Vaishnavi Mahant

Vaishnavi Mahant-Macdonald
Vaishnavi Mahant at Zee Gold Awards 2013
Born	(1974-09-09) 9 September 1974 Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1988–present
Known for	Shaktimaan, Miley Jab Hum Tum, Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke
Spouse(s)	Leslie Macdonald
Children	Margaret Macdonald

Vaishnavi Mahant / Macdonald (born 9 September 1974) is an Indian film and TV actress who is best known for playing Geeta Vishwas in Mukesh Khanna's television series Shaktimaan, telecasted on Doordarshan. She has acted in various Bollywood films such as Bambai Ka Babu, opposite Saif Ali Khan, Ladlaa and Barsaat Ki Raat (1998). She is also known for playing Shilpa Sharma in Miley Jab Hum Tum, Shail in the Zee TV show Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke and Leela Taneja in the television series Tashan-E-Ishq.

Early life and career

Her father is a Vaishnav Hindu (the reason she took the screen name Vaishnavi), while her mother is Christian. Raised as a Hindu, she converted to Christianity in the early 1990s. She is currently a born again Christian believer who is more into a relationship with God not religion.^[1]

As a child she moved to Hyderabad where she decided to become a scientist. However, while vacationing in Mumbai, she had the opportunity to appear in the Ramsay Brothers' horror film Veerana and decided to pursue acting as a profession. She subsequently appeared in Barsaat Ki Raat, Ladlaa, Maidan-E-Jung, Bambai Ka Babu, Daanveer and Oru Mutham Manimutham (a 1997 Malayalam film with actor Mukesh).

From 1998 to 2005, she played the female lead Geeta Vishwas in the superhero series Shaktimaan on Doordarshan. The show, as well as her character, got high acclaim and was considered her breakthrough role. When her journalist character Geeta Vishwas was written out of the series, fan protests prompted the producers to bring her back. In 2000, she played the role of ACP Ratna, a daring police officer in the comedy serial Raju Raja Rajasaab on Sahara TV.^[1]

She went on to play leading roles in several Tollywood movies.

She played the role of Sameera's mother Sapna in Chhoona Hai Aasmaan and Bhaskar's mother in the Sony Entertainment Television serial Bhaskar Bharti. She also appeared in Karmyudh on Doordarshan in the role of Inspector Shivangi Chauhan.

She is married to Leslie Macdonald and has a daughter Margaret Macdonald.

Filmography

Television

Awards

References

External links

• Vaishnavi Mahant on IMDb