Sarita Catherine Louise Choudhury (born 18 August 1966) is a British actress, known for her role as Mina in the

Mira Nair Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company, Mirabai Films, specializes in films for international audiences on Indian society, whether in the economic, social or cultural spher ...

-directed feature film ''

Mississippi Masala ''Mississippi Masala'' is a 1991 romantic drama film directed by Mira Nair, based upon a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala, starring Denzel Washington, Sarita Choudhury, and Roshan Seth. Set primarily in rural Mississippi, the film explores ...

'' (1991). Choudhury has played roles in American and international films and television shows such as in '' Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love'' (1996), ''

A Perfect Murder ''A Perfect Murder'' is a 1998 American crime thriller film directed by Andrew Davis and starring Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Viggo Mortensen. It is a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 film '' Dial M for Murder'', though the characters ...

'' (1998), '' 3 A.M.'' (2001), and the

John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and dire ...

remake '' Gloria'' (1999). In 2002, she starred in '' Just a Kiss''. She played a lesbian virgin in

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

's ''

She Hate Me ''She Hate Me'' is a 2004 American independent comedy drama film directed by Spike Lee and starring Anthony Mackie, Kerry Washington, Ellen Barkin, Monica Bellucci, Brian Dennehy, Woody Harrelson, Bai Ling, John Turturro, and Ossie Davis in his ...

'' (2004) and acted as Anna Ran in ''

Lady in the Water ''Lady in the Water'' is a 2006 American fantasy psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, who produced with Sam Mercer. The film features the starring cast of Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard with Bob Balaban, ...

'', a 2006 thriller by M. Night Shyamalan. She also played Egeria in '' The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2'' (2015) and co-starred with

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

in the 2016 film ''

A Hologram for the King ''A Hologram for the King'' is a 2012 American novel written by Dave Eggers. In October 2012, the novel was announced as a finalist for the National Book Award. It was adapted as a film of the same name, released in 2016 and starring Tom Hanks ...

''. In 2021, Choudhury joined the cast of

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

's ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City (newspaper column), newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the ...

'' revival television series '' And Just Like That...''.

Early life

Choudhury was born in

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

, London, England, and is of half

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

and half

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

descent. Her mother, Julia Patricia (née Spring), is English, and her father, Prabhas Chandra Choudhury, a scientist, is Indian. They married in 1964 in Lucea,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. Choudhury studied economics and film at Queen's University in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...

, Canada. She has one younger brother, Kumar Michael Choudhury, and one older brother, Chandra Paul Choudhury.

Career

Choudhury starred opposite

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...

in the 1991 film ''

'', for which she received her

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

(SAG) card."How Did You Get Your SAG-AFTRA Card?" ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

''. 13 January 2014. p. 10. She was still working as a waitress in

Manhattan's East Village The East Village is a neighborhood on the East Side (Manhattan), East Side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is roughly defined as the area east of the Bowery and Third Avenue, between 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street on the north and ...

to make ends meet while the film was in theatres. After her debut film ''Mississippi Masala'' became an art house hit, Choudhury acted as a Pakistani country-western singer in ''Wild West'' (1992), a Chilean maid who is raped in Bille August's adaptation of ''

The House of the Spirits ''The House of the Spirits'' ( es, La casa de los espíritus, 1982) is the debut novel of Isabel Allende. The novel was rejected by several Spanish-language publishers before being published in Buenos Aires in 1982. It became an instant best-sel ...

'', and a lesbian mother in ''

Fresh Kill ''Fresh Kill'' is a 1994 British-American experimental film directed by Shu Lea Cheang and written by Jessica Hagedorn. It stars Sarita Choudhury and Erin McMurtry as Shareen Lightfoot and Claire Mayakovsky, two lesbian parents who are drawn int ...

''. Choudhury appeared on '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' for five episodes during the 1998–99 season as Dr. Kalyani, a medical examiner. Choudhury played the role of the King's mistress, Helen Pardis, in the NBC drama '' Kings''. The series was based upon the Biblical story of

King David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

but set in modern times. Her character's Biblical counterpart was

Rizpah Rizpah (riz'-pa, "coal", "hot stone") was the daughter of Aiah, and one of Saul's concubines. She was the mother of Armoni and Mephibosheth (; ). After the death of Saul, according to the Bible, Abner was implicitly accused of having aspiration ...

, a concubine of

King Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tr ...

. She worked with

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

director Sona Jain in ''

For Real For Real is an American R&B and soul quartet, that formed in 1990. In the latter part of that decade they were nominated for a Billboard Music Award and a Soul Train Music Award. The ladies have now reunited and are touring. Biography For Real s ...

''. In an interview with ''

The Statesman A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level. Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States * ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a n ...

'' she said, "After ''Mississippi Masala'' and ''Kama Sutra'' I started getting offers in New York... doing theatres... I just went with the flow. One fine day, I thought that I haven't been back to

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 ...

, haven't shot there and that's something I wanted to. There were

Bollywood 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 ...

offers but it was not until Sona's script that made me look at India." The film had a commercial release in September 2010. She appears as character

Saul Berenson This is a list of characters appearing in the Showtime drama television series ''Homeland''. Appearances : = Main cast (credited) : = Recurring cast (3+) : = Guest cast (1-2) Main cast Recurring cast ;Notes Main characters The fol ...

's wife, Mira in the TV series ''

Homeland A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethni ...

''. In 2011, she appeared in the joint British/French TV series '' Death in Paradise''. Choudhury also had a brief cameo the 2013 comedy ''

Admission Admission may refer to: Arts and media * "Admissions" (''CSI: NY''), an episode of ''CSI: NY'' * ''Admissions'' (film), a 2011 short film starring James Cromwell * ''Admission'' (film), a 2013 comedy film * ''Admission'', a 2019 album by Florida s ...

''. She appeared in the films '' The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1'' (2014) and '' The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2'' (2015), as President Snow's assistant, Egeria. In 2015-2016, she appeared as the Deputy White House Political Director Sophia Varma in the American crime drama '' Blindspot''. In 2016 she starred with

in the film ''

'', and in 2021 she appeared in the film '' The Green Knight'' with

Dev Patel Dev Patel (; born 23 April 1990) is a British actor. His breakthrough came in 2008 with the leading role of Jamal Malik in Danny Boyle's drama ''Slumdog Millionaire'', for which Patel was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Lead ...

Filmography

Film

Short Film

Television

References

External links

*
Rediff nterview

with John LeKay
Eastern Eye Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhury, Sarita 1966 births English people of Indian descent English people of Bengali descent British actresses of Indian descent American people of Indian descent American people of Anglo-Indian descent American people of Bengali descent American actresses of Indian descent Living people People from Blackheath, London Actresses from London 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Kent Queen's University at Kingston alumni 21st-century American women