Mannara Chopra

Mannara Chopra (born Barbie Handa; 29 March 1991) is an Indian actress and model who predominantly works in Telugu, Hindi, and Kannada films.

Chopra is a recipient of several accolades including two Santosham Film Awards.

Chopra was born on 29 March 1991, in Ambala Cantonment, Haryana.

Her mother, Kamini Chopra Handa is a jewellery designer and her father Raman Rai Handa, is an advocate at Delhi High Court.

She has a younger sister, Mitali Handa, who has studied commerce and is a fashion stylist.

Chopra completed her schooling from Summer Fields School, New Delhi and pursued a BBA degree and is a fashion designer.

Actresses Priyanka Chopra, Parineeti Chopra and Meera Chopra are her cousins.

Born as Barbie Handa, she later changed her name to Mannara Chopra, on her cousin sister Priyanka's advice.

After completing her education in Delhi, Chopra moved to Mumbai, where she started her career in modelling and moved into advertising.

She acted in 40 commercials, Suzuki with Salman Khan, Dulux paints with Farhan Akhtar, Parle Marie with Imtiaz Ali, Myntra, three of them alongside her cousin Priyanka Chopra, including one for Dabur Amla, which she said won her "instant recognition" and landed her an offer in Telugu films.

Chopra is the original face of Ganna commercial, and appeared in Amit Trivedi's song '"Bas Bajna Chahiye", the theme song for Gaana.

Before making her film debut, she also worked as a fashion designer and as an assistant choreographer, being trained in dance forms like hip hop and belly dancing.

The maternal cousin of actresses Priyanka Chopra and Parineeti Chopra, Chopra made her film debut with the romance Prema Geema Jantha Nai and Bollywood debut with the thriller Zid, both in 2014.

By 2014, Mannara ventured into acting, signing up for films in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and Kannada.

Chopra made her acting debut with the Telugu film Prema Geema Jantha Nai (2014), then credited under her birth name, which featured her as a "very talkative college going girl" opposite Sreerama Chandra.

The same year, Chopra made her Hindi debut with Anubhav Sinha's Zid, co-starring Karanvir Sharma.

Her portrayal of an obsessive lover was met with mixed reviews.

Mohar Basu of Koimoi called her "radiant" though noted that, she needed "a good deal more of experience".

The film was a commercially profitable venture.

In 2015, Chopra had special appearance in a song in two Tamil films: Sandamarutham and Kaaval.

The film was a commercial failure but won her the Special Jury Award at the 15th Santosham Film Awards.

Chopra went onto appear in films such as Thikka (2016), Rogue (2017) and Sita (2019).

In 2023, Chopra earned wider recognition with the reality show Bigg Boss 17, where she emerged as the 2nd runner-up.

Chopra made her comeback to Telugu films and had two releases in 2016.

She first appeared opposite Sunil in Jakkanna, which was a hit at the box office.

A reviewer for 123 Telugu stated that Chopra had nothing much to do in the film but despite that, she makes a decent debut and does her role "sincerely".

In the same year, she also played the lead opposite Sai Dharam Tej in Thikka.

She received another Special Jury Award at 16th Santosham Film Awards for the film.

Chopra played Anjali, a women threatened by a goon.

Mukta Badipatla of Times of India stated that she "fits in her role perfectly".

Chopra made her Kannada film debut in 2017, with the bilingual Rogue, opposite Ishaan.

Post a year break, Chopra played Rupa, a personal assistant in Sita in 2019.

Hemanth Kumar of Firstpost said that Chopra gets a "poorly written" part.

In 2021, Chopra played Niharika, a singer in the Hindi short film Haale Dil on Broken Notes, opposite Gautam Vig.

In 2022, she played Gayi, one of the five friends in Hi Five - Fun and Gun.

A reviewer of Times of India found her to be "fantastic" in the film.

From 2023 to 2024, Chopra appeared on the reality show Bigg Boss 17, marking her Hindi television debut.

She became one of the highest-paid contestant of the season.

Chopra emerged as the 2nd runner-up.

In 2023, Chopra also made her web debut with ALT Balaji's Bhootmate, in which she played a ghost Pari.