Isha Koppikar

Isha Koppikar (born 19 September 1976) is an Indian actress, politician and model who has appeared in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Marathi films.[1]

Isha Koppikar
Isha Koppikar in 2013
Born (1976-09-19) 19 September 1976
Bombay, Maharashtra, India
Other namesIshaa Koppikar
Eesha Koppikhar
OccupationActress, Model
Years active1998–2014; 2017-present
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
Spouse(s)
Timmy Narang
(
m. 2009)
ChildrenRianna Narang (b. 2014)

Background

Koppikar was born in 1976 at Mahim, Bombay (now Mumbai) in a Konkani family of Mangalorean descent.[2] She has one younger brother. She graduated in Life Sciences at Ramnarain Ruia College in Mumbai. While at college she appeared in a photoshoot for Indian photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha. The shoot led to work in advertising as a model, notably for L'Oréal, Rexona, Camay, Tips & Toes and Coca-Cola. Koppikar competed in the 1995 Miss India contest, winning the Miss Talent Crown.[3] Her modelling work gave her an introduction to the film industry and to her first film appearance in the Telugu movie Chandralekha in 1998.[3]

Film career

Debut in South India (1998–2001)

The 1997 Hindi film Ek Tha Dil Ek Thi Dhadhkan, directed by Shahrukh Sultan, is often stated to be Koppikar's first film, but there is no evidence the project was ever released.[3] Her career must therefore be said to have begun with the 1998 Telugu film Chandralekha, co-starring alongside Nagarjuna, and directed by Krishna Vamsi, with music by Maestro Sandeep Chowta. Her first movie in Tamil was Kadhal Kavidhai costarring Prashanth for which she won the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award. Her next Tamil movie was En Swasa Kaatre [1998] opposite Arvind Swamy, directed by K. S. Ravi, with music by A. R. Rahman followed by a cameo appearance in Praveen Gandhi's Jodi starring Prashanth and Simran. In 1999, Koppikar starred in the gangland movie Nenjinile starring Vijay and directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar.

By 2000, Koppikar's sights were on Bollywood, but this did not stop her from appearing in three Kannada films with the ruling Sandalwood stars of the time: Hoo Anthiya Uhoo Anthiya with Ramesh, O Nanna Nalle with Ravichandran and Surya Vamshaopposite Vishnuvardhan, all box office successes.[4]

After a brief appearance in Bollywood's Fiza and Rahul, while she came back to the south in 2001 for Sundar C's Tamil project Kaathal Solla Vanthen the movie never took off. Koppikar's last two films down South were Telugu comedy Prematho Raa starring Venkatesh and Simran, and directed by Uday Shankar, and Narasimhastarring Vijayakanth.

Bollywood (2000–2008)

In 2000 Koppikar started her Bollywood career with a small role alongside Karisma Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan in Khalid Mohamed's Fiza and an item number appearance in Prakash Jha's Rahul. In 2001 she made her full-fledged Bollywood debut with Rajiv Rai's Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat, starring Arjun Rampal and Sunil Shetty where she was paired with Shetty. Her next release was K. Raghavendra Rao's urban comedy Aamdani Atthani Kharcha Rupaiyaa opposite Govinda. In 2002 Koppikar appeared in an item number in Ram Gopal Verma's underworld movie Company starring Ajay Devgan, Vivek Oberoi and Manisha Koirala. The chartbusting item number choreographed by Ganesh Hegde earned her title of Khallas Girl. Another notable item number Ishq Samundar, in Sanjay Gupta's Reservoir Dogs remake Kaante starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt and Sunil Shetty, raised her profile higher. She also won the Stardust Award for the Most Exciting New Face for her Khallas number.

Isha Koppikar walks the ramp for designer Pria Kataria Puri

Koppikar acted in five films in 2003. In Dil Ka Rishta, she starred opposite Arjun Rampal and Aishwarya Rai. Prawaal Raman's portmanteau film Darna Mana Hai saw her opposite Aftab Shivdasani. Chandraprakash Dwivedi cast her alongside Urmila Matondkar and Manoj Bajpai in the critically acclaimed Pinjar which went on to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration.[5] A brief role in J. P. Dutta's war movie LOC Kargil paired her opposite Sunil Shetty again. And in Harry Baweja's Qayamat: City Under Threat, she played one of three terrorists fighting off co-stars Ajay Devgan and Sunil Shetty; a role which earned her a Filmfare nomination in the Best Villain category.[6]

She had six releases in 2004. Both Mani Shankar's science fantasy Rudraksh and Kundan Shah's madcap comedy Ek Se Bhadkhar Ek teamed her with Sunil Shetty. In Krishna Cottage, she was cast opposite Sohail Khan for a creepy ghost story. Inteqam, directed by Pankaj Parashar and co-starring Manoj Bajpai, saw her revive the role played by Sharon Stone in the original Hollywood version: Basic Instinct. She made a cameo appearance in Kunal Kohli's Hum Tum with Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji. And played the leading role in Karan Razdan's - Girlfriend with Amrita Arora and Aashish Chaudhary. The controversial film depicting a lesbian relationship provoked a wide range of public protests.[7]

