Urmila Matondkar (born 4 February 1974) is an Indian actress who later became a politician. Known for her work primarily in Hindi films, in addition to Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi and Tamil films, she has received numerous accolades, including a Filmfare Award and a Nandi Award. Having established a distinctive on-screen persona, she is known for her acting skills, style statements and dancing skills.
After making her debut as a child actor in the 1977 film Karm, Matondkar gained recognition with Masoom (1983) and later worked as a teenage actress, appearing in supporting roles in some films and television shows during the late 1980s. Her first lead role came with the Malayalam film Chanakyan (1989), and her subsequent lead role in Indian cinema with Narsimha (1991), both of which were commercial successes. After a brief setback, Matondkar emerged as a star with Ram Gopal Verma's romantic drama Rangeela (1995). She had further success in the drama Judaai (1997), the crime film Satya (1998), the love triangle Dillagi (1999), the romantic comedy Khoobsurat (1999), and the thriller Jungle (2000). She also played the leading lady in Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil films such as Antham (1992), Gaayam (1993), Thacholi Varghese Chekavar (1995), Indian (1996) and Anaganaga Oka Roju (1997).
Matondkar subsequently garnered critical recognition for portraying a range of intense characters in several psychological thrillers and horror films, including a paranoid young woman in Kaun? (1999), an obsessive lover in Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya (2001), a possessed woman in Bhoot (2003) and a violent avenger Ek Hasina Thi (2004). During these years, she also collaborated with independent filmmakers in art-house cinema, including the dramas Tehzeeb (2003), Pinjar (2003), Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara (2005) and Bas Ek Pal (2006). She has since worked intermittently in films and television, including voice-over for the animated comedy Delhi Safari (2012), acting in the Marathi film Ajoba (2014) and serving as a talent judge on dance reality shows such as Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa (2007), Dance Maharashtra Dance (2012–2013) and DID Super Moms (2022).
Off-screen, Matondkar has participated in various concert tours and stage shows, and has walked the ramp on numerous occasions, most frequently for fashion designer Manish Malhotra. In 2019, Matondkar entered active politics, joining the Indian National Congress and contesting the Lok Sabha election that year, before later joining the Shiv Sena in 2020. Throughout her career, she has maintained a strong media presence and has been involved with several humanitarian causes. As a politician, she has spoken about the gender bias and challenges faced by women in Indian politics.
Early life and child artist Matondkar was born on 4 February 1974 in Bombay (present-day Mumbai) in a middle-class Hindu Maharashtrian family. Her father, Shrikant Matondkar is a retired officer of the erstwhile Grindlays Bank, while her mother Sunita Matondkar, is a retired state government employee. Matondkar has three siblings: an elder sister, Mamta, who is a former actress-turned-lawyer, another sister, Pooja, and a brother, Kedar, who served in the Indian Air Force. Matondkar has said that being Maharashtrian means "dignity and a great sense of self-respect", adding, "I take immense pride in my roots, culture, Marathi literature and language."
Matondkar completed her schooling at King George High School (now renamed as Raja Shivaji Vidyalaya). Years later, she recalled spending her summer vacations at her grandparents' home in the Konkan region, describing the experience as "absolutely scenic, serene and a divine experience" with its temples, rivers and unspoilt beaches. As a child artist, she made her first screen appearance in B.R. Chopra's Karm (1977). Subsequently, she featured in Shreeram Lagoo's Marathi film Zaakol (1980), Shyam Benegal's crime Kalyug (1980), Shekhar Kapur's drama Masoom (1983), Praveen Bhatt's Bhavna (1984), K. Viswanath's Sur Sangam (1985). Her appearance in the song "Lakdi Ki Kathi" from Masoom became widely popular, and the song became a beloved children's classic. Reflecting on her early career, she later said that although she enjoyed acting, she had not consciously planned to become an actress during childhood.
Matondkar continued acting through her teenage years, appearing in small roles in films like Rahul Rawail's Dacait (1987) and Kalpataru's Bade Ghar Ki Beti (1989). During this period, she also did small roles in television serials, including Zindagi, Katha Sagar and Indradhanush. Her role in the serial Titliyan, initially intended to last only two episodes, was extended after the makers were impressed by her performance. She simultaneously studied at DG Ruparel College, where she had intended to major in psychology and later recalled that, had she not become an actress, she would likely have pursued a career in the field. She dropped out of college to begin her prominent acting career after landing her big-break in Bollywood.
Main career
Debut and initial roles (1989–1994) Matondkar made her formal debut as a grown-up in 1989, with T. K. Rajeev Kumar's Malayalam blockbuster Chanakyan, opposite Kamal Haasan. Her Bollywood debut came with N. Chandra's 1991 action drama film Narsimha, which starred Sunny Deol. Matondkar played Meenu Singh, the rebellious daughter of a crime boss (played by Om Puri) and love-interest of Ravi Behl's character. Upon release, the film emerged as a commercial success.
In 1992, Matondkar starred in Rajiv Mehra's ghost comedy Chamatkar, alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Naseeruddin Shah. In the same year, her first Telugu film came with the action-crime Antham, and its Hindi bilingual Drohi, opposite Nagarjuna. She played Bhavna, an ornithologist who is in love with Nagarjuna's character. Upon release, the film received positive reviews from critics. The film also marked first of Matondkar's many collaborations with director Ram Gopal Verma.
