it was still considered a financial failure.

Rao’s second collaborative endeavor with Rajshri Productions was Mr. Kalakaar!, her only film from 2011. The movie was a commercial failure and got mostly bad reviews. Nonetheless, her performance as a businessman’s daughter was praised by the critics. Amrita is at her finest, but the movie lacks punch because it is so lengthy and predictable, noted Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India. Rao went on to feature in the comedy-drama Heyy Babyy (2007), the romantic comedy Life Partner (2007), and the science fiction romance Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai (2010).

In 2013, Rao starred in the comedy-drama Jolly LLB, which took home a national award. She played Sandhya, the primary character and lover of Arshad Warsi. This film was a winner of the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. Rao’s little part in the film received average praise. Amrita Rao may have been left out of the film entirely, according to Mohar Basu of Koimoi. Despite her charming personality, she and her role don’t add much to the film.

The action drama Singh Saab the Great, which was directed by Anil Sharma, was her subsequent release. Amrita and Sunny Deol shared the role of journalist Shikha Chaturvedi. Critics gave the film largely bad reviews, however, they awarded Rao’s performance good ratings.”Amrita plays a role that feels like something she has already done, all the emotional support,” said Namrata Joshi of Outlook. At the box office, the film made?29 crore (US$3.5 million), which was above normal, while getting largely negative reviews. Later that year, she played Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, and Manoj Bajpai in Prakash Jha’s political drama Satyagraha.

Sumitra, the daughter-in-law of Amitabh Bachchan’s character, was played by Rao. Resham Sengar of Zed News said, “Ms. Rao has the sweetly cherubic looks,” in reference to the unique distinction she earned. Generally speaking, she is persuasive in emotional circumstances. Her acting, however, is limited to merely mouthing a few crucial phrases. In addition to receiving bad reviews from critics, the film failed to make a profit at the box office. At the Indian box office, the film earned over? 60 crore (US$7.2 million) despite receiving mixed reviews.

In 2016, Rao made her television acting debut as the older sister of Kalyani Gaikwad in &TV’s Meri Awaaz Hi Pehchaan Hai. Three generations of two sisters whose lives centered around music were shown in the story. Deepti Naval played an elder version of her character.

Intermittent work (2019–present)

The 2019 biopic Thackeray, which was directed by Abhijit Panse and was based on the life of right-wing, pro-Marathi politician Balasaheb Thackeray, featured Rao after a five-year hiatus. Rao played Meena Thackeray, Balasaheb Thackeray’s wife. Reviews for Rao and the film ranged from negative to mixed. Amrita Rao, who portrays Thackeray’s wife, has the cosmetic responsibility of giving guests numerous cups of tea while adoringly staring at her husband, according to Reuters’ Shilpa Jamkhandikar.

Rao is returning to the role of Sandhya in Jolly LLB 3, alongside Arshad Warsi. Her re-entry into the film industry follows a six-year hiatus.

Personal life of Amrita Rao:

Amrita married her lover, radio jockey Anmol Sood, in Mumbai on May 15, 2016, following seven years of courtship. On November 1, 2020, she gave birth to Veer, a boy. The couple’s book Couple of Things was released in February 2023, and they also have a YouTube channel with the same name.

In the media:

As a result of her roles in several successful films, Rao is often described by the media as Bollywood’s “girl-next-door.” In the Times’ Most Desirable Women list, she came in at number 24 in 2009 and number 23 in 2011. According to Kalwyna Rathod of Femina, Rao was a crowd favorite.

Vivah is considered a significant career accomplishment and one of Rao’s best roles. According to Bollywood Hungama, she and Shahid Kapoor were among the ten most romantic couples of the decade. After painting Madhuri Dixit and several other paintings inspired by the actress’s performance in Vivah (2006), M. F. Husain proclaimed Rao his second inspiration eleven years later.

Rao remarked of her career, “I think I have done some memorable films that will be relevant for a very long time.” The number of straight victories I’ve had since the start of my career may be something that many rookies today haven’t even seen. Having to blaze my own trail via trial and error has made my path both straightforward and difficult. However, homemade cuisine tastes the sweetest. Together with her hubby, Rao co-wrote the memoir Couple of Things after becoming an author in 2023.

Amrita Rao Movie List

Television Show of Amrita Rao

• 2009 Perfect Bride Judge
• 2016 Meri Awaaz Hi Pehchaan Hai Kalyani Gaikwad

Music videos:

• 2001 “Woh Pyar Mera” Alisha Chinoy
• 2008 “Chalte Chalte Phir” Jal Band

Awards and Nominations of Amrita Rao