Bhumika Chawla

Bhumika Chawla (born Rachna Chawla on 21 August 1978) is an Indian actress and a former model. She made her film debut in the Telugu film Yuvakudu (2000) and has since then worked in various Indian film industries and appeared in over thirty films in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Bhojpuri, and Punjabi. Her notable performances include Kushi, Okkadu, Tere Naam, Missamma, Gandhi, My Father, Buddy and Anasuya.

Early life

Chawla was born in a Punjabi family in New Delhi, India and completed her schooling there. Her father was an Army officer. She moved to Mumbai in 1997 and started her career with Ad films and Hindi music video albums. She appeared in the Zee TV series Hip Hip Hurray.

Career

Chawla started off her film career in the Telugu film industry, starring in the feature film Yuvakudu (2000) alongside actor Sumanth. Her second release, Kushi (2001), in which she starred opposite Pawan Kalyan was a box office success, winning her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu following which she acted in several films in Telugu, including Okkadu (2003) opposite Mahesh Babu and Simhadri (2003) opposite Jr. NTR, which became two of the year's highest grossers in Telugu. Meanwhile, she made her debut in the Tamil film industry as well, starring in the film Badri (2001) opposite actor Vijay, which was followed by her second Tamil film Roja Kootam (2002).