Ritika Mohan Singh is an Indian actress and former

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

, who predominantly appears in

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 ...

films in addition to

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 ...

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 ...

and

Malayalam Language Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

films. After competing for India at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games and then participating in the

Super Fight League Super Fight League is a mixed martial arts promotion, based in India. The organisation was formed in 2012 by actor Sanjay Dutt and British-Indian businessman Raj Kundra, and is currently co-owned by British-Indian businessman Bill Dosanjh and ...

, she played a leading role in

Sudha Kongara Prasad Sudha Kongara Prasad is an Indian film director and screenwriter who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. She made her directorial debut with the Telugu film ''Andhra Andagadu'' in 2008, and later directed the Tamil film '' ''Drohi'. In 2016, ...

's Tamil film ''

Irudhi Suttru ''Irudhi Suttru'' () is a 2016 Indian sports drama film written and directed by Sudha Kongara. Filmed simultaneously in Tamil and Hindi, with the latter being titled as ''Saala Khadoos'' (), the film stars R. Madhavan as boxing coach who is igno ...

'' (also simultaneously shot in Hindi as ''Saala Khadoos'') alongside

R. Madhavan Ranganathan Madhavan (born 1 June 1970) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, and producer who predominantly appears in Tamil and Hindi films. Madhavan has won four Filmfare Awards South and three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. Madhava ...

. She won

Special Mention Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...

at the

63rd National Film Awards The 63rd National Film Awards was an award ceremony during which the Directorate of Film Festivals of India presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2015 in Indian cinema. The awards were announced on 28 March 2016 ...

for her performance in the film. She received

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

thrice for the same role in three languages: Tamil (''

''), Hindi (''

Saala Khadoos ''Irudhi Suttru'' () is a 2016 Indian sports drama film written and directed by Sudha Kongara. Filmed simultaneously in Tamil and Hindi, with the latter being titled as ''Saala Khadoos'' (), the film stars R. Madhavan as boxing coach who is ign ...

'') and Telugu (''

Guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...

''). She Has Won One

National Award 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 Directorate ...

, One

SIIMA South Indian International Movie Awards, also known as the SIIMA Awards, rewards the artistic and technical achievements of the South Indian film industry. It was launched in 2012 by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Brinda Prasad Adusimilli to appreci ...

Award, and Three

Filmfare Award The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

( 2

Filmfare Award South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing f ...

& 1

) Respectively.

Mixed martial arts career

Singh trained as a kickboxer and as a

since childhood, under the guidance of her father. She appeared in the inaugural season of the

and competed as a mixed martial artist.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center , 1–3 , Daizy Singh , Decision (Unanimous) , SFL 22-23 , , align=center , 3 , align=center , 5:00 ,

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- ...

, India , , - , Loss , align=center , 1–2 , Irene Cabello Rivera , Submission (armbar) , SFL 18 , , align=center , 1 , align=center , 2:06 ,

, India , , - , Win , align=center , 1–1 , Aya Saber , Decision (Unanimous) , SFL 11 , , align=center , 3 , align=center , 5:00 ,

, India , , - , Loss , align=center , 0–1 , Manjit Kolekar , TKO (punches) , SFL 5 , , align=center , 2 , align=center , 3:45 ,

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 ...

Acting career

Ritika Singh began her acting career in 2013, she was spotted by director

in an advert for the Super Fight League and she later auditioned to play a leading role in her bilingual film, ''Saala Khadoos'' (2016), after the makers managed to contact her through the competition's chairman,

Raj Kundra Raj Kundra is a British-Indian businessman, who was ranked as the 198th richest British Asian by Success. His father, Bal Krishan Kundra was a middle-class businessman and his mother Usha Rani Kundra was a shop assistant when he was a child. ...

. Portraying Madhi, a Marwari girl who grows up in the slums of

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, Singh was signed because the makers wanted a professional boxer to act, rather than an actress to act as a boxer. For the Tamil version, ''

'', Singh phonetically learned her part in Tamil by writing down the dialogues in Hindi. Co-produced by the film's lead actor

and

Rajkumar Hirani Rajkumar Hirani (born 20 November 1962), also called Raju Hirani, is an Indian filmmaker, director, producer and editor known for his works in Hindi films. He is the recipient of several accolades, including three National Film Awards and eleve ...

, the film was released in late January 2016. Ritika received rave reviews for her portrayal, with

Sify.com Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...

stating "she is a marvelous discovery" and "her lip sync, body language and gait is a major highlight for the film". For her performance in ''Irudhi Suttru'', Ritika won the a Special Mention at the

, and became the first actress, who did not dub for her role, to be recognised at the National Awards. Singh later appeared in

Manikandan Manikandan (born 1983) is an Indian actor, who has appeared in Tamil language films. He has acted in films including ''Boys (2003 film), Boys'' (2003) and ''Kicha Vayasu 16'' (2005). Career Manikanda, a visual communications graduate who had ...

's '' Aandavan Kattalai'', which was released in September 2016. His next following was the Telugu movie ''

'' (2017), remake of ''Irudhi Suttru''. Later, she performed in the horror comedy by

P. Vasu Vasudevan Peethambharan, known professionally as P Vasu, is an Indian director, writer and actor who works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam language films. In a career spanning three decades, Vasu has directed over 64 films.

's ''

Shivalinga A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary ''murti'' or devotional ...

'' (2017) and Telugu movie ''

Neevevaro ''Neevevaro'' () is a 2018 Telugu language Romance film, romantic action thriller film directed by Hari Nath and produced by Kona Venkat and M.V.V. Satyanarayana. The film stars Aadhi Pinisetty, Aadhi, Taapsee Pannu and Ritika Singh. This film i ...

'' (2018). In 2020, she played the female protagonist in the film '' Oh My Kadavule'' with

Ashok Selvan Ashok Selvan is an Indian actor who works prominently in Tamil cinema. He made his breakthrough playing one of the lead roles in ''Soodhu Kavvum'' (2013), before gaining critical acclaim for his performances in C. V. Kumar's productions '' Pizz ...

and

Vani Bhojan Vani Bhojan (born 28 October 1988) is an Indian actress who works in Tamil cinema. She made her Telugu film debut with ''Meeku Maathrame Cheptha'' in 2019 and her Tamil film debut with '' Oh My Kadavule'' in 2020. Early life and family Bho ...

Filmography

Films

Web series

Awards

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Ritika 21st-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Actresses from Mumbai Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Filmfare Awards winners Indian female kickboxers Indian female mixed martial artists Female models from Mumbai Indian film actresses Living people Martial artists from Mumbai Sportswomen from Maharashtra South Indian International Movie Awards winners Special Mention (feature film) National Film Award winners Zee Cine Awards winners 1994 births Filmfare Awards South winners