Deepti Naval
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Deepti Naval (born 3 February 1952) is an Indian-born American actress, director, and writer, predominantly active in
Hindi cinema 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 ...
. Her major contribution has been in the area of art cinema, winning critical acclaim for her sensitive and 'close to life' characters that emphasized the changing roles of women in India.


Early life

Naval was born on 3 February 1952 in Amritsar, East Punjab,
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 ...
, but moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
when her father got a teaching job at
City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...
. She studied fine arts at
Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...
.


Acting career

Naval made her debut in 1978 with
Shyam Benegal Shyam Benegal (born 14 December 1934) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. He has received ...
's film '' Junoon''. Two years later, she played a lead role in ''
Ek Baar Phir ''Ek Baar Phir'' ( hi, एक बार फिर; translation: Once Again) is a 1979 film produced and directed by Vinod Pande. This offbeat social drama casts Suresh Oberoi and Deepti Naval as lead pair with Saeed Jaffrey, Chitto Chopra, Prad ...
''. Alongside
Smita Patil Smita Patil (17 October 1955 – 13 December 1986) was an Indian actress who worked in films, television series and theatres. She appeared in over 80 Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Malayalam and Kannada films in a career that spanned just o ...
and
Shabana Azmi Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of Hindi film, television and theatre. One of India's most acclaimed actresses, Azmi is known for her portrayals of distinctive, often unconventional female characters across several ge ...
, she became an actress in 1980s
Parallel cinema Parallel cinema, or New Indian Cinema, is a film movement in Indian cinema that originated in the state of West Bengal in the 1950s as an alternative to the mainstream commercial Indian cinema. Inspired by Italian Neorealism, Parallel Cinema ...
, playing roles in films like '' Kamla'' (1984) or '' Ankahee'' (1985). Starting with '' Chashme Buddoor'' in 1981, she was often cast with Farooq Sheikh and they became an iconic on-screen couple of the early 1980s, with films such as ''Chashme Buddoor'', '' Saath Saath'', ''
Kissi Se Na Kehna ''Kissi Se Na Kehna'' () 1983 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. It stars Farooq Shaikh, Deepti Naval and Utpal Dutt. Synopsis Kailash Pati, a very devotional widower, lives a retired life spending tim ...
'', '' Katha'', ''
Rang Birangi Rang Birangi (colorful) is a 1983 Hindi film, based on a story by the Hindi writer Kamleshwar, and directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. This comedy classic is most remembered for the Utpal Dutt's role of ACP Dhurandhar Bhatawdekar, which won him th ...
'' and ''
Faasle ''Faasle'' is a 1985 Bollywood film produced and directed by Yash Chopra. The film stars Sunil Dutt, Rekha, Farooq Shaikh, Deepti Naval, Rohan Kapoor, Farah, Raj Kiran, Sushma Seth and Aloknath. The film is the debut film for Rohan Kapoor, s ...
''. Three decades later, they reunited in ''
Tell Me O Kkhuda ''Tell Me O Kkhuda'' () is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Hema Malini, starring Esha Deol, Arjan Bajwa, Sudhanshu Pandey, Vinod Khanna, Dharmendra, Rishi Kapoor, Farooq Sheikh, Deepti Naval and Chandan Roy Sanyal in the lead ...
'' (2011). Their last film together was '' Listen... Amaya'' which was released in 2013, the year Shaikh died. While she was very prolific in the 1980s, her career slowed down in the 1990s and she explored other art forms. She came back in the 2000s with social dramas like ''
Bawandar ''Bawandar'' (English title: ''The Sand Storm'') is a 2000 Indian film, based on the true story of Bhanwari Devi, a rape victim from Rajasthan, India. The film depicts the personal trauma, public humiliation and legal injustice that Bhanwari Devi ...
'' and ''
Firaaq ''Firaaq'' (English: ''Separation'') is a 2008 Hindi political thriller film set one month after the 2002 violence in Gujarat, India and looks at the aftermath in its effects on the lives of everyday people. It claims to be based on "a thousand ...
'', and won Best Actress awards in several international film festivals for her roles in '' Leela'' (2002), ''
Memories in March ''Memories in March'' is a 2010 Indian drama film directed by Sanjoy Nag. The film stars Deepti Naval, Rituparno Ghosh and Raima Sen. The film is the effective exploration of a situation wherein a bereaved mother comes to terms with her late s ...
'' (2010) and ''Listen... Amaya'' (2013). She was also recognized as the 2007 Tribute Honoree of the
Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is an annual film festival held in Los Angeles, California. Established by Christina Marouda in 2003, as a nonprofit organization devoted to paving the way for a greater appreciation of Indian cinema
. Mostly present in Hindi cinema, Naval also acted in other Indian languages, as with '' Marhi Da Deeva'' and '' Mane'', which respectively won the award for Best Feature Film in Punjabi and Best Feature Film in
Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
at the 1990
National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...
ceremony. She was to make her debut in a
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
movie under director
Sanjoy Nag Sanjoy Nag (born 18 March) is a film director/actor. He won the National Film Award in 2011 for his debut feature film ''Memories in March''. Early life and background Sanjoy Nag was born and brought up in Kolkata. He completed his schooling fro ...
but the film - ''Memories in March'' - was eventually shot in English. Naval has been active on TV with a few telefilms and serials such as ''Sauda'' (1992), ''Tanaav'' (1994) or ''Muqammal'' (2003). She came back in 2011 with the daily soap opera ''
Mukti Bandhan ''Mukti Bandhan'' (English: ''Bond Redemption'') is a television series from India, that has aired on Colors (TV channel), Colors, based on the story of an ordinary man with an extraordinary sense for business. The story is an adaptation of Har ...
'' on
Colors TV Colors TV is an Indian general entertainment broadcast network owned by Viacom18. The network's programming consists of family dramas, comedies, youth-oriented reality shows, shows on crime and television films. History It was launched on 2 ...
. She made her theater debut in 2015 with the poetic stage show ''Ek Mulaqaat'' in which she played the celebrated Punjabi writer
Amrita Pritam Amrita Pritam (; 31 August 1919 – 31 October 2005) was an Indian novelist, essayist and poet, who wrote in Punjabi and Hindi. A prominent figure in Punjabi literature, she is the recipient of the 1956 Sahitya Akademi Award. Her body of wo ...
. In 2019, Naval appeared in an episode of
Made in Heaven ''Made in Heaven'' is the fifteenth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 6 November 1995 by Parlophone Records in the United Kingdom and by Hollywood Records in the United States. It was the band's first and only release s ...
, a web series on Amazon Prime directed by
Zoya Akhtar Zoya Akhtar (born 14 October 1972) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. After completing a diploma in filmmaking from NYU, she assisted directors such as Mira Nair, Tony Gerber and Dev Benegal, before becomin ...
.


