Namrata Shirodkar

Namrata Shirodkar (born 22 January 1972 in Mumbai, India) is an Indian actress and model.

Namrata Shirodkar was born in a moderate Maharashtrian family of Goan origin. She used to live in Khar, a suburb in Mumbai. Her elder sister is the actress Shilpa Shirodkar. She is the granddaughter of famous Marathi actress Meenakshi Shirodkar, who starred in Brahmachari (1938), and stunned the audience by wearing a swimsuit. She married Tollywood actor Mahesh Babu Ghattamaneni on 10 February 2005.

Namrata worked as a model, and was crowned Miss India in the year 1993. She represented India in the Miss Universe pageant and came in fifth place. The same year, she also represented India in the Miss Asia Pacific contest and was chosen first runner-up.

She made her debut with a small role in super hit film Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai (1998), along with Salman Khan and Twinkle Khanna. She then went on to star in the hit Vaastav. Her performance was appreciated and she became a known name in Bollywood.

She has played mainly supporting roles in films. Films like Pukar, Hera Pheri and Astitva went on to do well. She was nominated for the IIFA Best Supporting Actress Award for her performance in Pukar. Since then her films have not done well at the box office.

In 1999, she starred opposite Mammootty in the Malayalam film  Ezhupunna Tharakan. In 2004, she starred opposite Chiranjeevi in a Telugu Movie Anji. In the same year, she was back into the spotlight when she played the role of Jaya Bakshi in Bride and Prejudice. She played Aishwarya Rai's elder sister in the film. The film was a hit overseas particularly in the UK but failed to do well in India. She left the industry after her marriage.

She began dating Tollywood actor Mahesh Babu in 2000 after the filming of Vamsi. They married on 10 February 2005. Shirodkar now lives in Hyderabad with her husband. Their first child, a boy named Gautam Krishna Gattamaneni was born on 31 August 2006. Their second child, a daughter Sitara was born on 20 July 2012.