Aarti Majumdar (born March 3, 1978), better known by her stage name Aarti Mann, is an American actress. She has starred in several television programs, including a part in the sci-fi drama ''

Heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

'' following the show ''Never Have I Ever''. She is best known for playing the role of Priya Koothrappali in ''

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro, all of whom also served as head writers. It premiered on C ...

''.

Early life and education

Mann, which is an abbreviation of her married name, was born in Connecticut on March 3, 1978 in a Gujarati Hindu family from Junagadh Gujarat, India, and is a first generation Indian American. Her parents are originally from Gujarat, India. When Mann was still a toddler, she moved with her family, which consisted of her parents, her older sister Kruti and younger brother Nishad, to several places in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. When she was a young child she lived in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, Mt. Lebanon and

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...

before settling in

Fox Chapel Fox Chapel is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, and is an affluent suburb of Pittsburgh located northeast of downtown. The borough continually garners national prominence and is home to many of the wealthiest and most powerful p ...

. Her mother, Vasanti Majumdar, a graduate of

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is a $23billion integrated global nonprofit health enterprise that has 92,000 employees, 40 hospitals with more than 8,000 licensed beds, 800 clinical locations including outpatient sites and d ...

(UPMC), still lives in Fox Chapel and is a physician specializing in

obstetrics and gynaecology Obstetrics and Gynaecology (also spelled as Obstetrics and Gynecology; abbreviated as Obs and Gynae, O&G, OB-GYN and OB/GYN) is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics (covering pregnancy, childbirth, and t ...

. Mann's father, who was also a physician, died while she was in high school. Despite Mann having never acted in plays during high school at

Shady Side Academy } Shady Side Academy is an independent preparatory school located in the Borough of Fox Chapel (suburban Pittsburgh), and in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883 as an all-male night school in the Shadyside ...

in Point Breeze, she graduated with a degree in film writing and directing from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

where she practiced acting.

Career

Mann began acting in the mid-2000s, initially playing minor roles. She uses both Aarti Majumdar and Aarti Mann as her professional names. Mann's brother Nishad is a journalist and her sister Kruti helped influence her decision to switch to acting. Kruti, who also lives in Los Angeles, is a filmmaker and cast Mann in her 2006 film ''The Memsahib''. While filming her scenes, Mann said she "got bit by the bug" to act and enrolled in acting classes in Los Angeles. Mann appeared in a commercial for

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

and other roles followed, including a part in the web/TV series ''

Quarterlife ''Quarterlife'' (stylized as ''quarterlife'') is an American web series, also briefly an NBC television series in 2008, created by Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, the creators of '' Thirtysomething'' and ''Once and Again'', and producers of ...

'', which aired briefly on NBC in 2008. She was also a guest star on ''

'' in 2009. Mann appeared in the season two winter premiere of '' Suits'' on the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

. Mann was originally cast in the role of Stephanie for the USA Network pilot ''Paging Dr. Freed'', but did not appear in the final version because the network envisioned a different type for the character.

Personal life

Mann currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Purvesh Mankad who works in finance, and their daughter, Nikita.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Aarti 1978 births 21st-century American actresses American film actresses Actresses from Connecticut Actresses from Pittsburgh American Hindus American actresses of Indian descent American television actresses Living people Tisch School of the Arts alumni Shady Side Academy alumni