Deepti Naval

Indian American actress (born 1952)

Deepti Naval (born 3 February 1952) is an Indian American actress, director, and writer, predominantly active in Hindi cinema. Her major contribution has been in the area of art cinema, winning critical acclaim for her sensitive and 'close to life' characters that emphasized the changing roles of women in India. She is the first Indian American actress to make her debut in the Hindi film industry. in Amritsar, East Punjab, India, but moved to New York City when her father got a teaching job at City University of New York in 1971. She studied fine arts at Hunter College.

Naval made her debut in 1978 with Shyam Benegal's film Junoon. Two years later, she played a lead role in Ek Baar Phir. Starting with Chashme Buddoor in 1981, she was often cast with Farooq Sheikh and they became an iconic on screen couple of the early 1980s, with films such as Chashme Buddoor, Saath Saath, Kissi Se Na Kehna, Katha, Rang Birangi and Faasle. Three decades later, they reunited in Tell Me O Kkhuda (2011). Their last film together was Listen Amaya which was released in 2013, the year Shaikh died. While she was very prolific in the 1980s, her career slowed down in the 1990s and she explored other art forms. Mostly present in Hindi cinema, Naval also acted in other Indian languages, as with Marhi Da Deeva and Mane, which respectively won the award for Best Feature Film in Punjabi and Best Feature Film in Kannada at the 1990 National Film Awards ceremony. She was to make her debut in a Bengali movie under director Sanjoy Nag but the film Memories in March was eventually shot in English. She has also acted in Odia movie "Ei Sangharsh"(1990). Naval has been active on TV with a few telefilms and serials such as Sauda (1992), Tanaav (1994) or Muqammal (2003). She came back in 2011 with the daily soap opera Mukti Bandhan on Colors TV. She made her theater debut in 2015 with the poetic stage show Ek Mulaqaat in which she played the celebrated Punjabi writer Amrita Pritam. In 2019, Naval appeared in an episode of Made in Heaven, a web series on Amazon Prime directed by Zoya Akhtar.

Naval made her directorial debut with Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki Baarish starring Manisha Koirala and Rajit Kapur. The film won the Best Screenplay Award at the 2009 New York Indian Film Festival which released on Netflix in 2019. She also wrote and directed Thoda Sa Aasmaan, a TV serial centred around strong female characters, and produced a travel show, The Path Less Travelled. Naval is also a painter and photographer with several exhibitions to her credit. Her works as a painter include the controversial Pregnant Nun. She also runs the Vinod Pandit Charitable Trust, set up in memory of her late companion, for the education of the girl child.

Naval was married to the filmmaker Prakash Jha and the two have an adopted daughter, Disha Jha. as of 2010, she is an American citizen. She is also interested in painting and photography.

YearShowRoleNotes 1985 Apna Jahan Shanti A. Sahani Television film 1991 1992Kahkashan 1992Sauda1994TanaavMrs Malik2003–2004MuqammalSumeesha2011Mukti BandhanParimeeta2016Meri Awaaz Hi Pehchaan HaiKalyani Gaikwad2017The Boy with the TopknotSathnam's MotherTelevision film2019Made in HeavenGayatri MathurGuest 2020Pawan & PoojaPooja KalraCriminal Justice: Behind Closed DoorsVijaya 'Vijji' Chandra