Deepika Chikhalia

Dipika Chikhalia (born 29 April 1965) is an Indian actress who rose to fame playing the role of Sita in Ramanand Sagar's hit television series Ramayan^[1] and was known for acting in other Indian historical TV serials. She was also known for her successful debut film Sun Meri Laila (1983), opposite Raj Kiran and 3 hit Hindi films with Rajesh Khanna, which were Rupaye Dus Karod, Ghar Ka Chiraag and Khudai. She did one Malayalam film Ithile Iniyum Varu (1986), with Mammootty, her Kannada hits were Hosa Jeevana (1990) and Indrajith, she had one Tamil hit film, Nangal (1992), with Prabhu, and one Bengali hit film, Asha O Balobasha (1989), opposite Prosenjit Chatterjee. She also had acted in few Gujarati movies like Jode Rahejo Raj and Laju Lakhan, opposite Gujarati Super Star Naresh Kanodia.

Career

Deepika made her debut as lead actress in Sun Meri Laila (1983), opposite Raj Kiran, but though her debut film was successful, she did not get A grade films till 1987. Chikhalia was part of the popular television serial Dada Daadi Ki Kahani in 1985. She meanwhile did supporting roles in flop films like Bhagwan Dada (1986), Kala Dhanda Goray Log (1986) and Doorie (1989) and played lead heroine in the B grade horror film Cheekh (1986) and Raat Ke Andhere Mein (1987), which were box office duds. Later on in 1987, she played the female lead role of Sita in Ramanand Sagar's hit television series Ramayan, which gave her national fame. She continued getting lead roles in hit TV serials like Vikram Aur Betaal (1988), The Sword of Tipu Sultan and Luv Kush (both in 1989). Her only hits in Hindi films were Ghar Ka Chiraag (1989) and Rupaye Dus Karod (1991), both of which had Rajesh Khanna in the lead and she had supporting roles with lesser footage in these films. She got more footage in the film Khudai, but the film was a commercial failure in 1994. She played the romantic lead of Rajesh Khanna in 2 films, Ghar Ka Chirag and Khudai. Her Kannada film as the lead heroine opposite Shankar Nag was a box office hit in 1990 and her Bengali films Asha O Bhalobasha (1989), opposite Prosenjit Chatterjee and Tamil film Naangal (1992) opposite Prabhu were box office hits. She also got a supporting role in a Malayalam movie, Ithile Iniyum Varu (1986), which had Mammootty in the lead. She met with limited success in Hindi films in the after 1992, as Sanam Aap Ki Khatir (1992) flopped, which had her in as main lead heroine, she only got supporting roles in Hindi films. Chikhalia followed up her television and film career with a move into politics, riding her fame as a religious icon to an election victory as a Member of Parliament in the Indian Lok Sabha from Baroda constituency in 1991 as a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate.^[2] Deepika was also seen in the TV serial Chutta Chheda (2017) on Colors Gujarati channel. The Gujarati film Nattsamrat is to be released in August 2018 and she will be seen in her upcoming Hindi movie Gaalib (2018-2019). Dipika Chikhalia is working again.

She was elected as Member of Parliament from Baroda. ^[3]

Personal life

Chikhalia grew up in Girnar Apartments, in the affluent Pali Hill area of Bandra, a suburb of Mumbai.

She is married to Hemant Topiwala,^[4] owner of Shingar Bindi and Tips and Toes cosmetics.^[5] They have two daughters, Nidhi Topiwala and Juhi Topiwala.^[6]

Filmography

References

External links

• Deepika Chikhalia on IMDb