Nikita Thukral

Nikita Thukral
Nikita Thukral in 2010
Born	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Nationality	Indian
Other names	Nikitha, Nikhita, Nikki
Occupation	Film actress, model
Years active	2002 – present
Television	Bigg Boss Kannada – Reality Show

Nikita Thukral is an Indian film actress and model, who has acted in Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil and Kannada films.

Early life

Thukral was born into a Punjabi family and was raised in Mumbai. She completed her M.A in Economics from Kishinchand Chellaram College.^[1][2] She was spotted by producer D. Ramanaidu while dining at a hotel in Juhu. He offered her a role in his upcoming film Hai (2002).

Career

After appearing in Hai, Thukral starred opposite Fahad Fazil in his film debut Kaiyethum Doorath. The Malayalam film was not a box office success, but she was able to find additional roles in Tamil and Telugu films like Kurumbu and Sambaram.^[3] In 2005, she entered Kannada cinema with S S Niwas's Maharaja. Thukral then returned to star in a Tamil film and featured in Venkat Prabhu's multistarrer Saroja as Kalyani, the muse of a gangster portrayed by Sampath Raj, and won critical acclaim for her performance. Her appearance in the song "Kodana Kodi" was appreciated as the song became popular, while her role in the film also led to her winning the ITFA Best Supporting Actress Award.^[2] The success led her to sign on to appear in a big film production, Gautham Menon's Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam in a role alongside Trisha Krishnan, but the film was shelved after two schedules.^[4]

After 2008, she shifted her priority from Telugu to Kannada cinema, going on to co-star with leading actors Upendra, Puneet Rajkumar, V. Ravichandran and Darshan. After Prince, she signed on to be part of several films including Cottonpet, Priyasakha opposite Ramesh Aravind and a Telugu film named Apartment,^[5] but none of them saw a theatrical release. Her next releases were the Tamil thriller film Muran that saw her playing Indhu, alongside actors Cheran and Prasanna, and the historical film, Kranthiveera Sangolli Rayanna. Her only 2013 release was the Tamil masala film Alex Pandian. In 2014 she was seen in three Kannada films, although two of them, Namaste Madam and Namo Bhootatma, featured in her cameo roles only.^[6][7] Her future films include the crime drama Ring Road Shubha, reportedly the first Kannada film to be made by an all-women crew, the horror flick Avunu 2 in Telugu as well as the anthological drama Traffic that would mark her Hindi debut.^[8]

In addition to acting, Thukral has also done modelling work for designer Roopa Vohra.^[9] She also participated in the first season of the reality show Bigg Boss Kannada, the Kannada version of Bigg Boss. She completed 99 days in the Bigg Boss Home and was the second runner-up of the show.^[10][11]

Controversy

Nikita Thukral was reportedly banned from Kannada films for three years starting from 10 September 2011 by the Kannada Film Producers' Association (KFPA) for an alleged illicit relationship with actor Darshan. The ban was implemented after Darshan's wife accused him of assaulting her and in her complaint, she suggested that Thukral had been responsible for the violence.^[12][13][14] Consequently, Nikita denied the claims, calling them "ridiculous" and asked for proof, announcing a voluntary break from Kannada films for trying to ruin her image.^[15][16] Since the announcement of her ban, other film personalities have rallied in support of Thukral, who had been in hospital at the time due to low blood pressure and stress.^[17][18] Subsequently, the ban was revoked after five days of extensive protesting against the KFPA's original decision.^{[19][20][21][22][23]}