In 2005, she had four releases. Sangeeth Sivan's bawdy comedy Kyaa Kool Hai Humwith Anupam Kher, Ritesh Deshmukh and Tusshar Kapoor saw her getting nominated in three separate award ceremonies (IIFA, Zee Cine Award and Star Screen Awards) for best actor in a comedy role.[8] Two more comedies saw her make guest appearances: David Dhawan's Salman Khan vehicle Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya?, and Abbas-Mustan's whodunit, 36 China Town with Akshaye Khanna and Kareena Kapoor. She also starred in Ram Gopal Varma's gangster flick D: Underworld Badhshah alongside Randeep Hooda and Chunky Pandey.

In 2006 Farhan Akhtar directed a remake of the Amitabh Bachchan hit Don: The Chase Begins Again with superstar Shahrukh Khan in the lead. Koppikar was cast as Khan's girlfriend 'Anita'. Don's tremendous success however did not benefit her checkered career. Vicky Ranawat's Haseena Smart Sexy and Dangerous managed a release towards the end of 2006, but Jagdish A Sharma's murder mystery Gahraee[9] appeared directly on DVD while Hansal Mehta's Raakh and Jahnu Barua's Har Pal were shelved. Ram Gopal Varma's much discussed Shabri [6]- struggled to attract a distributor.

Koppikar's high profile film of 2007, Nikhil Advani's multi-starrer Salaam-e-Ishq, had her sharing limited screen time with Sohail Khan. Later in the year came the haunted love triangle, Ram Gopal Varma's Darling, with Fardeen Khan and Esha Deol. Koppikar's first film release of 2008 was Atul Agnihotri's Hello, based on the best-selling novel One Night @ the Call Center by Chetan Bhagat. This was followed by Ek Vivaah... Aisa Bhi, a Rajshri Production directed by Khashik Ghatak and co-starring Sonu Sood. None of the films were big successes at the box-office.

After her wedding (2009–)

Koppikar married Timmy Narang in 2009. She had two releases in 2010: Right Yaaa Wrong by Neeraj Pathak and Manoj Tiwari's Hello Darling. Both films fared poorly at the box office.[10][11]

Shabri, where she played a woman gangster of Mumbai, was eventually released in 2011.[12] Her performance was praised but the film only had a limited release and failed to make an impact at the box office.[13][14] In 2013, she made her Marathi debut in Maat, directed by Manohar Sarvankar. She played the lead role opposite Sameer Dharmadhikari in a story revolving around an ambitious couple.

Other works

Between filming Koppikar, like many Bollywood actors, performs in stage music shows. In addition to this she has appeared in two music videos: Patli Kamar by KK for a private album commissioned by Sony in 2001/2002; and Bandish Projekt's Bhor (Satyam Shivam Sundaram) in 2004, choreographed by Bosco-Caesar. In 2006 she appeared onstage in the Indian Idol Grand Final to dance with the two finalists, and 2007 saw her as one of three judges in the celebrity dance competition Nach Baliye3, alongside director David Dhawan and Vaibhavi Merchant. She had also owned a restaurant back in 2015. She served as a judge in the Miss Universe 2008 contest, held on 14 July in Vietnam alongside, amongst others, fashion designer Roberto Cavalli and former winner in 2004 Jennifer Hawkins. In August 2009, she presented the new Colors wrestling show 100% De Dana Dan.

She continues to model for fashion designers Anita Dongre and Pria Kataria Puri. In 2007, she became the Indian brand ambassador of the Italian fashion company Police Time and Jewellery.[15] Koppikar is also a spokesperson for the animal rights organisation PETA[16] and received the 10th Anniversary Humanitarian Award in December 2009.[17]

Personal life
Isha Koppikar with Timmy Narang at their wedding reception

She has a black-belt in Taekwondo.[18]

Following the advice of numerologists, she has changed the spelling of her name twice, first to Ishaa Koppikar and later to Eesha Koppikhar. However, as of 2015 she has reverted to the original spelling of her name.[19]

Leena Mogre and Preity Zinta introduced her to hotelier Timmy Narang,[20] whom she married on 29 November 2009.[21]

She gave birth to their daughter Rianna in July 2014.[22][23][24][25]

Political career

She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of Union minister Nitin Gadkari. She has been appointed as the working president of the BJP's women transport wing.[26]

