Elena Kazan is a German-Russian actress who appears in German as well as Indian films such as Agent Vinod, John Day,

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

etc. The German-Philippine, English film 'Ruined Heart' in which Kazan plays the leading female role was released in March 2015. She has featured as a houseguest in the

Bigg Boss ''Bigg Boss'' is an Indian reality television game show franchise based on the Dutch reality show '' Big Brother''. It is produced by Endemol Shine India through Viacom18 and Disney Star. Subsequently, the various versions of the show are made ...

house.

Personal life

Kazan was born as Elena Kazan in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, Russia, to

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

parents. Her mother is a

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

and her father was a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

teacher. She spent her childhood in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

before moving to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

with her family. At the age of 16, she moved to the US for higher studies. Kazan later went to India to work with a volunteer organization in Kolkata and while there taught the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

at Max Mueller Bhavan. She traveled widely in India for the first three years.

Career

Kazan worked in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

with the

Indo-German Chamber of Commerce The Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) is the largest German bi-national Chamber abroad and the largest Chamber of Commerce in India. It acts as primary contact for Indian and German companies who are willing to establish a business in the othe ...

as an interpreter. She also worked as a Unit Hand in an Australian short film shot in Kolkata, during which time she got the opportunity to work in a Bengali film. Kazan started her acting career with the 2010 Bengali film 'Clerk' opposite

Prosenjit Chatterjee Prosenjit Chatterjee (born 30 September 1962) is an Indian actor and producer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading actors in modern Bengali cinema. He predominantly works in Bengali cinema . He is the son of veteran Bollywood actor Bisw ...

. The next year in 2011, Kazan acted in the drama film

Gandhi to Hitler ''Dear Friend Hitler'', released in India as ''Gandhi to Hitler'', is a 2011 Indian war drama film based on letters written by Mahatma Gandhi to the leader of the Nazi Party and Chancellor of Germany and Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler. The f ...

. In 2012, Kazan had a cameo role in the film Agent Vinod. But her first big role came in the 2013 film John Day in which she plays the role of Tabassum Habibi, a chronic alcoholic with a dark and complex past. In the same year 2013, Kazan played the role of a Czech gypsy girl in

, who comes to India in search of her identity. Her next film was AASMA in which she plays the role of a Kashmiri girl. Her career went international in 2014, when she co-starred in the German-Philippine, English film 'Ruined Heart'.

Bigg Boss 10

Kazan entered the Colors popular show ''

Bigg Boss 10 ''Bigg Boss 10'', also known as ''Bigg Boss: India Isse Apna Hi Ghar Samjho'' is the tenth season of the Indian reality TV series ''Bigg Boss''. It began airing on 16 October 2016 on Colors TV. It was the first time when the doors of house wer ...

'' as a wild card entrant. She entered along with Jason Shah, Sahil Anand and Priyanka Jagga. She got evicted a week after staying inside the house.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kazan, Elena Living people Actresses from Moscow Actresses from Berlin German film actresses Russian film actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Bengali cinema Bigg Boss (Hindi TV series) contestants Russian people of German descent German expatriates in India Russian expatriates in India European actresses in India Actresses of European descent in Indian films Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century German actresses