In 1993, Matondkar appeared in Shreemaan Aashique opposite Rishi Kapoor and Bedardi opposite Ajay Devgn— both these films failed critically and commercially. Varma's Telugu political thriller Gaayam (1993) was her next release. The film garnered positive reviews, with six state Nandi Awards, and emerged a Super Hit at the box office. Matondkar's performance earned her a Nandi Award for Best Supporting Actress. She gained wider public recognition with the 1994 hit romantic drama Aa Gale Lag Ja, starring alongside Jugal Hansraj.
Rangeela and rise to prominence (1995–1999) In 1995, Matondkar established herself as a leading actress of contemporary Hindi cinema by featuring in Varma's musical romance Rangeela, one of the top-grossing productions of the year. Co-starring Aamir Khan and Jackie Shroff, the film emerged as a blockbuster with a gross of 334 million. Matondkar played Mili Joshi, an effervescent fun-loving friend of a street-toughened orphan, with ambitions of becoming an actress. At the 41st Filmfare Awards, Rangeela was nominated for 12 awards including a first Best Actress nomination for Matondkar. The film was screened at the International Film Festival of India.
In the same year, she also starred alongside Mohanlal in the Malayalam action Thacholi Varghese Chekavar. She played Maya, the only witness in a homicide who is kept under house arrest by her parents. The next year, she played Sapna, the daughter of an RTO official in S. Shankar's Indian (1996), which marked her first Tamil film. It was also dubbed and released in Hindi under the title Hindustani. Featuring Kamal Haasan in dual roles alongside Matondkar and Manisha Koirala, it was the most expensive Indian film at that time, with a budget of 150 million. Nirupama Subramanian of India Today felt the film was a commercial potboiler and wrote, "Indian has dances, foot-tapping melodies by A. R. Rahman and two pretty women, Manisha Koirala and Urmila Matondkar". Both Indian and Hindustani were commercial successes. The film was India's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1996, but was not nominated.
Matondkar's first release of 1997 was Raj Kanwar's melodrama Judaai. A remake of the 1994 Telugu film Shubhalagnam, it tells the story of Kajal (played by Sridevi), lured by wealth who asks her husband, Raj (played by Anil Kapoor), an honest engineer, to marry Janhvi (played by Matondkar), the rich daughter of his boss. The Indian Express asserted that "it is Urmila Matondkar who comes out with flying colours". The film emerged as a commercial success and her performance fetched her a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award nomination. Her next releases were the crime comedy Daud alongside Sanjay Dutt, the romantic drama Mere Sapno Ki Rani alongside Sanjay Kapoor and the action romance Aflatoon alongside Akshay Kumar. All these films underperformed at the box-office. She next reunited with Varma for her third Telugu release, the road movie Anaganaga Oka Roju, starring alongside J. D. Chakravarthy. The film involves the comic travails of a couple eloping, on the run from their parents who get entangled as murder suspects of a politician, in a police and political mafia road hunt for an incriminating audio tape. The film received positive reviews and emerged as a box office hit.
Her next release was the crime thriller Satya (1998), for which she received another Filmfare Best Actress nomination. The film was received favourably by critics and was a huge hit at the box office, solidifying Matondkar's position as a leading lady of Bollywood. Satya was on CNN-IBN's 2013 list of the 100 greatest Indian films of all time, in the 100 Filmfare Days series and on the "70 iconic movies of independent India" list. It was mentioned in Rachel Dwyer's 100 Bollywood Films (where she called it a "masterpiece"), and in critic and author Shubhra Gupta's 50 Films That Changed Bollywood, 1995-2015.
In 1999, Matondkar had six film releases; three of them − Jaanam Samjha Karo, Hum Tum Pe Marte Hain and Mast − were commercial failures. However, Matondkar's performances were generally well received by critics, (nn a review for Jaanam Samjha Karo, Rediff stating, "Urmila is just about the only heroine who can give Karisma a run for her money when it comes to pelvic thrusts"). Later in 1999, she starred opposite Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol in the romantic film Dillagi. The film did an average business and her role was well appreciated. Her next movie that year was Varma's psychological horror thriller Kaun, opposite Manoj Bajpayee, where she played a nameless character. Khalid Mohamed of The Times of India (who would later cast her in Tehzeeb) wrote, "She rivets the viewer's interest, carrying off entire reels on her shoulders, through a gamut of quicksilver facial expressions. Vulnerable and baffled, she is utterly believable as the traumatised girl-next-door". Matondkar next played the love interest of Sanjay Dutt's character in the action comedy Khoobsurat. It emerged as a box-office average grosser.
Critical recognition (2000–2006) During the 2000s, Matondkar revealed strong, dramatic and psychological features in her roles, and delivered a number of critically acclaimed performances. In 2000, Matondkar re-united with Varma for the action Jungle, alongside Fardeen Khan and Sunil Shetty. She played Anu, who is hostaged by the chief of bandits, when he starts liking her. Taran Adarsh wrote, "Urmila is at ease in a role that gives her ample scope to showcase her talent. Her scenes with Durga can easily be singled out, for they have been shot with brilliance." The film was both critically and commercially successful. She next starred opposite Govinda in David Dhawan's romantic comedy Kunwara. The film underperformed at the box office, with a grossing of .