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
2002	Hai	Kripa	Telugu
2002	Kaiyethum Doorath	Sushama Babunath	Malayalam
2003	Kurumbu	Aparna	Tamil
2003	Kalyana Ramudu	Kalyani	Telugu
2003	Sambaram	Geeta	Telugu
2004	Chatrapathi	Priya	Tamil
2004	Kushi Kushiga	Sandhya	Telugu
2005	Bus Conductor	Noorjahan	Malayalam
2005	Bhargava Charitham Moonam Khandam	Anupama	Malayalam
2005	Vetrivel Sakthivel	Manju	Tamil
2005	Maharaja	Sitara	Kannada
2006	Evandoi Sreevaru	Swapna	Telugu	Sneha's sister
2006	Aganthakudu	Bhanumathi	Telugu
2007	Maharajsri	Neelima	Telugu
2007	Don	Nandini	Telugu	Special appearance
2007	Anasuya	Pooja	Telugu
2008	Bhadradri	Anu	Telugu
2008	Nee Tata Naa Birla		Kannada
2008	Saroja	Kalyani	Tamil	ITFA Best Supporting Actress Award
2008	Vamshi	Sharadha	Kannada
2008	Chintakayala Ravi		Telugu	Special appearance
2009	Rajakumari	Bubbly	Kannada
2009	Dubai Babu	Vasundhara	Kannada
2009	Yodha	Asha	Kannada
2009	Daddy Cool		Malayalam	Special appearance
2010	Naariya Seere Kadda	Radha	Kannada
2011	Gun	Vandana	Kannada
2011	Prince	Anjali	Kannada
2011	Muran	Indhu	Tamil
2012	MLA Mani: Patham Classum Gusthiyum		Malayalam
2012	Snehitaru	Dancer	Kannada	Special appearance
2012	Kranthiveera Sangolli Rayanna	Mallamma	Kannada
2013	Alex Pandian	Gayathri	Tamil
2014	Namaste Madam		Kannada	Guest appearance
2014	Software Ganda	Priya S Rao	Kannada
2014	Namo Bhootatma		Kannada	Guest appearance
2015	Avunu 2		Telugu
2015	Kanal	Reenu Kuruvila	Malayalam
2015	Ring Road		Kannada
2015	Paayum Puli		Tamil	Special appearance
2016	Terror	Vijay's wife	Telugu
2016	Traffic		Hindi	Filming
2016	Mukunda Muraari		Kannada	Filming
2016	Satya		Malayalam	Filming[24]

References

1. "Full of beans". The Hindu (Chennai, India). 2 April 2011. Archived from the original on 12 April 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
2. "A Chat with Saroja Star Nikita". Rediff.com. February 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
3. "Star kids shine in Malayalam cinema". Hindustan Times. Indo-Asian News Service. 27 August 2011. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
4. "Nikita is on a roll". Rediff.com. October 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
5. "Jenny is jealous: Nikitha Thukral – The Times of India". The Times Of India.
6. What's Nikita Thukral doing in Namaste Madam? – The Times of India. The Times of India (9 April 2014). Retrieved on 30 October 2015.
7. Nikita acts in Namoo Bhoothaathma – The Times of India. Timesofindia.indiatimes.com (21 August 2014). Retrieved on 30 October 2015.
8. What is Nikita Thukral’s role in Ring Road Shubha? – The Times of India. Times of India (15 October 2013). Retrieved on 30 October 2015.
9. "Jewellery for that royal touch...". DNA. 10 December 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
10. Nikita's bitter Bigg Boss tale. The New Indian Express (4 July 2013). Retrieved on 2015-10-30.
11. Nikita shoots for Software Ganda in Bangalore – The Times of India. Times of India (18 January 2014). Retrieved on 30 October 2015.
12. "Darshan bail rejected, actor still in hospital". NDTV. 13 September 2011. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
13. "Ban for actress Nikhita Thukral over Darshan 'affair'". BBC News. 12 September 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
14. "Darshan spat exposes moviedom’s male bias". Yahoo News India. 13 September 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
15. "Nikita banned from Kannada cinema". Sify. 13 September 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
16. Daithota, Madhu; Mahesh H (13 September 2011). "Nikita banned!". Times of India. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
17. "Growing support for Nikhita after ban". The Hindu (Chennai, India). PTI. 13 September 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
18. "Kannada actress Nikitha's ban sparks anger". India Today. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
19. "Ban on Kannada actress Nikita Thukral lifted!". The Times Of India. 15 September 2011.
20. "Ban for India 'affair' actress Nikhita Thukral reversed". BBC News. 15 September 2011.
21. "Kannada film association lifts ban on actress Nikita". Yahoo News India. 15 September 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
22. "'Shut up or face the music'". MID – DAY. 14 September 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
23. "I'm relieved, says Nikita after ban is lifted". MID – DAY. 16 September 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
24. Nikita Thukral again in Malayalam

External links

• Nikitha Thukral at the Internet Movie Database
• Nikita Thukral on Twitter
• Nikita Thukral on Facebook