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Mamta Kulkarni born 20 April 1972^[1] is a former Bollywood Actress. During the 90s, she was part of several commercial successes such as Karan Arjun (1995), Sabse Bada Khiladi (1995), Aashiq Awara (1993), Krantiveer (1994) among others.

Career[link]

Acting career[link]

Kulkarni made her debut through the Tamil film Nanbargal which was directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar. She made her Bollywood debut with the 1992 movie Tirangaa. In 1993 she starred in Aashiq Awara, which won her a Filmfare Lux New Face Award. She went to appear in many other popular films such as Waqt Hamara Hai (1993), Krantiveer (1994), Karan Arjun (1995), Sabse Bada Khiladi (1995), Ghatak: Lethal (1996), Beqabu, Baazi, Gangstar, Chupa Rustam, Qila, Andolan, which did well at the box office.

Things 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 glamorized 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.^[2] 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.^[3] 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 Divine Temple Khajuraho. Mamta also did few movies in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Malayalam.^[4]

During her career she was offered many other films with Mithun Chakraborty, Ajay Devgn, Bobby Deol, Shahrukh Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Khanna. She turned down many big films such as Sapoot, Agnaary, Mr and Mrs Khiladi, Bandahan, Aunty No.1, Dulhe Raja, Davaa, Shikari and Hogi Pyar Ki Jeet because her role was not substantial.^[5]

Controversies[link]

She gained fame after posing topless for a photograph that appeared on the cover of Stardust, a popular Indian film magazine in March 1995.^[6] She was charged under many 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[7] However, she was held innocent by the Bombay High Court in January 2004.^[6]

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.^[8]

Personal life[link]

Kulkarni married an NRI from USA.^[9] But ,now Mamta has shifted in with her boyfriend Vicky Goswami in Dubai,UAE.^[10]

Filmography[link]

Bengali[link]

• Bangshadhar (Ronit Roy and Mamta) (2001)

Kannada[link]

Vishnu Vijaya 1993

Malayalam[link]

• Chandamama (1999) - Guest appearance in the song "Roja Poo Kavilatthu"

Tamil[link]

• Nanbargal (1991)

Telugu[link]

• Donga Police (1992)
• Premasikharam (1992)
• ' 'Bramha (1997)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Mamta Kulkarni at the Internet Movie Database