Mamta Kulkarni

Mamta Mukhund Kulkarni (Marathi: ममता कुलकर्णी), born 20 April 1972) in Mumbai, is a formerBollywood Actress.

Early life and background

Mamta Kulkarni was born in Mumbai, India.

Career

Acting career

Kulkarni made her debut through the Tamil film Nanbargal which was released in Hindi as Mera Dil Tere Liye directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar, made her Bollywood debut in the 1992 movie Tiranga. In 1993 she starred in Aashiq Awara which won her a Filmfare Lux New Face Award. She went to appear in many other films such as Waqt Hamara Hai (1993), Krantiveer (1994), Karan Arjun (1995), Sabse Bada Khiladi (1995) and Ghatak: Lethal (1996) which did well at the box office. However most of her roles involved being a love interest to the leading man of the films or appearing in glamorous song-and-dance sequences.

That seemed to change when Rajkumar Santoshi, in whose earlier movie Ghatak: Lethal (1996) she had a cameo appearance, cast her as the female lead in his 1998 movie China Gate, an ambitious remake of Seven Samurai. In a deglamourised role and sharing screen space with some of Hindi cinemas finest actors, she had the perfect opportunity to showcase her acting talent.

However, things did not go as planned. Relations between Santoshi and the actress soured, and rumours began circulating that Kulkarni was dropped from the movie, and reinstated only after gangster Chhota Rajan intervened on her behalf.^[1] When the movie was finally released, it was also a huge flop. Furthermore, the only song in the movie, the item number Chamma Chamma, was picturised on Urmila Matondkar, even though Kulkarni had built her reputation with such numbers. To add insult to injury, the song turned out to be a chartbuster, and was even used in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge!, and greatly increased Urmila's popularity.

Angered at the turn of events, Kulkarni lashed out at Santoshi, accusing him of cutting her screen time because she had refused his advances.^[2] Santoshi denied all rumours related to the movie, and the matter was given a quiet burial. However, this proved to be the death blow to Kulkarni's career. She only appeared in a handful of movies after that, and new offers dried up. She quit movies after her last appearance in the 2002 film Kabhie Tum Kabhie Hum. Then she moved to New York after she married an NRI. Mamta also did movies in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Malayalam.^[3]

Stardust controversy

She gained fame after posing topless (but with her arms crossed over her breasts) for a photograph that appeared on the cover of Stardust, a popular Indian film magazine in September 1993. She was charged under India's obscenity laws, and found herself under attack from both conservative religious groups, and women's groups. The outspoken actress lashed out at protesters, calling them hypocrites.

Kulkarni was finally convicted in July 2000, and fined Rs 15,000. However, this caused yet another controversy because she appeared in court in a burqa to evade photographers, which led to death threats and protests from the local Islamic community.^[4]

At the same time, she continued to be dogged by controversy. In 1997, she was reportedly paid a large amount to perform at a private function by a legislator from Bihar, who was later arrested after investigations into the Fodder Scam case. Kulkarni was interrogated, but she denied any knowledge of the legislator's antecedents.^[5]

Personal life

She currently lives in New York.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
2002	Devine Temple Khajuraho
2001	Chhupa Rustam: A Musical Thriller	Sandhya
2001	Censor	Nisha (Censor Board Member)
1998	Qila	Neeta
1998	Jaane Jigar	Meenu
1998	China Gate	Sandhya Rajan
1997	Krantikari
1997	Jeevan Yudh	Kajal Choudhry
1997	Naseeb	Pooja
1996	Ghatak: Lethal	Dancer in song Maara Re
1996	Beqabu	Reshmi Kapoor
1996	Raja Aur Rangeeli
1995	Sabse Bada Khiladi	Sunita Das
1995	Baazi	Sanjana Roy, Journalist
1995	Ahankaar	Naina
1995	Andolan	Guddi
1995	Karan Arjun	Bindiya
1995	Kismat
1995	Policewala Gunda
1994	Vaade Iraade	Nikita Sekhri
1994	Dilbar	Priya Verma
1994	Gangster
1994	Betaaj Badshah	Tejeshwani/Guddiya
1994	Anokha Premyudh	Priti
1994	Krantiveer	Mamta
1993	Waqt Hamara Hai	Mamta Vidrohi
1993	Bhookamp
1993	Aashiq Awara	Jyoti
1993	Ashaant	Sonali	Vishnu Vijaya India: Kannada title: dubbed version
1992	Mera Dil Tere Liye	Priya R Singh
1992	Tirangaa

Bengali

• Bangshadhar(Ronit Roy and Mamta) (2001)

Malayalam

• Chandamama (1999)

Tamil

• Nanbargal (1991)

Telugu

• Donga Police (1992)
• Premasikharam (1992)

Posted in: Indian film actresses (celebrity)