Aaditi Pohankar is an Indian actress who primarily works in

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

. She had her breakthrough role alongside

Riteish Deshmukh Riteish Vilasrao Deshmukh (born 17 December 1978) is an Indian actor, comedian, television presenter, writer, director and film producer. He is the son of former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Vilasrao Deshmukh. He works in Hindi and Marathi cin ...

in the Marathi action film ''

Lai Bhaari ''Lai Bhaari'' (लय भारी) is a 2014 Indian Marathi-language action drama film directed by Nishikant Kamat. The film marks the debut of Riteish Deshmukh in Marathi cinema, while Salman Khan and Genelia D'Souza also make cameo appear ...

'' (2014).Till date she has worked only in two

films A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and two

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

Early life

Aaditi Pohankar was born to Sudhir and Shobha Pohankar, both athletes. While in school, she represented

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

and won medals in

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

and

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

races.

Career

Pohankar began her career in theatre and had her first film role in ''Kunasathi Kunitari''. She was spotted by director

Nishikant Kamat Nishikant Kamat (17 June 1970 17 August 2020) was an Indian filmmaker and actor. His debut film, ''Dombivali Fast'' earned him accolades in Marathi cinema, as it went on to become the biggest Marathi film of the year. He remade his film, in Ta ...

when he saw Makarand's play ''Time Boy'' in Mumbai, where the actress starred as a seven-year-old boy. Kamat made her go through two days of screen tests for a role in his Marathi film ''

'' (2014) and cast her opposite

after being impressed with her temperament. Pohankar revealed that during the shoot, Kamat gave her the liberty to do what she wanted as an actress and to get into her character, she visualized herself as "an evil person". ''Lai Bhaari'' opened to positive reviews, with Pohankar's villainous character receiving praise. The film went on to become one of the highest-grossing Marathi films. In 2017, Pohankar starred alongside

Atharvaa Atharvaa Murali is an Indian actor who works in Tamil cinema. The son of actor Murali and grandson of director S. Siddalingaiah, Atharvaa began his acting career with ''Baana Kaathadi'' (2010). He then garnered critical acclaim for his perform ...

in the

Tamil film Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood' ...

Gemini Ganeshanum Suruli Raajanum ''Gemini Ganeshanum Suruli Raajanum'' () is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film, written and directed by Odam Ilavarasu and produced by T. Siva. The film stars Atharvaa, Soori, Aishwarya Rajesh, Regina Cassandra, Pranitha and A ...

''. Three years later, Pohankar starred in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

web series ''

She She most commonly refers to: *She (pronoun), the third person singular, feminine, nominative case pronoun in modern English. She or S.H.E. may also refer to: Literature and films *'' She: A History of Adventure'', an 1887 novel by H. Rider Hagga ...

'' (2020), playing a

police constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

used as a honeytrap. Nandini Ramnath of

Scroll.in ''Scroll.in'', simply referred to as ''Scroll'', is an Indian digital news publication owned by the Scroll Media Incorporation. It publishes content in both Hindi and English languages. Founded in 2014, the website and its journalists have won ...

found Pohankar to be "riveting" in the role, adding that she successfully "unlocks her character's complexity". Later in 2020, she starred in ''

Aashram ''Aashram'' (English: Shrine) is an Indian Hindi-language crime drama web series directed by Prakash Jha for MX Player original. It is produced by Prakash Jha under Prakash Jha Productions. The series stars Bobby Deol along with Aaditi Pohank ...

'', playing the role of a young wrestler who is attracted to the seemingly democratic setup of the ashram, upon learning that her being a

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...

is keeping her from success due to

casteism Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural ...

. She gained wider attention for her roles in the Hindi web series ''

'' and ''

'' (both 2020–present). For this role, she was trained by wrestler

Sangram Singh Sangram Singh (born 21 July 1985) is an Indian wrestler, actor, motivational speaker, philanthropist, health guru and Honorary doctorate. Ministry of youth affairs and sports of India choose him as a brand ambassador and Fit India Icon of Fit In ...

. A reviewer for

IANS Indo-Asian News Service or IANS is a private Indian news agency. It was founded in 1986 by Indian American publisher Gopal Raju as the "India Abroad News Service" and later renamed. Their main offices are located in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The ser ...

opined, "Aaditi Pohankar's zestful Pammi stands out for the way the actress traces the character arc."

In the media

Pohankar has appeared in over twenty brand ads and commercials including for Cadbury Munch, Godrej AER, Airtel, Lenskart and Samsung, in which she was directed by

Shoojit Sircar Shoojit Sircar (born ) is an Indian filmmaker, director and producer known for his work in Hindi films. He has received several awards, including two National Film Awards and a Filmfare Award from five nominations. Sircar made his directoria ...

. Pohankar was ranked in The Times Most Desirable Women at No. 47 in 2020.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pohankar, Aaditi Indian film actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Living people Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Marathi cinema Actresses in Hindi cinema Female models from Mumbai 1994 births