Ankita Lokhande

Ankita Lokhande Jain (born Tanuja Lokhande; 19 December 1984) is an Indian actress who mainly works in Hindi films and television.

Lokhande was born as Tanuja Lokhande, on 19 December 1984 in Indore She was born in a Marathi family, to Shashikant Lokhande and Vandana Phadnis Lokhande, a teacher.

She also has two brothers Sooraj and Arun, and a sister Jyoti.

After graduating she moved to Mumbai in 2005 to pursue a career in acting.

She has been a badminton champion, during her early days.

After participating in India's Best Cinestars Ki Khoj (2007–09), Lokhande bagged the lead role of Archana Deshmukh in Ekta Kapoor's daily soap Pavitra Rishta.

She made her acting debut with an award-winning role in Pavitra Rishta (2009-2014).

Lokhande is a recipient of three Gold Awards, one ITA Award, Indian Telly Award each.

She portrayed Archana opposite Sushant Singh Rajput and Hiten Tejwani from 2009 to 2014.

Lokhande co-starred with Sushant Singh Rajput in Pavitra Rishta, and they began dating in 2010, when Rajput proposed to her in the dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 4.

Pavitra Rishta took a generation leap in 2013 and Lokhande also began playing Archana's granddaughter Ankita Karmarkar, opposite Karan Veer Mehra, until the series ended in 2014.

Lokhande participated in Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 4, where she was ranked 5th and Comedy Circus ka Naya Daur.

She did two episodes for Ek Thhi Naayka, opposite Sachin Shroff.

In a 2016 interview, the couple even spoke of marrying each other.

However the same year, the couple parted their ways.

Lokhande later said in an interview that Rajput wanted to focus on his career and hence they parted ways.

After a two-year hiatus from acting and her separation from Rajput, there were reports that Lokhande was set to make her film debut in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period drama Padmaavat (2018).

However, she left the film, stating that she was not ready for films at that time.

The following year, speculation spread that she had been signed for Girish Malik's film Torbaaz along with Sanjay Dutt.

However, rumours proved to be untrue after Malik stated that Lokhande was not going to be involved with the film.

In 2018, Lokhande announced that she would make her film debut in the role of Jhalkaribai, a warrior in Krish and Kangana Ranaut's joint directorial venture Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, an epic drama based on the life of Rani Lakshmi Bai.

Lokhande made her film debut with Kangana Ranaut's Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (2019), receiving a nomination for the Zee Cine Award for Best Female Debut.

The film was released on the eve of Republic Day 2019 and emerged as a hit at the box office.

Bollywood Hungama noted, "Lokhande as Jhalkari Bai is excellent and leaves a tremendous mark in her limited screen time."

In 2019, Lokhande announced her relationship with Vikas Jain, a businessman.

Lokhande married Jain on 14 December 2021 in Mumbai.

Lokhande has established herself as one of the most popular and highest-paid television actresses in India.

She has since starred in Baaghi 3 (2020).

In 2023, she participated in the reality show Bigg Boss 17, where she finished as the 3rd runner-up.

Lokhande next starred in Sajid Nadiadwala's action thriller film Baaghi 3 in 2020, the third part of the Baaghi trilogy, alongside Tiger Shroff, Shraddha Kapoor and Riteish Deshmukh.

She played the role of Kapoor's elder sister married to Deshmukh's character.

The film was released prior to the shutdown of theatres owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in India, which affected the box office performance.

Filmfare stated, "The two girls Shraddha and Ankita, despite the build-up about them both being fiery characters, have nothing to do really in the film."

Lokhande reprised her role as Archana Deshmukh in the web series Pavitra Rishta: It's Never Too Late along with Shaheer Sheikh from 2021 to 2022.

In February 2022, Lokhande participated in StarPlus' Smart Jodi with her husband, Vicky Jain, subsequently becoming the winner of the season.

In 2023, she played a woman going through a divorce in the film The Last Coffee.

Times of India wrote, "Lokhande looks stunning and shines brightly in emotional scenes."

From 2023 to 2024, Lokhande appeared as a contestant on the reality TV show Bigg Boss 17.

She joined the show alongside her husband, Vicky Jain.

Lokhande was placed as the 3rd runner-up of the show.