Fatima Sana Shaikh (born 11 January 1992) is an Indian actress, who works in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

films. Shaikh appeared as a child artist in such films as ''

Chachi 420 ''Chachi 420'' () is a 1997 Indian Hindi-language comedy film, co-written, produced and directed by Kamal Haasan. The film is a remake of the 1996 Tamil movie ''Avvai Shanmughi''. The film stars Haasan and Nassar (reprising their roles from the ...

'' (1997) and ''

One 2 Ka 4 ''One 2 Ka 4'' is a 2001 Indian Hindi language action drama film directed by Shashilal K. Nair. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and Jackie Shroff. The score and soundtrack were composed by A. R. Rahman. This film is now own ...

'' (2001). In 2016, she portrayed wrestler

Geeta Phogat Geeta Phogat (born 15 December 1988) is a freestyle wrestler who won India's first ever gold medal in wrestling at the Commonwealth Games in 2010. She is also the first Indian female wrestler to have qualified for the Olympic Summer Games. Pe ...

in the top-grossing sports film '' Dangal''. She has since starred in the streaming anthology projects '' Ludo'' (2020), '' Ajeeb Daastaans'' (2021), and ''

Modern Love Mumbai ''Modern Love Mumbai'' is an Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy anthology Amazon Prime Video series produced by Pritish Nandy, that premiered on Amazon Prime Video on May 13, 2022. Its episodes run from 40 to 45 minutes. ''Modern Love Mu ...

'' (2022).

Early and personal life

Fatima Sana Shaikh was born on 11 January 1992 born and brought up 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- ...

. Her mother, Raj Tabassum, is from

Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...

, and her father, Vipin Sharma, is from

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), 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 Ri ...

. While her father was raised Hindu and her mother raised Muslim, Shaikh identifies as an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

. She had received experience in photography prior to becoming an actress.

Career

Shaikh began her career as a child artist in ''

'' and ''

''. Years later, she played Zoya in the Indian drama film '' Tahaan'', which received "The German Star of India award" at "Bollywood and Beyond" festival at

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, Germany in 2009. Shaikh was selected for

Nitesh Tiwari Nitesh Tiwari is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and lyricist known for his works in Bollywood. He debuted as a co-director in '' Chillar Party'' (2011) which won the National Film Award for Best Children's Film for that year. He then he ...

's biographical sports film '' Dangal'' along with

Sanya Malhotra Sanya Malhotra (born 25 February 1992) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. She began her career with supporting roles in the biographical sports film '' Dangal'' (2016) and the comedy ''Badhaai Ho'' (2018), both of which rank among t ...

, who had never acted before. Shaikh was chosen to portray

. To prepare for her role, she watched several videos on wrestling to understand "how wrestlers move, walk, their body language". Both Malhotra and Sheikh went through five rounds of auditions, physical training and workshops with Tiwari and

Aamir Khan Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi films. Through his career spanning over 30 years, Khan has established himself as one of the most notable actors of Indian ci ...

. They were trained by coach and former wrestler Kripa Shankar Patel Bishnoi. Released in 2016, ''Dangal'' received critical acclaim and became the highest-grossing Indian film ever with earnings of more than worldwide. She played Zafira Baig, a warrior-archer Thug in the epic

action-adventure film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

, ''

Thugs of Hindostan ''Thugs of Hindostan'' is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language period action-adventure film written and directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya, and produced by Aditya Chopra under his banner Yash Raj Films. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, ...

''. Shaikh will be featuring in a

remake of

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

movie ''

Aruvi ''Aruvi'' (; ) is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language political drama film written and directed by Arun Prabu Purushothaman, in his directorial debut. Produced and distributed by S. R. Prakash Babu and S. R. Prabhu of Dream Warrior Pictures, the film ...

''. The Hindi version is being produced by Applause Entertainment. Fatima will be seen as

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

, along with

Vicky Kaushal Vicky Kaushal (; born 16 May 1988) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi films. Kaushal is the recipient of numerous accolades including a National Film Award and two Filmfare Awards, and has appeared in '' Forbes India'' Celebrit ...

and

in an untitled 2022 Sam Manekshaw biography film directed by

Meghna Gulzar Meghna Gulzar is an Indian writer, film director, director and film producer, producer. She is best known for directing of Bollywood film Raazi in 2018. After debuting as a screenwriter with her father's 1999 directorial ''Hu Tu Tu'', Meghn ...

Filmography

Accolades

Media

Shaikh was ranked in The Times Most Desirable Women at No. 48 in 2020.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaikh, Fatima Sana 1992 births Living people Kashmiri people Kashmiri actors Actresses in Hindi cinema Indian film actresses Actresses from Mumbai Indian child actresses Indian television actresses Indian soap opera actresses Actresses in Hindi television Indian atheists Actresses from Hyderabad, India