Filmography
Key
Denotes films that have not yet been released
Years Title Role Language Notes
1998ChandralekhaLekhaTelugu
Kaadhal KavithaiJothiTamilFilmfare Best Female Debut (Tamil)
1999En Swasa KaatreMadhu
NenjinileNisha
JodiHerselfCameo appearance
2000Surya VamshaPadmaKannada
Hoo Anthiya Uhoo Anthiya
O Nanna NalleRangu
FizaGitanjaliHindi
2001Prematho RaaSwethaTelugu
NarasimhaVaanmathiTamil
RahulHindiSpecial appearance
Pyaar Ishq Aur MohabbatRubaina Alam
Aamdani Atthanni Kharcha RupaiyaAnjali
2002CompanySpecial appearance
KaanteSpecial appearance
2003PinjarRajjo
Dil Ka RishtaAnita
Qayamat: City Under ThreatLaila
Darna Mana HaiAbhilasha
LOC KargilSantho
2004RudrakshLali
Krishna CottageDisha (Ghost) and Amar's girlfriend
Hum TumDiana FernandezSpecial Appearance
GirlfriendTanya
Ek Se Badhkar EkTracy/Shalini Mathur
Inteqam: The Perfect GameAvantika Suryavansh/Pinky
2005Kyaa Kool Hai HumUrmila Martodkar
DGunjan
Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya?Nishika (Vicky's girlfriend)
2006Darna Zaroori HaiAppears in a Darna Mana Hai flashback
36 China TownSonia Chang
DonAnita
HaseenaHaseena
2007Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to LovePhoolwati
DarlingAshwini
2008HelloEsha
Ek Vivaah... Aisa BhiChandini Shrivastava
Rab Ne Bana Di JodiDance MasterSpecial Appearance
2010Right Yaaa WrongAnshita
Hello DarlingSatvati Chaudary
2011ShabriShabri
2013MaatMarathiDebut Marathi movie
2017KeshavaSharmila MishraTelugu
FU: Friendship UnlimitedSheena MamMarathi
2018LootyACP BhavaniKannada
2019KavachaGowri
2020Assi Nabbe Poorey SauSangliHindiPost-production
AyalaanTamilPre-production[27]

Television

Web Series
Web Series Year Production Ref(s)
Fixerr 2019 Alt Balaji & ZEE5

Awards and nominations
List of acting awards and nominations
Year Film Award Category Result
1998 Kaadhal Kavithai Filmfare Awards Filmfare Best Female Debut (Tamil) Won
2003 Company Stardust Award Stardust Award for Most Exciting New Face Won
2004 Dil Ka Rishta Asian Network Film Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominated[28]
2004 Qayamat: City Under Threat Filmfare Awards Best Villain Nominated[6]
2005 Kyaa Kool Hai Hum Annual Central European Bollywood Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominated[29]
2006 Kyaa Kool Hai Hum Zee Cine Award Zee Cine Award for Best Actor in a Comic Role Nominated[8]
2006 Kyaa Kool Hai Hum IIFA Award IIFA Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role Nominated[8]
2006 Kyaa Kool Hai Hum Screen Award Screen Award for Best Comedian Nominated[8]

Music videos

Music and music videos
YearAlbumSongSinger
2002Bandish ProjektBhor RemixBandish Projekt
2004Sweet Honey MixBhor RemixSmita
gollark: It is obviously a good idea.
gollark: * yes
gollark: You should connect a computer running potatoS to your network.
gollark: Hello, humans of Earth.
gollark: They use PotatOS Project QN-500.

References
  1. "A platinum love story: Isha Koppikar & Timmy Narang".
  2. "News headlines". Daijiworld.com. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  3. "Interview With Ishaa Koppikar". Glamsham.com. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  4. "Isha Koppikar back to Kannada films". Chakpak.com. 27 September 2013. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  5. "51st National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  6. "IOL Tonight". Tonight.co.za. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  7. "More protests against 'Girlfriend'". IndiaGlitz. 16 June 2004. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  8. "Eesha Koppikhar | Videos, Wallpapers, Movies, Photos, Biography". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  9. "I'm going to be a super-star someday!". Movietalkies.com. 26 September 2005. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  10. "'It's About Publicity, Not Talent Now,' Says Sunny Deol". Movies.ndtv.com. 17 April 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  11. "New Hindi film releases tank at the box office". Businessofcinema.com. 30 August 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  12. "Eesha Koppikar: I am pregnant with Shabri". Rediff.com. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  13. "Eesha, RGV Miffed About Shabri Release". 26 August 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  14. "Shabri fares poorly at box office". Rediff.com. 29 August 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  15. "Isha Koppikar is brand ambassador for Italian label 'Police'". Indiantelevision.com. 10 July 2007. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  16. "Features". PETAIndia.com. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  17. "Star shower at PETA's anniversary". Hindustan Times. 18 December 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  19. "Isha Koppikar to Make Comeback to Hindi Films With 'Saangli'". Newindianexpress.com. 28 July 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  20. "Preity helped Isha Koppikar find soulmate - - Masala! - Bollywood Gossip News, Indian Celebrities and Pictures". Masala!. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  21. "Isha Koppikar`s dream wedding". Sify.com. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  22. "Isha Koppikar welcomes baby girl". Deccanchronicle.com. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  23. "Isha Koppikar Narang delivers a baby girl". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  26. Bollywood actor Isha Koppikar joins BJP, to head women transport wing
  27. https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/sivakarthikeyan-s-next-be-sci-fi-titled-vingyani-113726
  28. https://www.bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork/features/awards_supporting.shtml
  29. http://www.molodezhnaja.ch/bobby05.htm

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