Zarine Khan is an Indian film actress and model, who works in mostly Bollywood films and has appeared in a Tamil and a Punjabi film. She made her silver screen debut with a leading role in the 2010 Salman Khan-starrer "Veer", a period film directed by Anil Sharma. She garnered attention with her item number "Character Dheela" alongside Salman Khan, in 2011"s one of highest grossing films "Ready", and later earned commercial success with Sajid Khan"s "Housefull 2" (2012) and Vishal Pandya`s "Hate Story 3" (2015). She made her Tamil cinematic debut in 2013, appearing in an item number "Malgove" in the film "Naan Rajavaga Pogiren". The following year, she made a successful debut in Punjabi films with a leading role in the romantic thriller "Jatt James Bond", a box office success.
Early Life and Education of Zarine Khan
Zarine Khan was born on May 14, 1987 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, into a Muslim Pathan family. She completed her intermediate from Rizvi College of Science, Mumbai, but was forced to abandon her education while in college and began working due to financial troubles of her family. Though she wanted to be a doctor, with no marketable skills to rely on, she tried her hand at modelling and did quite a few small assignments that fetched her enough money to run the house. While visiting the set of "Yuvvraaj" at Subhash Ghai`s film school Whistling Woods, Salman Khan noticed her and decided to cast her for his friend Anil Sharma"s film "Veer". Zarine is fluent in English, Hindi, Urdu and Marathi languages.
Career of Zarine Khan
Zarine Khan was cast in the lead role of Princess Yashodhara opposite Salman Khan in the period action drama "Veer". For the convincing portrayal of a 19th century princess, Zarine put on eight kilograms. Based on the 1825 Pindari movement of Rajasthan at the time of British India, "Veer" released in 2010 but failed to do well at the box office. Zarine"s performance too, although earned her a nomination for the Zee Cine Awards for Best Female Debut, was received with divided opinion by critics and viewers alike. The following year in 2011, she appeared in an item number for Anees Bazmee`s action romantic comedy "Ready", parodying characters from cult films like "Mughal-e-Azam", "Sholay" and "Shri 420", through which she gained further attention. She also played the minor role of Khushi in the film.
In 2012, Zarine walked the ramp as the showstopper for jewellery brand YS18 at India International Jewellery Week (IIJW). The same year, she worked in her second film in one of the leading roles, in Sajid Khan`s comedy flick "Housefull 2", a sequel of "Housefull" and the Hindi remake of Malayalam film "Mattupetti Machan". Featuring alongside Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Jacqueline Fernandez, John Abraham, Asin Thottumkal, she played the model JLo who is in love with Jolly, played by Ritesh Deshmukh. Zarine`s acting work in the film was reviewed by Taran Adarsh as, "Zarine act more as eye candy. She appears typical sultry and enticing selves; and is befit in her own space" "Housefull 2" was among the highest-grossing Bollywood films of 2012. In 2013, Zarine made her Tamil debut in Vetrimaaran`s "Naan Rajavaga Pogiren", wherein she did an item number in the song "Malgove", alongside Nakul Jaidev, for which she was appreciated.
The year 2014 saw Zarine Khan"s debut in Punjabi Cinema, with Rohit Jugraj`s "Jatt James Bond", where she featured in the lead role of Lalli, an innocent Punjabi woman, alongside Gippy Grewal. Released in April 2014, the movie opened well across Punjab and collected more than Rs.5.5 Crores within first 2 days of release. It received positive reviews from critics, as did Zarine"s performance, for which critic Komal Nahta noted, "Zarine Khan delivers an award-winning performance. She is extraordinary and lives the role of Lalli, making every scene in which she appears immensely watchable for her brilliance!" The same year, Khan acted in the Hindi film "DOA: Death of Amar", featuring alongside Rajeev Khandelwal portraying the role of a journalist. The film, revolving around a struggling actor who is poisoned and has few hours to live and must find out who killed him and why, received its world premiere on August 16, 2014 as an official selection at the 22nd San Francisco Global Movie Fest and won the Audience Choice Award.
In 2015, Zarine Khan featured in Vishal Pandya"s erotic thriller "Hate Story 3", alongside Karan Singh Grover, Sharman Joshi and Daisy Shah, playing the role of Siya Diwan. The film was immensely successful at the box office. She was last seen in the 2016 Ram Gopal Varma"s Hindi biographical film "Veerappan", featuring in the item song "Khallas". Her upcoming projects include the delayed Tamil action film "Karikalan", directed by Gandhi Krishna, in which she is playing the lead role of Velir Princess opposite Vikram. She has also been roped in David Dhawan`s "Partner 2", the sequel to the 2007 hit film "Partner", in which she will star alongside Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt and Govinda. She has also signed for her second Punjabi film titled "Ishq My Religion", opposite Arjan Bajwa. Khan appeared in a music video "Pyaar Manga Hai" with Ali Fazal. She will also feature in "Aksar 2", the sequel to the 2006 successful thriller "Aksar".
Zarine Khan has also endorsed several popular brands. She has also participated in award functions and concerts, such as GR8! Women Awards and Dubai Festival City`s Ahlan Bollywood Concert among others. The actress has also been featured on the covers of some of the leading magazines like Femina, Beauty, Exhibit, Perfect Woman Magazine and Vogue.
Filmography of Zarine Khan
Zarine Khan has acted in the following films thus far in her career, highlighted alongside her roles and the respective years of release.
Year | Film | Role |
2010 | Veer | Princess Yashodhara |
2011 | Ready | Khushi |
2012 | Housefull 2 | JLo |
2013 | Naan Rajavaga Pogiren (Tamil) | Malgove (Item number) |
2014 | Jatt James Bond (Punjabi) | Lalli |
2014 | DOA: Death of Amar | Journalist |
2015 | Hate Story 3 | Siya Diwan |
2016 | Veerappan | Item Girl |