Monica Dogra is an American musician and actress. She has acted in six feature films, as well as released five studio albums with the band Shaa’ir and func. She is a member on the judging panel of India's first English music talent show, ''The Stage''. She hosted four seasons of the music-Docu series ''The Dewarists'' that was nominated for a Cannes Lion. She also worked on the Viceland Emmy nominated series ''Woman'' produced by Gloria Steinem.

Early life

Monica Dogra is the daughter of

Dogra The Dogras or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group in India and Pakistan consisting of the Dogri language speakers. They live predominantly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, and in adjoining areas of Punjab, Himachal ...

immigrants from

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Her maternal uncle is

Dogri Dogri ( Name Dogra Akkhar: ; Devanagari: डोगरी; Nastaliq: ; ) is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, India, with smaller groups of speakers in adjoining regions of western Himachal Pra ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...

singer Prakash Sharma. She grew up in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to it ...

. She attended Oakleigh Elementary School,

Montessori The Montessori method of education involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing real-world skills. It emphasizes indepen ...

and Dulaney High School. She attended

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, t ...

, graduating with a bachelor's degree in musical theatre.

Career

In 2005, she formed the electronic rock group "Shaa'ir+Func", along with guitarist Randolph Correia. In 2007, they released their first album ''New Day: The Love Album'', followed by ''Light Tribe'' in 2008 and ''Mantis'' in 2010. She also sang a song "Dooriyan Bhi Hai Zaroori" with

Vishal Dadlani Vishal Dadlani (born 28 June 1973) is an Indian singer, songwriter and music composer. He is one half of the duo Vishal–Shekhar, Front Man and vocalist of one of India's leading rock bands called Pentagram. As a singer he has sung various ...

in the film '' Break Ke Baad'' and the theme song in English (with

Shahid Mallya Shahid Mallya is an Indian playback singer who has sung in various films. He prominently sings Hindi, Punjabi and Telugu songs Career Initially performing playback singing for Indian TV serials, Mallya debuted in Bollywood with the song "Gurban ...

) for the film '' Inkaar''. She made her acting debut with a guest appearance in ''

Rock On!! ''Rock On!!'' is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film written and directed by Abhishek Kapoor, produced by Farhan Akhtar, and with music by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy. The film marks the successful Bollywood debut of Akhtar and Prachi D ...

''. In 2008, she was approached by Kiran Rao for the lead role in Rao's directorial debut film ''

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 ...

'' - a role Dogra initially turned down, but eventually accepted. In December 2011, she served as a judge for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cov ...

s Never Hide Sounds musical talent contest. She is the host of '' The Dewarists'', a musical collaborative show on STAR World India. In 2013, she performed with award-winning violinist Scott Tixier, for a series of shows sponsored by Dos Equis around the US. In March 2014, she was featured on the cover page of ''

FHM ''FHM'' (For Him Magazine) is a British multinational men's lifestyle magazine that was published in several countries. Its master edition contained features such as the ''FHM'' 100 Sexiest Women in the World, which has featured models, actres ...

'' Magazine. In March 2013 and May 2015, she was featured on the cover and had a pictorial in ''Maxim India'' Magazine. She is now one of the judges for the show ''The Stage'' alongside

. Monica Dogra will be next seen in her upcoming web series ''The Married Woman'', directed by Sahir Raza. The star cast also includes Ridhi Dogra in lead role.

Early life

Career

Filmography

Web series

Music video appearances

Discography

Television

References

External links