Kaushalya "Kitu" Gidwani is an Indian actress and model. She has starred in several movies and serials on Indian television. Kitu played the role of Svetlana in ''

Swabhimaan ''Swaabhimaan'' is an Indian soap opera directed by Mahesh Bhatt and Debaloy Dey and was scripted by Shobha De and Vinod Ranganath. Plot Swaabhimaan divulges the story of an attractive woman - Svetlana - who finds herself in a battle where t ...

'' which brought recognition for her. Then she signed ''

Shaktimaan Shaktimaan is an Indian Hindi-language Superhero fiction, 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 alt ...

'' and played the role of "Geeta Vishwas", a news channel reporter who stand for the truth. She left the show after a few episodes and later became popular after a TV series, ''

Air Hostess A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are primar ...

'' aired on

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...

in 1986, and received critical acclaim for her roles in '' Dance of the Wind'' (1997), Deepa Mehta's ''

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

'' (1998), Govind Nihalani's '' Rukhmavati Ki Haveli'' (1991),

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali l ...

's '' Abhay'' and ''

Deham ''Deham'' (The Body) is a 2001 film directed by Govind Nihalani based on playwright Manjula Padmanabhan's play ''Harvest''. It has Kitu Gidwani, Joy Sengupta, Alyy Khan, Surekha Sikri and Julie Ames in lead roles. It is a futuristic story depi ...

'' (2001).

Early and personal life

Gidwani was born 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- ...

. Her Sindhi parents migrated from Pakistan after the

partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

. They lived in a refugee camp in

Worli Worli (ISO: ''Varaḷī'', �əɾ(ə)ɭiː is a locality in South Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is one of the four peninsulas of Mumbai while the other being Colaba, Bandra and Malabar Hill. The sea connects it with Bandra via the Band ...

. She has a brother. She studied in

Fort Convent School, Mumbai Fort Convent School/Convent School was founded in 1855 by the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Fort, Mumbai, India. The school is open to all castes and creeds. Besides academics, the school conducts co-curricular activities such as public speaki ...

. Her post graduation days saw her interest in French and she started acting in French plays. Soon she was acting in English plays directed by Janak Toprani. She acted in some television serials and subsequently acted in a French film ''Black'' (1987), playing a Brazilian girl in it.

Acting career

Gidwani made her television debut in 1984 on the TV soap ''Trishna'', and during the 1980s and '90s, gave some memorable performances in TV serials like ''

'', ''Air Hostess'' and ''Junoon''. She caught a lot of attention after her kissing scene in bed with actor

Tom Alter Thomas Beach Alter (22 June 1950 – 29 September 2017) was an Indian actor. He was best known for his works in Hindi cinema, and Indian theatre. In 2008, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. Early life Born in Mussoorie i ...

in ''Junoon''. In 1997, she was doing four serials at one time, besides ''Swabhimaan'' and ''Junoon'', she was also acting in ''Saahil'', ''Yeh Kahan Aa Gaye Hum''. She recently appeared in multi-starrer Hindi serials ''Kaashish'' and ''Kulvadhu''. In 1997, she played the role of a Hindustani classical singer, Pallavi, who struggles to get her voice back after losing her mentor/mother, in ''Dance of the Wind''. The role won her Best Actress Award at

Three Continents Festival The Festival des 3 Continents is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, and is devoted to the cinemas of Asia, and Africa and Latin America. It was founded by Philippe and Alain Jalladeau.Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

. In

Pankaj Butalia Pankaj Butalia is an Indian documentary filmmaker. His 1993 film ''Moksha'' (also known by the English title ''Salvation''), on the widows of Vrindavan, received four international awards. Several of his films have been screened extensively thr ...

's ''Shadows in the Dark'' she played Lajma, a middle-aged woman living in present-day Pakistan. In the 2010s she played small roles in ''

Fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

'', ''

Dhobi Ghat Mahalakshmi Dhobi Ghat is an open air laundry place in Mumbai, India. It is located at Mahalaxmi railway station in southern Mumbai, it is also accessible from the Jacob Circle monorail station. The washers, known as '' dhobis'', work in t ...

'' and ''

Student of the Year ''Student of the Year'' is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age romantic comedy-drama film directed by Karan Johar, written by Rensil D'Silva and Niranjan Iyengar on the basis of an uncredited story by Johar, and produced by Hiroo Yash ...

''. In 2001, in conjunction with Wills Lifestyle, an apparel chain owned by

ITC Limited ITC Limited is an Indian conglomerate company headquartered in Kolkata. ITC has a diversified presence across industries such as FMCG, hotels, software, packaging, paperboards, specialty papers and agribusiness. The company has 13 businesses in ...

, she promoted ''Wills Sport Lifestyle'' brand of clothing. In 2006, she also acted in a play, ''Your Place or Mine'' by

Darshan Jariwala Darshan Jariwala (born 29 September 1958) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films, television and stage. He won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' Gandhi, My Father''. He is popular for his show in which he was seen as ...

. She also did a play, ''Sock ’em With Honey'', where she played a traditional Parsi woman from Pakistan, whose daughter falls in love with a Jew, prompting her first trip abroad.

Awards

In 1998, Kitu won the Best Actress Award at the

, France. The award recognized her outstanding achievement for the role of ''Pallavi'' in ''Dance of the Wind'' (directed by

Rajan Khosa Rajan Khosa is an Indian writer-director-producer who has worked between the UK, Europe and India for much of his career. He is best known for his directorial venture ''Gattu'', which won at Berlin Film Festival. It won a Screen Award in India ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gidwani, Kitu Living people Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Indian film actresses Female models from Mumbai Indian stage actresses Indian television actresses Sindhi people Actresses from Mumbai 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses in Hindi television 1967 births