Flavour Of The Week: Chitrangada Singh

After a few offbeat roles, Chitrangada Singh is all set to play a sexy female mutant in the much awaited Krissh 2. Letting out the wilder side we say!

For many used to seeing her as a serious actor, this cross-over to the glamorous twin of off-beat cinema comes as a surprise. But none of us are complaining! We hear, that her make-over for the sizzling mutant has left her virtually unrecognizable. Can't wait to see her new avatar already.

She still prefers unusual roles but feels that, with the success of “Peepli Live” and “Dhobi Ghat”, actors need not be typified. “People are interested in all kinds of films today, so I do not see myself in a separate space any more. I think there is more scope for lateral movement now. But I will choose roles that interest and excite me.” Meanwhile, let's take a quick look at her impressive run in Bollywood so far.

Chitrangada was born on March 28, 1976, in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. Her uncanny resemblance to late actress Smita Patil got her many offers.

And there's a story behind the ethereal actress' name too. She gets her name from the Mahabharata, in which Chitrangada is Arjun's wife. She says, “My mother was reading the Mahabharata and she wanted a historical name for me. She loved Chitrangada.”

After finishing school, Chitrangada joined Lady Irwin College with hopes of becoming a dietician, but modeling caught her fancy. She tried her hand at print assignments for ICICI bank and Alukkas Jewellery.

Her good looks didn't go about unnoticed. Very soon, she started featuring in music videos, major one being Gulzar's ‘Sunset Point'.

Chitrangada caught ace director Sudhir Mishra's eye, and was soon cast in Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2003). Though not a commercial success, her performance in the movie was appreciated and the movie debatably remains her best work to date.
But she vanished soon after, leaving many wondering if she was a flash in the pan or only interested in “art” films.

Her next few movies, Kal: Yesterday and Tomorrow (2005) and Sorry Bhai (2008), didn't do well at the box office leaving Chitrangada's career dangling erratically.

There were reports that Chitrangada was doing an item number in Neil Nitin Mukesh starrer Tera Kya Hoga Johnny but she dismissed them as mere rumours.

But indeed, fate had something better in store for her. Yeh Saali Zindagi hit theatres with a bang and Chitrangada got her moment in the sun yet again. The movie starred Irrfan Khan, Arunoday Singh, Chitrangada Singh and Aditi Rao Hydari and was critically acclaimed by many. Surely a great comeback, and there's more to come. According to reports, Chitrangada is also playing a powerful role in Sudhir Mishra's next film Dhruv.

She is currently shooting for Rohit Dhawan's directorial debut Desi Boyz, where she'll star opposite Akshay Kumar. Like every other lady around, she only has good things to say about him. He's even teaching her how to dance!!

Chitrangada is married to golfer Jyoti Randhawa and they have a son together.

In such a short period in Bollywood, she has to her credit various awards and nominations, one of them being the Young Women Achiever Award - 2009' by FICCI.