The very talented actress Sonali Kulkarni was born in Pune on 3 November 1974.which is situated in the Indian state of Maharashtra. She went to attend Abhinav Vidyalaya and then majored in Political Science from Fergussson College besides winning a scholarship for Marathi literature. Her father was an engineer while her two brothers also fared very well in their academic career. She also had a flair for learning languages and being in the film industry picked up several languages including Gujarati, Tamil and Italian apart from Marathi, Hindi and English.
Sonali Kulkarni`s Film Career
Sonali Kulkarni got her first break when she went to attend the workshop by the noted theater personality Satyadev Dubey. In movies Sonali Kulkarni landed with her first break in the flick called `Cheluvi` which was directed by Girish Karnad. She has acted in many other movies like Vrindavan Film Studios, Daayraa, Gulmohar, Vasudev Balwant Phadke, Ringa Ringa and many others. Her film `White Rainbow` directed by Dharam Mandrayer was a very touching story about the widows of Vrindavan and her role is based on the real life character of social activist Mohini Giri who runs the Guild of Service in Vrindavan.
In the Bollywood domain also she has featured in many movies like Mission Kashmir as Hrithik Roshan`s Mother, Pyar Tune Kya Kiya with Fardeen Khan, Dil Chahta Hai with many stars like Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Khanna, Amir Khan. She also acted in Agni Varsa, Bride and Prejudice, Taxi Number 9211 and also in an Italian movie titled `Fuoco Si Di Me`
Awards and Honours to Sonali Kulkarni
Sonali has been honoured with the Filmfare (Marathi) Best Actress Awards for Doghi in 1996. She has got the Star Screen Best Actress (Marathi) Awards for Devraj in 2004. She has been bestowed with Special Jury Award in the 49th National Film Award for the movie Chaitra. The Italian film Fuoco Di Su Me (translates to Fire at my Heart) in which she acted earned her the honour of Red Carpet Grand Screening at the 62nd Venice Film Festival. It was also a great honour for her to share the red carpet with the legendary Omar Shariff.
Sonali Kulkarni has been active in playing theatre roles and has acted in plays like Sakharam Bhinder at the Vijay Tendulkar Festival, Chahul, Basant Ka Teesra Yauvan and Sir Sir Sarla. She has even established a theatre group in Pune along with her younger brother Sandesh and named it `Samanvay.` Sonali Kulkarni, Sandesh Kulkarni, Nikhil Ratnaparkhi, Shashank Shende, Amrita Subash, Kiran, Nilesh Kulkarni and Sameer Doshi are the core members of the theatre group. In the recent past Sonali Kulkarni was seen as an active participant in the celebrity dance show `Jhhalak Dikhhlaja 2`.
The actress is also the guest editor of `Viva`, which is a supplement of Loksatta. Every week she writes one column and it is named after the abbreviation of her name `So Kool.` Sonali was earlier married to the famous Marathi play Director Chandrakant Kulkarni but later divorced him. In May 2010, she married the Managing Director of Fox Television Studio India, Nachiket Pantvaidya.
Filmography of Sonali Kulkarni
2010 Ringa Ringa (Marathi Film)
2009 Well Done Abba
2009 Love Khichdi
2009 Shadow
2009 Mohandas
2009 Gandh (Marathi Film)
2009 Gabhricha Paus (Marathi Film)
2009 Tya Ratri Paus Hota (Marathi Film)
2009 Gulmohar (Marathi Film)
2009 Mumbai Cutting
2008 Rishton Ki Machine
2008 Vasudev Balwant Phadke (Marathi Film)
2008 Via Darjeeling
2008 Sirf: Life Looks Greener on the Other Side
2007 Strangers
2007 Restaurent (Marathi Film)
2006 I See You
2006 Darna Zaroori Hai
2006 Taxi Number 9211, Love Is Blind
2005 White Rainbow, Fuoco Su Di Me {Italian)
2004 Bride & Prejudice
2004 Devrai
2004 Hanan
2004 Silence Please. The Dressing Room
2003 Danav
2002 Dil Vil Pyar Vyar
2002 Agni Varsha
2002 Kitne Door Kitne Paas
2002 Chaitra (Marathi film)
2002 Junoon
2001 Dil Chahta Hai
2001 Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya
2000 Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar
2000 Mission Kashmir
2000 Kairee
1999 Jahan Tum Le Chalo
1996 Daayraa
1996 Badalte Rishte
1996 Vrindavan Film Studios
1995 Doghi
1994 May Madham (Tamil film)
1994 Mukta
1992 Cheluvi
1990 Baja