Vaishnavi Macdonald (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Mahant) is an Indian film and TV actress who is best known for playing Geeta Viswas in

Mukesh Khanna Mukesh Khanna (born 23 June 1958) is an Indian actor, talk show host and producer who works in Hindi language films and television shows. He is best known for his portrayal of Shaktimaan, the superhero character in ''Shaktimaan'' (1997–2005) ...

's television series ''

Shaktimaan Shaktimaan is an Indian Hindi-language 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 alter ego "Pandit Gang ...

'', telecasted 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 ...

. She is currently seen in Dangal's recently launched Aye Mere Humsafar. She has acted in various

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 ...

films such as '' Bambai Ka Babu'', opposite

Saif Ali Khan Saif Ali Khan (; born Sajid Ali Khan Pataudi; 16 August 1970) is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi films. Part of the Pataudi family, he is the son of actress Sharmila Tagore and cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. Khan ma ...

, '' Ladlaa'' and Barsaat Ki Raat (1998). She is also known for playing Shilpa Sharma in ''

Miley Jab Hum Tum ''Miley Jab Hum Tum'' (''When you and I met'') is an Indian teen drama television series that aired on STAR One from 22 September 2008 to 19 November 2010. The show is about falling in love during college and developing relations for a lifetime ...

'', Shail in the

Zee TV Zee TV (stylised as ZEE TV) is a Hindi general entertainment pay television channel in India. It was launched on 2 October 1992, as the first privately owned TV channel in the country. It is owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Zee TV also ...

show ''

Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke ''Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke'' (International Title: ''Young Dreams'') is an Indian television series, which premiered on 21 May 2012 and was broadcast on Zee TV. The show was all about celebrating adolescence depicting the lives of two teenage ...

'' and Leela Taneja in the television series ''

Tashan-E-Ishq ''Tashan-E-Ishq'' () is an Indian romantic drama television series created by Subhash Chandra under Essel Vision Productions that replaced Jodha Akbar and aired from 10 August 2015 to 16 September 2016. It was replaced by Zindagi Ki Mehek. ...

.''

Early life and career

Her father is a Vaishnav

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 ...

(the reason she took the screen name Vaishnavi). As a child she moved to

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

where she decided to become a scientist. However, while vacationing 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- ...

, she had the opportunity to appear in the

Ramsay Brothers Ramsay Brothers is a pseudonym or brand name used for a family of Bollywood filmmakers, the sons and grandsons of F.U. Ramsay. They are famous for making the genre of horror films synonymous with the name "Ramsay Brothers." History The actual surn ...

' horror film ''

Veerana Veerana () is a 1988 Indian Hindi-language erotic supernatural horror thriller film, directed by the Ramsay Brothers. The music was composed by Bappi Lahiri and sung by Suman Kalyanpur, Munna Aziz and Sharon Prabhakar., Plot Priests surround ...

'' and decided to pursue acting as a profession. She subsequently appeared in ''Barsaat Ki Raat'', '' Ladlaa'', ''

Maidan-E-Jung ''Maidan-E-Jung'' () is a 1995 Hindi film directed by K.C. Bokadia, starring Dharmendra, Akshay Kumar and Karishma Kapoor along with Amrish Puri, Manoj Kumar, Jaya Prada, Gulshan Grover, Kader Khan, Shakti Kapoor, Mukesh Khanna and Dina Pathak ...

'', '' Bambai Ka Babu'', ''Daanveer'' and ''

Oru Mutham Manimutham ''Oru Mutham Manimutham'' is a 1997 Indian Malayalam-language film, directed by Sajan and produced by George Karyathu and Mahima Ramachandran. The film stars Mukesh, Vaishnavi MacDonald, Srividya, KPAC Lalitha and Harishree Ashokan in the le ...

'' (a 1997 Malayalam film with actor

Mukesh Mukesh is an epithet for the Hindu god Shiva, and literally means "conqueror of the Muka demon". It also means god of 3 worlds, heaven, hell & earth, which in turn represents Hindu god Shiva. It is commonly used as a male given name in India. Peopl ...

). From 1998 to 2005, she played the female lead Geeta Vishwas in the superhero series ''

'' on

. The show, as well as her character, got high acclaim and was considered her breakthrough role. When her journalist character Geeta Vishwas was written out of the series, fan protests prompted the producers to bring her back. In 2000, she played the role of ACP Ratna, a daring police officer in the comedy serial ''Raju Raja Rajasaab'' on Sahara TV.An Interview with Vaishnavi Mahant.
12 October 2001. www.indiantelevision.com Accessed 1 February 2011. She went on to play leading roles in several

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 ...

films. She played the role of Sameera's mother Sapna in ''

Chhoona Hai Aasmaan ''Chhoona Hai Aasmaan'' () is a Hindi television serial that aired on Star One.It's about six Indian air force officers who form a team called the HAWKS. Their duty is to save the country from any terrorist attacks. Cast * Mohammed Iqbal Khan a ...

'' and Bhaskar's mother in the

Sony Entertainment Television Sony Entertainment Television (SET) is an Indian Hindi-language general entertainment pay television channel, that was launched on 30 September 1995, and is owned by Culver Max Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese Sony. SET India's You ...

serial ''

Bhaskar Bharti ''Bhaskar Bharti'' is an Indian television series that aired on Sony Entertainment Television. It premiered on 25 May 2009 and stars Ragini Khanna, Anchal Sabharwal, Aamir Ali, Jai Kalra, Rukhsar Rehman, Vivek Mushran and Eijaz Khan. Prior to ...

''. She also appeared in ''Karmyudh'' on Doordarshan in the role of Inspector Shivangi Chauhan. She is married to Leslie Macdonald and has a daughter.

Filmography

Films

Television

Publications

* Macdonald, Vaishnavi. ''The Invisible Hand of God''. . * Macdonald, Vaishnavi. ''The Cinderella Effect: Nothing Here is Forever''. Pen It! Publications, LLC. .

Awards

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:MacDonald, Vaishnavi Living people Actresses from Mumbai Actresses from Hyderabad, India Indian film actresses Indian television actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Hindi television Indian Christians Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses