Richa Chadha photographed at an event in Mumbai.
Actress Richa Chadha is winning over the world with her latest film
Masaan, first a hit at Cannes and now one at home.
The film received a five minute standing ovation after being screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival this year. It also bagged two prestigious awards and has been widely acclaimed by Bollywood celebrities who, unlike us lesser mortals, have been treated to a series of special previews of the Neeraj Ghaywan-directed film.
Much of the praise has been reserved for Richa's powerful performance as a young woman involved in a sexual encounter gone wrong. Richa, whose father owns a management firm and mother is a professor at Delhi University, studied at Delhi's Sardar Patel Vidyalaya. She graduated from St Stephen's College and followed it up with a Diploma in Social Communication Media from Sophia College, Mumbai.
Richa started off as a model and then turned to the stage. She was tutored by Barry John, whose 'Theatre Action Group' counts Shah Rukh Khan and Manoj Bajpai as alumni.
Richa made her Bollywood debut in Dibakar Banerjee's
Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, which was followed by films like
Benny and Babloo, Gangs of Wasseypur, Fukrey and
Ram Leela. Since her debut, up till
Tamanchey (in 2014), Richa starred in supporting, but immensely powerful roles.
Her screen presence and superior talent have been lauded by critics and audience alike. However, box office flop
Tamanchey remains the only hiccup in her (so far) short but illustrious career. She also made a blink-and-miss appearance in Anil Kapoor's TV series
24.
Richa has also appeared in Mira Nair's anthology
Words with Gods, which was screened at the 71st Venice International Film Festival.
And then came
Masaan, which won the FIPRESCI Award and Best Newcomer award for Neeraj Ghaywan at Cannes in May. The film, which released in France soon after, was also backed by Oscar winning-actress Marion Cotillard.
Richa, who has so far dealt with the off-beat and realistic, is now filming Pooja Bhatt's
Cabaret, a role far more glamorous than she's usually cast in.
She also has films like
Main Aur Charles opposite Randeep Hooda and
Aur Devdas with Aditi Rao Hydari and Rahul Bhat in the pipeline.