Preetika Rao is an former Indian actress, model and film-columnist who primarily works in Hindi television and films. She made her acting debut with the Tamil film '' Chikku Bukku'' (2010). Rao is best known for portraying Aaliya Zain Abdullah in her television debut '' Beintehaa'' (2013-14) for which she won several awards including

Gold Awards The Gold Awards is an annual awards show that honours the best performers in the Television in India, Hindi-language television industry. They were first awarded in 2007. Boroplus was the title sponsor for the first 10 editions after which Kesh K ...

for Best Debut-Female and ITA Awards for GR8! Onscreen Couple with Harshad Arora. In 2017, she played Mohini Ayaan Mehta in ''

Love Ka Hai Intezaar ''Love Ka Hai Intezaar'' ( Waiting for love) is an Indian Hindi-language television romantic drama series, produced by Siddharth P. Malhotra. It was broadcasting worldwide on Star Plus, Mondays through Saturdays in an afternoon programming block ...

'' (2017). Rao was last seen in her

Hindi film Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

debut with Zee5 film ''377 Ab Normal'' (2019).

Early life

Rao was born in Mangalore, Karnataka. She comes from a Konkani-speaking

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

family. She graduated majoring in history from Sophia College, while also acquiring a diploma in Advertising and Journalism. She wrote for ''

Bangalore Mirror ''Bangalore Mirror'' is a daily English-language newspaper published in Bangalore, India. It is a deputed newspaper and is the second-largest circulating English newspaper in the city ''Vijay Times'' ''Vijay Times'' was an English newspaper st ...

'', '' Deccan Chronicle'' and the '' Asian Age''. Her sister, Amrita Rao is a Bollywood actress. After her acting debut, she moved to the USA for her diploma course in Broadcast Journalism from the New York Film Academy,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Career

Debut and breakthrough (2010–2014)

Rao chose to skip Bollywood for television as she wasn't comfortable with bikinis and kissing scenes. She made her acting and film debut with the Tamil film '' Chikku Bukku'' (2010) where she was seen as Meenal "Ammu" alongside Arya. She then made her

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

debut with the role of Madhu Latha in '' Priyudu'' (2012) opposite Varun Sandesh. Rao made the transition from regional cinema in 2013 and made her television debut with '' Beintehaa'' opposite Harshad Arora. She portrayed Aaliya Ghulam Haider/Aaliya Zain Abdullah and received various awards for her performance including Gold Awards Best Debut- Female.

Film and television roles (2015–2018)

In 2015, Rao made her singing debut with the single "Na Tum Humein Jano". The same year she made her Kannada debut with the role of Preetika in '' Rebel'' alongside Aditya. In 2016, she appeared as a Contestant in ''

Box Cricket League Box Cricket League (BCL) is an Indian sports reality television show where celebrities are seen competing with each other in an indoor cricket game format. Establishment The BCL was inspired by the popularity of the Celebrity Cricket League ...

''. Rao made her comeback to television with ''

'' in 2017. She portrayed Mohini Mathur Ranawat/Mohini Ayaan Mehta opposite Mohit Sehgal. She then appeared as Priya alongside Yunus Khan in the short film ''Metro Mulaqat''. The same year she released her second single "Yaad Kiya Dil Ne" with Siddharth Basrur. In 2018, She played Mahima "Mahi" Malhotra in ''Laal Ishq'' alongside Priyank Sharma and Niti Taylor in the episode "Gudiya". She has also appeared in the music videos 'Surilee' with Shaan (2017) 'Tere Vede' (2018) and 'Tenu Bhul Na Pavagi' (2018).

Success and recent work (2019–present)

Rao made her Hindi film debut with the ZEE5 film ''377 Ab Normal''. In the film, she played Neha, a

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

, opposite

Maanvi Gagroo Maanvi Gagroo is an Indian actress who appears in Hindi films and television, She has worked in various web series like TVF Pitchers, TVF Tripling and Four More Shots Please!. Personal Life and background Maanvi Gagroo was born in Kashmiri Pa ...

.Stuti Shukla
"‘377 Ab Normal’ Beautifully Depicts Desi Queers’ Road to Justice"
'' The Quint'', New Delhi, 22 March 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019. She next appeared in the 2021

Anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme ...

''Love Sorries'' which released on

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 ...

and Hungama Play where she portrayed a strict boss Meera in the segment: "Double Cheese" alongside

Aakash Talwar Aakash Talwar (born 9 October 1992) is an Indian television actor. Since career beginnings in 2014, he has been a part of over 30 TV shows. He made his television debut with '' Pavitra Bandhan'', but gained a breakthrough playing Varun Verma ...

which received positive reviews. Rao will next be seen in an Kannada film directed by Shreyas Sudhindra, which also stars Achyuth Kumar, Balaji Manohar and Naveen Suvarnahalli.

Media image

As a teen-model, Rao appeared in an advertisement for Cadbury Dairy Milk, along with

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...

, directed by Shoojit Sircar, and has over 200 TVC and print campaigns to her credit. Rao was felicitated in

Dar Es Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...

at the Sinema Zetu International Festival for her immense popularity in Tanzania due to her show '' Beintehaa''. In 2014, she ranked 6th in '' Rediff''s Top 10 Television Actresses List.

Filmography

Films

Television

Web series

Special appearances

Music videos

Discography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Preetika Indian film actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Living people Sophia College for Women alumni Actresses in Hindi television Indian television actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses from Mumbai Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Kannada cinema Female models from Mumbai Year of birth missing (living people)