Other work

Naval made her directorial debut with ''
Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki Baarish ''Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki Baarish'' is an Indian film written, and directed by Deepti Naval, starring Manisha Koirala, Rajit Kapur and Sanaj Naval. Cast *Manisha Koirala as Juhi * Rajit Kapur as Debu *Sanaj Naval as Kaku *Milind Soman ...
'' starring
Manisha Koirala Manisha Koirala (; born 16 August 1970) is a Nepalese actress who works in Cinema of India, Indian films, predominantly in Hindi and Tamil language, Tamil films and has also worked in few Telugu language, Telugu, Bengali language, Bengali, Mala ...
and
Rajit Kapur Rajit Kapur is an Indian film and theatre actor and director. He is known for his portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi in the 1996 film, '' The Making of the Mahatma'' for which he won the National Film Award for Best Actor. Other notable roles are as ...
. The film won the Best Screenplay Award at the 2009
New York Indian Film Festival The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in New York City, and screens films relating to India, the Indian Diaspora, and the work of Indian filmmakers. The festival began in November 2001 and was foun ...
which released on Netflix in 2019. She also wrote and directed ''Thoda Sa Aasmaan'', a TV serial centred around strong female characters, and produced a travel show, ''The Path Less Travelled''. Her first selection of poems in Hindi, ''Lamha Lamha'' was published in 1983. In 2004, MapinLit published a new collection called ''Black Wind and Other Poems''. Naval is also the author of a collection of short stories, ''The Mad Tibetan'', published in 2011. Naval is also a painter and photographer with several exhibitions to her credit. Her works as a painter include the controversial ''Pregnant Nun''. She also runs the Vinod Pandit Charitable Trust, set up in memory of her late companion, for the education of the girl child.


Personal life

Naval was married to the filmmaker
Prakash Jha Prakash Jha (born 27 February 1952) is an Indian film producer, actor, director and screenwriter, mostly known for his political and socio-political films such as “Hip Hip Hurray” (1984), ''Damul'' (1984), ''Mrityudand'' (1997), ''Gangaaja ...
and the two have an adopted daughter, Disha Jha. Naval was later in a relationship with the late Vinod Pandit, the nephew of
Pandit Jasraj Pandit Jasraj (28 January 1930  – 17 August 2020) was an Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the '' Mewati gharana'' (musical apprenticeship lineage). His musical career spanned 75 years resulting in national and international fame ...
. , she is an
America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
n citizen. She is also interested in painting and photography.


Awards

* 1988,
Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards commonly referred as BFJA Awards, is given by The Bengal Film Journalists' Association. The BFJA is the oldest association of film critics in India, founded in 1937 to serve the developing film journalism ...
, Best Supporting Actress, ''
Mirch Masala ''Mirch Masala'' (Translation: Hot Spice) is a 1987 Hindi psychological thriller film directed by Ketan Mehta. It stars Naseeruddin Shah and Smita Patil in the lead roles. On the centenary of Indian cinema in April 2013, ''Forbes'' included Smita ...
'' * 2003, Best Supporting Actress Award at the Karachi Film Festival * 2012, Best Actress Award at the Imagine India Film Festival (Spain) * 2013, Best Actress Award at the New York Indian Film Festival


Filmography


Films


Television


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Naval, Deepti 1952 births Living people Actresses from Amritsar Indian film actresses Indian television actresses Indian emigrants to the United States American film actresses American television actresses American people of Punjabi descent American actresses of Indian descent American expatriate actresses in India Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Punjabi cinema Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Marathi cinema Hunter College alumni Artist authors 21st-century Indian women 21st-century American women 21st-century American actresses