Amruta Khanvilkar

Khanvilkar's biggest commercial success of that year was Saade Maade Teen, the remake of the 1958 Hindi film Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi.

Her character was based on the role played by Madhubala in 1958 film, where she played a rich orphan staying with her uncle who falls in love with the garage proprietor.

The film earned inr 45000000 to become one of the highest grossing Marathi films of that time.

Amruta Khanvilkar Malhotra (née Khanvilkar; born 23 November 1984) is an Indian film and television actress and producer.

She primarily works in Marathi and Hindi films.

She is one of the highest-paid actresses in Marathi industry.

Khanvilkar was born on 23 November 1984 in Bombay (present-day Mumbai) into a Marathi family to Ajit and Gauri Khanvilkar.

She has a younger sister, Aditi, who is an air hostess.

After 1993 Mumbai attacks her family shifted to Pune, where she studied at Karnataka High School and graduated from Marathwada Mitra Mandal College of Commerce.

Khanvilkar aspired to be a film actress from an early age and began her career as a contestant on India's Best Cinestars Ki Khoj in 2004.

Khanvilkar began her career in 2004 as a contestant on one of the first reality shows on Indian television, Zee Cine Star ki Khoj, and the same year she co-starred alongside Amitabh Bhattacharjee in the Hindi short film Saanjh, presented by the Film and Television Institute of India, a film which won the National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film on Family Welfare.

This led to further appearances on the Hindi television shows A.D.A. and Time Bomb 9/11 in 2005.

She made her Marathi film debut with Golmaal (2006) and her Hindi debut with Mumbai Salsa (2007).

Khanvilkar made her film debut in the Marathi comedy Golmaal (2006), in which she was paired opposite Bharat Jadhav and Jitendra Joshi, and her performance was well received.

This was followed by commercial success with Saade Maade Teen (2007) and Phoonk (2008).

In 2007, she made her Hindi film debut in Mumbai Salsa, portraying a nymphomaniac flatmate to Manjari Phadnis' character.

The critic Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama found her performance "excellent" in the film.

Soon after, she made small appearance in Milan Luthria's Hattrick (2007).

In 2008, she collaborated with director Ram Gopal Verma on two films: Contract and Phoonk.

Contract is an action drama film set against the backdrop of terrorism and infiltration.

She played an ex-Special Protection Group commando's wife who is killed in a terrorist attack.

The film got mixed reviews from critics and audiences upon release and failed commercially.

The next release was the supernatural horror film Phoonk, co-starring Sudeep, based on superstition and black magic, Khanvilkar's portrayal of a mature woman with a de-glamorized look was critically acclaimed.

A critic approved of her effort, noting that she "comes out well as a worrying mother", and Taran Adarsh called her performance "efficient".

She received a Stardust Exciting New Face nomination, and the film was declared a box office blockbuster with an earning of inr 600000000.

She also appeared in the cult single "Aye Hip Hopper" by Ishq Bector, which was released in 2009.

In 2009, Khanvilkar starred in Gaiir, a big budget Marathi suspense thriller film directed by Satish Rajwade which revolves around a newly married couple.

She played an NRI's daughter who marries a corporate giant (played by Sandeep Kulkarni), however she finds her husband's duplicate, who is trying to harm her.

A review in Marathi Movie World wrote, "The Marathi film industry has got another talented actress in the form of Amruta" and Prasanna Zore of Rediff.com called her, "glamorous for a change compared to her plain-Jane looks" and wrote, "Khanvilkar looks very attractive in the two songs that seem contrived to raise the glamour-quotient of the film."

The film generated huge box office returns.

She gained popularity in 2010 with her Lavani dance performance "Wajale Ki Bara" from the Marathi film Natarang.

Khanvilkar's career prospects improved in 2010 when she gained widespread popularity for her Lavani performance in the song "Wajale Ki Bara" in Ravi Jadhav's film Natarang, which was sung by Bela Shende.

She was not the original choice for the song and entered the film a day prior to its shoot.

Khanvilkar reminisced about the experience, "saying yes to 'Wajale Ki Bara' was one of the best decisions of my career."

The song made her famous even in the interiors of Maharashtra, reviewer Chetana Panchal described her cameo as "impressive" The same year, she reprised her role as Aarti in Phoonk 2, directed by Milind Gadagkar.

Her other notable films are Shala (2011), Aayna Ka Bayna (2012), Welcome Zindagi (2015), Well Done Baby (2021), and Pondicherry (2022).

Her title role in the 2022 romantic drama Chandramukhi was both critically and commercially successful.

In addition to her work in films, Khanvilkar has also been in reality shows such as Nach Baliye 7, where she won, and Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 10, as well as anchoring Dance Maharashtra Dance – Season 1 (2012), Dance India Dance 6, and Famously Filmfare Marathi (2018).

Her performance in the highly praised Katyar Kaljat Ghusali in 2015 won her praise and nominations at the Maharashtra State Film Awards and Filmfare Awards Marathi.

Khanvilkar appeared in supporting roles in the high-profile Hindi films Raazi (2018), Satyameva Jayate (2018), and Malang (2020).