Sonali kulkarni

Date of Birth : 1974, Poona, Maharashtra, India
Height : 5' 3" (1.60 m)

Sonali was born in the Marathi-speaking Kulkarni family in Pune, Maharashtra, India. Her dad is an Engineer, and she has two brothers, Sandeep and Sandesh.

Even she was a child her passion was acting, and got her chance to act during the Ganesh Mahotsav celebrations. She was enrolled in the Abhinav Vidhyalaya in Pune, and after completing schooling attended Ferguson College, where she majored in Political Science and got a scholarship in Marathi literature. She used to speak Hindi, Marathi and English fluently, but since then also picked-up Gujarati, Italian, and Tamil.

After attending a workshop by Satyadev Dubey she and Sandesh formed a theater group and called it 'Samanvay'.

She first made her appearance on the tinsel screen in a Tamil movie titled 'Cheluvi', and thereafter has appeared in a total of 32 movies, including one in Italian titled 'Fuoco Si Di Me'.
Apart from acting, she is also an Editor with 'Viva', a supplement of 'Loksatta', and pens a weekly column called 'So Kool'.

Sonali Kulkarni is an Indian actress.Sonali Kulkarni was born and brought up in Pune.She went to Abhinav Vidyalaya and was a fairly good student, always scoring 80s and 90s. She comes from an academically inclined family .Her dad is an engineer and her brothers are academically brilliant. She wanted to study in Ferguson College. She majored in Political Science from there and even got a scholarship in Marathi literature.

She worked with handicapped children in Balkayan Sanstha, Pune for 5 years as dance and entertainment teacher. These kids were physically or mentally challenged.
She always had a flair for learning languages. Being in the film industry gave her an opportunity to learn several including Gujarati, Italian and Tamil, apart from the ones she already knew like Marathi, Hindi and English.

Her earliest memories in the performing arts goes back to performing at Ganapathy Utsav - in a culturally active colony in Pune. She participated in everything, sports, music, dance and theatre. Her elder brother Sandeep was supportive for her pursuing theatre and is totally responsible for her foundation in theatre.

She got her first break in high school, when she attended a workshop by Satyadev Dubey and realised the importance of choosing one creative pursuit. It was then she decided to chose acting as her career option.She established a theater group along with her brother Sandesh inPune by the name "Samanvay". Samanvay is a group of people passionate about theatre - from acting to direction to production. Sandesh Kulkarni, Sonali Kulkarni, Amrita Subash, Nikhil Ratnaparkhi, Shashank Shende, Kiran, Nilesh Kulkarni and Sameer Doshi form Samanvay. Each person in the group is a name to reckon with today, in their respective specialities.

She did not realise when acting turned into her passion. While she was studying at Ferguson College, Pune, she got her first break in cinema - in Cheluvi, directed by well known playwright and filmmaker Girish Karnad.

She was just a teenager when she auditioned for Girish Karnad's Cheluvi (a fantasy about a girl who can become a tree). In Dr. Jabbar Patel's "Mukta", she played a character facing discrimination.She did not want to secure herself to one genre or language. She wanted to try new things and reach out to the whole world. She wanted to do 'world cinema'.

Sergio Scapagnini saw her first film "Cheluvi" at the Cannes Film Festival and as a result she got to work in Vrindavan Film Studios which was shot in India and abroad. Directed by Lamberto Lambertini, with an entirely Italian crew, this film had just three Indians in the cast, Mohan Agashe, Gautam Ghosh and Sonali Kulkarni.

After a couple of films in Tamil and Marathi, the turning point came when she landed the lead role in her first Hindi feature film "Daayraa". The film was directed by Amol Palekar. The film went on to win her the Best Actress Award in France International Film Festival.

Despite the critical acclaim and years of work in regional and parallel cinema, she didnot get the recognition until Mission Kashmir. Mission Kashmir was the turning point for her in that sense. The film had a national and international release. It brought her the kind of recognition that she could never have dreamed of. That year she was nominated for each and every award for that role.

Next "Dil Chahta Hai" was offered to her which helped her to get even more fame and established her as a heroine in Bollywood."Dil Chahta Hai" was a refreshing change for her.She appeared in several commercial films after that. Some of these films are-Dil Vil Pyar Vyar (2002), Junoon (2002), Kitne Door Kitne Paas (2002), Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya (2001), Agni Varsha (2002),Danav (2003), Silence Please... The Dressing Room (2004),Hanan (2004) ,Devrai (2004),Bride & Prejudice (2004),White Rainbow (2005) ,I see You(2006) ,Darna Zaroori Hai (2006) and Taxi Number 9211 (2006).

In Agni Varsha,her costumes were from that era - very basic, bare essential pieces of cloth. Initially she was a bit shy. But by the end of the first day, she was cool with it. She loved her character in the film - a simple woman who stands up for truth.

In the film "White Rainbow", directed by Dharan Mandrayer (nephew of legendary Tamil film thespian Sivaji Ganesan) is a touching story about the widows of Vrindavan. She plays the role of Priya, a character based on the real life social activist Mohini Giri who runs the Guild of Service in Vrindavan.

Sonali also worked in the Gujarati film "Love is Blind" which was released in Nov 2005. This refreshing film was made with an aim to draw audiences back to regional cinema. This humorous film with rocking music has been a hit with the Gujaratis - young and old. Directed by Vipul Shah and produced by R H Kampani of Nugget Entertainments Co., Her co-star in the film is Sandeep Patel, brother of the famous singer Devang Patel.

She has also worked in the Italian film "Fuoco Di Su Me" (transalates to Fire at my Heart) and being a stranger to the language made it both interesting and exciting.It was her work in "The Vrindavan Film Studio" several years ago that got her the role. Working on it has been a fabulous experience for her , especially with Omar Sherif as part of the cast. Shot mostly in Procida, Italy, it required her to learn Italian and get her accent right a month before shooting began. Sonali Kulkarni has won the best actress award at the Milan Film Festival for her performance in the film Fuoco Su Di Me (My Heart Is On Fire) on April 12, 2006.

Released in March 2006, Taxi No. 9211 was a film she signed almost instantly after listening to the impactful narration by Milan Luthria, the director.She loved the story and her character in the film. The film totally reflects today's Bombay.Her role has been appreciated by fans and critics as well.

She was in Venice in Sep. 2005, where she had gone to attend the Red Carpet Grand Screening of her Italian film "Fuoco su di me" directed by by Lamberto Lambertini at the 62nd Venice Film Festival.

Her strength in cinema has always been doing a variety of roles. From a tree in Cheluvi, to a boy in Daayra, from an innocent kid sister in Doghi, to a spicy wife in Taxi No. 9211, She has always offered variety to her audience.

Sonali's home is a place to relax for her.Rangoli, thorans, bells, lamps and fancy curtains adorn her flat. Her creativity was at its peak when doing up her place and she loved every moment of the four months it took.

When She is not shooting, her day begins with pranayams followed by tea.She also loves to read and write in her leisure. She also loves cooking. But her favorite food is her mom's traditional recipes. She also has ten minutes of meditation before lunchtime as she believes that it is very refreshing for the mind.

She is also a guest editor of Loksatta's supplement Viva. Its an Express group daily. She writes one column each week. It is published every Thursday. Her column is called So Kool, which is an abreviation of her name.