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Sonali Kulkarni (born 3 November 1974) is an Indian actress, producer, and writer who primarily appears in Marathi, Hindi and few Tamil films. Kulkarni is considered as one of the most accomplished and highest-paid actresses in Marathi cinema, and is a recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award, four Maharashtra State Film Awards and four Filmfare Marathi Awards. She was honoured with V. Shantaram Special Contribution Award in 2010 by the Government of Maharashtra.

She has worked in over 70 films, both experimental and non-experimental, in addition to acting in a few non-Indian films. She is regarded as one of the most versatile Marathi actresses. Although born into a middle-class Maharashtrian family in Pune, Kulkarni was drawn to acting at an early age and had attended Satyadev Dubey's acting workshops. At the age of 18, she made her cinematic debut in the Hindi film Cheluvi (1992). Later, she debuted with Mukta (1994) in Marathi This was followed by critical praise with Doghi (1995), Daayraa (1996), and Gharabaher (1999), the former earning her Maharashtra State Film Award and Filmfare Marathi Award. Subsequently, she starred in the Hindi films Mission Kashmir (2000), Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (2000), Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya (2001), Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Taxi Number 9211 (2006), and Singham (2011). She received further acclaim and a National Film Award for her portrayal of a powerful woman in the Marathi-language short film Chaitra (2002).

Kulkarni continued to achieve success with Deool (2011), Pune 52 (2013), The Good Road (2013), Gulabjaam (2018), and Ani... Dr. Kashinath Ghanekar (2018). Moreover, she won three Filmfare Marathi Awards for her roles in the biography Dr. Prakash Baba Amte-The Real Hero (2014), the emotional drama Kachcha Limboo (2017), and the survival drama Pension (2021).

Apart from acting, Kulkarni formerly wrote a weekly column for a supplement of the Marathi daily newspaper Loksatta titled So Kul. In 2010, she published her article book So Kul. She also formed So kul Productions, which produced the Marathi–English play WhileLily & Night.

Early life

Kulkarni was born on 3 November 1974 in Pune, Maharashtra. Her father is an engineer, and she has two older brothers, Sandeep and Sandesh. She attended Abhinava Vidyalaya and graduated from Fergusson College, where she majored in political science and received a scholarship in Marathi literature. She trained in Bharatanatyam for eleven years and in classical music for four. For her interest in acting, she attended a workshop by Satyadev Dubey, after which she and Sandesh formed a theatre group called Samanvay. Sandesh is a director and is married to actress Amruta Subhash.

Acting career

Film debut and early work (1992–1999)

Kulkarni made her screen debut as the titular character in Girish Karnad's Hindi film Cheluvi. Karnad first saw her when she was still in college and approached her for the project. The film is based on "A Flowering Tree: A Woman's Tale", in which she portrays a poor young woman with a hidden magical ability that allows her to shift into a tree that blooms with exotic flowers.

The first Marathi film to star Kulkarni was Mukta (1994), which was directed by Jabbar Patel. It is the narrative of an upper-caste girl and a lower-caste guy who struggle with their caste's contradictions. It is recognised as one of the most significant Marathi films made between 1993 and 1998. The same year, she appeared in the Tamil romantic film May Maadham, which was a commercial failure. Mani Ratnam had recommended her name to the director. She then acted in the NFDC-produced film Doghi (1995), for which she got Maharashtra State Film Award and Filmfare Marathi Award for Best Actress.

In 1996, Kulkarni starred in the first installment of Amol Palekar's trilogy on sexuality, Daayraa. The story revolves around a love relationship between a transvestite dancer and a gang-raped lady who starts dressing up as a male. The film had its world premiere at the 1996 Toronto International Film Festival and was also shown at the London Film Festival, Hamptons International Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, and Vancouver Asian Film Festival. However, due to its controversial topic, it was not screened in Indian theatres. The film received positive reviews and gained her widespread acclaim. At the Festival de Valenciennes, she received the Best Actor Award—Grand Prix du Jury. Her other releases during this time were the English-language film Vrindavan Film Studios by Italian filmmaker Lamberto Lambertini and the award-winning Marathi political drama Gharabaher.

She also collaborated with Doordarshan on a Hindi film, Gulabari, which aired in 1995, as well as television shows such as Badalte Rishtey and Kata Rute Kunala in 1996. The latter received RAPA Awards for Best Television Performance of the Year. She was also seen in one episode (Kya Yahi Pyaar Hai - Directed by Tanuja Chaturvedi) of the Star Bestsellers TV Series, which ran on Star Plus from 1999 to 2000.

Breakthrough and commercial setback (2000–2008)

In 2000, Kulkarni's first release was Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Mission Kashmir. She portrayed the roles of Sanjay Dutt's wife and Hrithik Roshan's foster mother. Saisuresh Sivaswamy from Rediff, calling her a "real scene-stealer," wrote, "She excels in a role that brings out the entire gamut of a mother's emotions, and finally gives her life to save her husband's." Filmfare critic Suman Tarafdar observed, "Kulkarni, as the belle from Lucknow, does the loving wife and mother with a touch of realism not generally seen in Indian mainstream cinema." She was nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category at several award ceremonies, including the Filmfare awards, IIFA awards, and Screen awards. That same year, she saw the commercial release of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, an English-Hindi bilingual film on B. R. Ambedkar's struggle to liberate the downtrodden classes. She was cast as Ramabai Ambedkar, the first wife of Ambedkar, who was played by Mammootty. This was her second project with Jabbar Patel.

In 2001, she appeared in two successful Hindi films: Rajat Mukherjee's romantic thriller Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya, which received critical acclaim and grossed ₹ 281 million (US$3.5 million) at the box office, and Farhan Akhtar's coming-of-age comedy-drama film Dil Chahta Hai, in which she starred opposite Saif Ali Khan and the film went on to become the year's fifth highest-grossing film.

Mehul Kumar's Kitne Door Kitne Paas, critically acclaimed musical ensemble Dil Vil Pyar Vyar, and Agni Varsha, a silver screen adaptation of Girish Karnad's Mahabharata play The Fire and The Rain, being box-office failures in 2002. Despite her unsuccessful Hindi films, she received a Special Mention – Non-Feature Film at the 49th National Film Awards for her role in the Marathi culturally diverse short film Chaitra. Based on author G.A. Kulkarni's story of the same name, the tale is about a proud woman, her beautiful redemption from an unfair societal insult, and her tragic bad luck, set during the Haldi-Kumkum festival.

In 2004, she was seen in Devrai, directed by filmmaker duo Sumitra Bhave–Sunil Sukthankar. She got second-best actress at the 42nd Maharashtra State Film Awards for her performance as Seena, the sister of a man with schizophrenia who is battling to come to terms with his sickness. She then starred as one of four widowers in White Rainbow, a film set in the Hindu holy city of Vrindavan in north India. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama wrote, "Sonali Kulkarni may not be in complete form, but she makes a sincere effort." She also appeared in Makarand Deshpande's Hanan and Gurinder Chadha's Bride and Prejudice.

She made her Gujarati cinema debut in 2005 with Love Is Blind, which went on to win eleven Gujarat State Film Awards. Her next film was Fuoco Su di Me, an international Italian language film in which she co-starred alongside…