Ashwini Kalsekar is an Indian actress who works predominantly in the

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

and

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

television and film industry. She is known mostly for her collaboration with Hindi movies directors

Sriram Raghavan Sriram Raghavan (born 22 June 1963) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. He is primarily considered an auteur of neo-noir action thrillers. Raghavan made his directorial debut with '' Ek Hasina Thi'' (2004). H ...

Rohit Shetty Rohit Shetty (born 14 March 1974) is an Indian film director, stuntman, producer and television host who works in Hindi cinema. He is one of the most recognised film director of Hindi Cinema. His movies are often mix genres of action, comedy a ...

, and

Ram Gopal Varma Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma (born 7 April 1962), often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Telugu cinema in addition to Bollywood, Hindi, Kannada cinema, Kannada language ...

. She played a cop in the popular TV show ''CID''. Her first lead role on television came in 1999 when she starred in

Zee TV Zee TV (stylised as ZEE TV) is a Hindi general entertainment pay television channel in India. It was launched on 2 October 1992, as the first privately owned TV channel in the country. It is owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Zee TV also ...

's popular science fiction comedy serial ''Mr. Gayab''. Her villainous outing as Shalaka Catwoman in the children's superhero serial

Shaktimaan Shaktimaan is an Indian Hindi-language superhero television show, created by Mukesh Khanna that aired on DD National from 13 September 1997 to 27 March 2005. Producer Mukesh Khanna played the role of Shaktimaan and his alter ego "Pandit Gang ...

made her popular as the first Indian

Catwoman Catwoman is a fictional character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Debuting as "the Cat" in ''Batman'' #1 (spring 1940), she ...

. She also played popular negative roles as Jigyasa Walia in

Ekta Kapoor Ekta Kapoor (born 7 June 1975) is an Indian television producer, film producer and director who works in Hindi cinema and soap opera. She is the joint managing director and creative head of Balaji Telefilms Limited, which was founded in 1994. ...

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Kasamh Se ''Kasamh Se'' (English title: ''The Promise'') was an Indian soap opera produced by Ekta Kapoor of Balaji Telefilms. The show aired on Zee TV from 16 January 2006 to 12 March 2009. The story is about three sisters: Bani, Piya and Rano. It w ...

'', Sikka Thakuriaan in

Afsar Bitiya ''Afsar Bitiya'' (international title: ''Krishi'') is an Indian soap opera which was broadcast on Zee TV from 19 December 2011 to 28 December 2012. Set in Bhagalpur, Bihar, it is the story of Krishna, who rises from modest beginnings to a succ ...

Maham Anga Maham Anga (died 1562) was the foster mother and chief wet nurse of the Mughal emperor Akbar. She was the political adviser of the teenage emperor and the de facto regent of the Mughal Empire from 1560 to 1562. Biography Maham Anga was Akbar' ...

Jodha Akbar ''Jodha Akbar'' is an Indian Historical drama television series that aired from 18 June 2013 to 7 August 2015 on Zee TV and is also digitally available on ZEE5. The show was produced by Ekta Kapoor under Balaji Telefilms. Starring Rajat Tokas a ...

and Saudamini, an evil witch, in

Kavach Kavach may refer to: * Kavach (anti-missile system), an Indian anti-missile naval decoy system * Kavach (train protection system), Indian Railways train protection system * Kavach (TV series), a Hindi supernatural horror drama television series * ...

. She also featured as a judge in the Marathi reality show ''"Fu bai fu"'' in 2011. She debuted in Tollywood like her husband

Murali Sharma Murali Sharma (born 9 August 1972) is an Indian actor who works predominently in Telugu and Hindi films. Sharma has starred in over 130 feature films, including Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Malayalam cinema. Sharma gained wide recognition ...

with ''

Badrinath Badrinath is a town and nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. A Hindu holy place, it is one of the four sites in India's Char Dham Hindu pilgrimage, pilgrimage and is also part of India's Chota Char Dham pilgr ...

