Bhumika Chawla

Bhumika Chawla (Telugu: భూమిక చావ్లా , Tamil: பூமிகா சாவ்லா, Hindi:भूमिका चावला, Urdu: بھُومِکا چاولا ; born 21 August 1978 as Rachna Chawla) is an Indian actress. She made her film debut in the Telugu film Yuvakudu (2000) and has since then worked in various Indian film industries and appeared in over thirty films in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Bhojpuri, Punjabi and Malayalam. She is probably best known for her critically acclaimed performances in Kushi, Tere Naam, Missamma, Gandhi, My Father and Sathyabhama.
Early life
Chawla was born in a Punjabi family in New Delhi, India and completed her schooling there. Her father was an Army officer She moved to Mumbai in 1997 and started her career with ad films and Hindi music video albums. She also appeared in the Zee TV series Hip Hip Hurray.[1]

Career
Chawla started off her film career in the Telugu film industry, starring in the feature film Yuvakudu (2000) alongside actor Sumanth. Her second release, Kushi (2001), in which she starred opposite Pawan Kalyan was a box office success, following which she acted in several films in Telugu, including Okkadu (2003) opposite Mahesh Babu, which became one of the year's highest grossers in Telugu.[2] Meanwhile, she made her debut in the Tamil film industry as well, starring in the film Badri (2001) opposite actor Vijay, which was followed by her second Tamil film Roja Kootam (2002).

After a number of critically and commercially successful films in the South, she starred in her first Bollywood film, Tere Naam (2003), alongside Salman Khan. The film was one of the year's highest grossers. Apart from it, it was a critical success and her performance in the film won her many positive notices as well as several nominations for Best Debut at different award ceremonies. She was nominated for her first Filmfare Best Actress Award, and won the Best Debut trophy at the Zee Cine Awards ceremony.[3]

Subsequently, she got to star in a number of Hindi films as Run (2004), a remake of the same-named Tamil film, Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa (2004), again opposite Salman Khan, Silsilay (2005) and Dil Jo Bhi Kahey... (2005) alongside Amitabh Bachchan. She returned to Telugu, acting in the films Naa Autograph (2004), a remake of the Tamil film Autograph and Jai Chiranjeeva, alongside Chiranjeevi and Sameera Reddy. Whilst Chawla's performance in the former won her accolades and the CineMAA Jury Award for Best Actress, the latter went to become a super hit film.

In 2006, she appeared in the Tamil film Jillendru Oru Kadhal, alongside real-life couple Surya and Jyothika, whilst playing a vital role in the Hindi film Family - Ties of Blood, in which she shared screen space with Amitabh Bachchan, once again, and Akshay Kumar, and starring in the Telugu fantasy film, Mayabazar. Following which, she acted in the Hindi film Gandhi, My Father as Gulab Gandhi and enacted the title roles in the Telugu films Sathyabhama, in which she played a girl that suffers from Short Term Memory Loss,[4] and Anasuya, a crime thriller, and in the Bhojpuri film, Gangotri, a sequel to the successful 2006 Bhojpuri film Ganga, acting again alongside Amitabh Bachchan.

In 2008, she made her debut in the Punjabi film industry, starring in Yaariyan, opposite Gurdas Maan, following which she debuted in Malayalam as well, starring in Bhramaram alongside Mohanlal. Currently, she is working on half-a-dozen films in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, which include Thangar Bachan's Kalavadiya Pozhudugal opposite Prabhu Deva in Tamil, Yagam alongside Navdeep and Sathyaraj in Telugu and Classmates, a remake of the same-named Malayalam film, in Hindi.

Personal life
Bhumika Chawla married her long-time boyfriend and noted Yoga expert and teacher Bharat Thakur on 21 October 2007 at Devlali, Nashik in a Gurdwara.Her elder brother is an army officer.Her elder sister is married.[5] She went regularly to Thakur's courses and is said to have dated him for four years, before eventually marrying him.[6]

Filmography
Year Film Role Language Notes
2000 Yuvakudu Sindhu Telugu
2001 Badri Janaki Tamil
Khushi Madhumitha Telugu Telugu Filmfare Award for Best Actress
Snehamante Idera Yuvrani Padmini Telugu
2002 Roja Koottam Mano Tamil
Vasu Divya Telugu
2003 Okkadu Swapna Reddy Telugu
Missamma Meghana Telugu Nandi Award for Best Actress
Simhadri Indu Telugu
Tere Naam Nirjana Bharadwaj Hindi Zee Cine Award for Best Female Debut
Nominated - Filmfare Award for Best Actress
Nominated - Star Screen Award for Best Actress
Aadanthe Ado Type Telugu Special appearance
2004 Run Jhanvi Choudhry Hindi
Samba Nandu Telugu
Naa Autograph Divya Telugu CineMAA Jury Award for Best Actress
Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa Dhani Hindi
2005 Silsilay Zia Rao Hindi
Dil Jo Bhi Kahey... Dr. Gayarti Pandey Hindi
Jai Chiranjeeva Neelima Telugu
2006 Sillunu Oru Kaadhal Ishwarya Tamil
Family - Ties of Blood Dr. Kavita Hindi
Mayabazaar Anupama Telugu
2007 Gandhi, My Father Gulab Gandhi Hindi
Sathyabhama Sathyabhama Telugu Nandi Special Jury Award
Gangotri Gangotri Bhojpuri
Anasuya Anasuya Telugu
2008 Swagatham Vidhya KK Telugu
Mallepuvvu Malleshwari Kanneganti (Malli) Telugu
Yaariyan Simran Punjabi
2009 Bhramaram Jaya Malayalam
Naa Style Veru Parvati Telugu
Amaravathi Amaravathi Telugu
2010 Yagam Nandini Telugu
Sinam Tamil Post-production
Collector Gaari Bharya Telugu Post-production
Kalavadiya Pozhudugal Jayanthi Tamil Filming
Bheeshma Telugu Filming
Alivelu Manga Alivelu Manga Telugu Filming
Naam Pooja Hindi Delayed
Classmates Hindi Delayed

Awards
2001: Telugu Filmfare Award for Best Actress - Kushi
2003: Nandi Award for Best Actress - Missamma
2003: Zee Cine Award for Best Female Debut - Tere Naam
2004: CineMAA Jury Award for Best Actress - Naa Autograph
2005: Vamsee Award for Best Actress - Jai Chiranjeeva[7]
2006: Vamsee Award for Best Actress - Maya Bazaar[7]
2007: Nandi Special Jury Award - Sathyabhama
2007: Vamsee Award for Best Actress - Anasuya & Sathyabhama