Mahima Chaudhry

About Mahima Chaudhry

Indian actress and model who worked in Hindi films. During the 1990s, Chaudhry did a few modelling assignments and appeared in several television commercials before venturing into films. She made her acting debut in the 1997 film patriotic romantic drama Pardes, for which she won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut and a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She established a career with several popular movies including Daag (1999), Dhadkan (2000), Kurukshetra (2000), Baghban (2003), and received critical recognition for her performances in Dil Kya Kare (1999), Lajja (2001) and Dobara (2004), earning nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for Dil Kya Kare and Dhadkan. Mahima was born as Ritu Chaudhry to a Jat father[3] and a Nepalese-origin mother in Darjeeling, India.[4] She attended Dow Hill in Kurseong until class 10 and later moved to Loreto Convent, Darjeeling.[1] Having grown up in the Darjeeling Hills region, she is fluent in both Hindi and Nepalese languages.[1] She won the ‘Miss Darjeeling’ title in a local beauty contest.[5]
Prior to her first release Pardes, she changed her name to Mahima Chaudhry upon the recommendation by her director Subhash Ghai, who believed the letter 'M' to be lucky for leading actresses in his films.