''. Since 2019, she focused on OTT with Zee5's series ''"Chargesheet: The Shuttlecock Murder"'', in the

MX Player MX Player is an Indian video streaming and video on demand platform developed by MX Media & Entertainment (formerly J2 Interactive). It has over 280 million users globally. The platform currently operates on an ad-supported model and has a stre ...

web series ''"Cheesecake"'' as Chaaru, an animal communicator, which premiered in December 2019, in '' 36 Farmhouse'' on Zee5 and in the Hotstar Specials show '' Rudra: The Edge of Darkness''.

Early life

Ashwini Kalsekar was born into a

family on 22 January 1970 in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

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 ...

. Her father Anil Kalsekar was a bank employee. Ashwini completed her B.A. from Mumbai and graduated in 1991. She pursued theatre from 1991 to 1994 after her studies. From 1992 to 1993, she was studying under actress

Neena Gupta Neena Gupta (born 4 June 1959) is an Indian actress and television director who works in Hindi films and television. Known for her work in both art-house and commercial films, she won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for pl ...

to pursue her dream to become an actress. She also trained under Muzammeel Vakil, a theatre acting coach, from 1992 to 1995. Ashwini is also a trained Kathak dancer.

Personal life

Ashwini married

Nitesh Pandey Nitesh Pandey (born 17 January 1973) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films and TV serials. He is better known for his role of Shah Rukh Khan's assistant in ''Om Shanti Om'' (2007). Career Pandey began doing theatre in 1990. In 1995, he g ...

in 1998. They were divorced due to undisclosed reasons in 2002. She then married film and television actor

in 2009.

Career

In an interview to

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

, she said that Shanti was her first acting project. She then worked in successful television serials such as ''

CID CID may refer to: Film * ''C.I.D.'' (1955 film), an Indian Malayalam film * ''C.I.D.'' (1956 film), an Indian Hindi film * ''C. I. D.'' (1965 film), an Indian Telugu film * ''C.I.D.'' (1990 film), an Indian Hindi film Television * ''CID'' ( ...

'', ''Anjaane'', ''Siddhant'' and '' K. Street Pali Hill''. In 1996, Ashwini performed in the

film ''Tula Jhapar La''. This was followed by a number of films in Marathi where she appeared in supporting roles. Murali and Ashwini

Her biggest break came when she was approached by

to play the

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist. Etymology The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, riv ...

in her

,'' where she played the role of Jigyasa Walia. The role fetched her the

Indian Television Academy Award The Indian Television Academy Awards, also known as the ''ITA Awards'', is an annual award ceremony organised by the Indian Television Academy to honour excellence in Hindi-language television. Ceremonies Categories Popular Awards * ITA A ...

for Best Actress in a Negative Role, the

Indian Telly Award for Best Actress in a Negative Role Indian Telly Award for Best Actress in a Negative Role is an award given bIndiantelevision.comas part of its annual Indian Telly Awards for TV serials, to recognize a female actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a negative role, t ...

, and other major awards. In 2012, Ashwini was again approached by Ekta Kapoor to play the role of

, a foster mother of

Emperor Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

in her historical drama series ''

''. The role fetched her critical acclaim and major awards. She went on to win the Indian Telly Award for Best Actress in a Negative Role,Winners List:Indian Telly Awards, 2014
the Boroplus Gold Award for Best Actress in a Negative Role, and other major awards. In 2012, she was a part of a Marathi comedy reality show, Fu Bai Fu. She was the judge of the show, along with Swapnil Joshi and Sanjay Jadhav, for 2 seasons. In 2014, Ashwini performed the role of Pam Khanna in Ekta Kapoor's soap opera '' Itna Karo Na Mujhe Pyaar''.

Filmography

Films

Television

Web series

Awards

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalsekar, Ashwini Living people Indian television actresses Indian film actresses 1970 births Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses from Mumbai Indian soap opera actresses Actresses in Hindi television 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses in Marathi cinema Actresses in Marathi television