Aahana Kumra is an Indian theater, TV, and movie actress. She is best known for her performance in the critically acclaimed 2017 film ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha.’
As of December 2018, Kumra is set to feature as Priyanka Vadra Gandhi in the movie ‘The Accidental Prime Minister.’ The film is based on a book of the same name written by former advisor to PM Manmohan Singh, Sanjaya Baru. Directed by Vijay Ratnakar Gutte, the film has Anupam Kher as the PM and Suzanne Bernert as Sonia Gandhi. The trailer of the movie was launched on December 27, 2018. Response to the trailer has been mixed; some have really liked it, while others have found Kher’s portrayal of Dr. Singh as caricature-ish.
The film ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’ will release in theaters on January 11, 2019.
Early Life and Education
Aahana was born in 1985 in Lucknow and raised there. Her mother is a part of the police force. She did her schooling from La Martiniere Girls College in Lucknow. After moving to Mumbai, she attended Mary Immaculate Girls’ High School. She later graduated from Mumbai’s HR college with a degree in Economics and Commerce. She also did a vocational advertising diploma from the same college.
Kumra was always interested in acting since childhood. She became involved with Mumbai’s Prithvi Theatre after finishing her school, while simultaneously attending HR college. Prithivi was where she first came to the realization that her first love was acting on stage. She did a lot of things at the theater, including a ticket salesperson and a backstage helper. After college, Kumra joined Whistling Woods to hone her acting skills and understand film making.
Career
Aahana began working as a professional actress on stage with theatre production company Akvarious Productions. She later did many plays with ‘Motley’ the theatre company of Naseeruddin Shah and was featured in main roles in productions like ‘Arms and the Man’ and ‘By George’.
She then furthered her career by doing short films and advertisements. Kumra has done ads for a variety of brands such as Garnier, Red Label Tea, ICICI Bank, Revlon, Reliance Internet, KFC, and Cox & Kings, etc.
In 2009, she made her acting debut on screen with the short film ‘Mai’. In 2013, she was cast as the daughter of Amitabh Bachchan’s character in the TV series ‘Yudh’. The same year she acted in a Hindi movie titled Sona Spa, which marked her feature film debut. In 2014, she did a Tulu movie called Kudla Café. She then got female lead role of Agent Trisha Dewan in the crime thriller TV show ‘Agent Raghav – Crime Branch’.
Kumra hosted the 2016 season of Pro-Kabbadi. The same year, she also acted in the film ‘The Blueberry Hunt’. In 2017, she found fame and recognition as ‘Leela’ in the movie ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’. She also had a role in the web series ‘Inside Edge’.
In 2018, she acted in crime web series Rangbaaz. It began streaming on 22nd December and was appreciated by both audiences and critics. Her next film ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’ will release in Jan 2019.
Personal Life and Trivia
- Kumra is not married. As of December 2018, she is single and not dating anyone.
- She is 5’ 5” tall
- She has won many awards, including the Best Actress Award for short film ‘Siberia’ at the Third Moida International Awards, and the 2018 Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Award for the movie ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’ for the Most Promising Fresh Face of the Year.
- She has stated that she was contemplating committing suicide around 5 years ago because she was disillusioned by Bollywood and its culture.
