Prachee Shah Paandya, also known as Prachi Shah, is an Indian actress and

Kathak ''Kathak'' is one of the eight major forms of Classical Indian dance, Indian classical dance. Its origin is attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern India known as ''Kathakar'' ("storyteller"), who communicated stories from the ...

dancer who appears in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

films and television. She is best known for her role as Pooja Hemant Virani in

Ekta Kapoor Ekta Kapoor (born 7 June 1975) is an Indian television and film producer, known for her work in Hindi television and Bollywood cinema. She is the founder of Balaji Telefilms, Balaji Telefilms Limited, where she serves as joint managing directo ...

's ''

Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi ''Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'' ( ''Because Even a Mother-in-Law Was a Daughter-in-Law Once'') is an Indian Hindi-language soap opera that aired from 3 July 2000 to 6 November 2008 on Star Plus. The show was co-produced by Shobha Kapoor a ...

Early life and career

Shah is a

Gujarati Jain Jainism has had a notable following in Gujarat. According to the 2011 Census of India, around 0.959% of the population of Gujarat is Jain. There are several old Jain temples that draw pilgrims from Jains around the world in places such as Palita ...

by birth but her family has lived in

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

for three generations. In an interview she admitted not knowing how to speak Gujarati but being fluent in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

because of her upbringing. Prachi gained significant popularity for playing Tulsi's sister in-law in the hugely successful serial

. This led to multiple roles in serials produced by

up until she took a break from acting to focus on parenthood. She is a trained

dancer and has performed in dance shows both nationally and internationally. She trained with her guru Ganesh Hiralal ji, of the seventh generation of the Hiralal family of the Jaipur ''gharana'' and holds the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

for performing 93 spins in one minute and in 2015 was appointed as the Kathak ambassador by the Government of India. In 2019, Shah attended the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

moderating a session discussing women in global cinema.

Personal life

Shah has been married to filmmaker Vishwas Paandya since 9 December 2005. She gave birth to their daughter Khiana in 2009 and subsequently took a year off from work.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * Actresses in Hindi television Living people Indian soap opera actresses Indian television actresses Indian film actresses Gujarati people Actresses in Hindi cinema 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses in Gujarati cinema Year of birth missing (living people) Actresses from Mumbai {{India-screen-actor-stub