Mahek Chahal – Bollywood actress best known for her debut role in ‘Naya Padosan’

Mahek Chahal is a Bollywood and television actress. She marked her screen debut with 2002 Telugu movie, Neetho, and marked her Bollywood debut with Naya Padosan the following year. The movie was a moderate success at the box office, and she came to limelight after she appeared in the song, “Sajna Ve Sajna” (Meine Saat Samandar) from Chameli the following year. As an actress she has received limited success in Bollywood, and is best known for her special appearance in item songs in different language films, apart from a few appearances in television. However she gained recognition and popularity after she became a runner-up at Bigg Boss 5 during 2011-2012.

A free ticket to Mumbai opened her doors to Indian entertainment industry

Mahek Chahal was born in 1979 in Oslo, Norway to Punjabi born Sikh parents. Later she moved to India where she pursued a career in entertainment industry. She started her career as a model before joining Bollywood, and also appeared in one movie down south.

Mahek Chahal was a very successful Norwegian model before reaching India. She also won many beauty pageants which include – ‘Miss Movie International’ of Europe. After winning this contest she got a free ticket to Mumbai. When she reached Mumbai, she decided to stay here to try her luck in Bollywood, alongside her modeling career. She enrolled at Kishore Namit’s acting school in Mumbai, before she received her first break in films.

She made an impressive Bollywood debut through Naya Padosan in 2003

She marked her screen debut with Telugu movie, Neetho in a lead role opposite Prakash Kovelamudi. The movie opened to negative reviews and was a box office flop. The following she joined Bollywood through Naya Padosan, in a lead role opposite three young heroes, Anuj Sawhney, Vikas Kalantri and Aslam Khan. Her next-door girl was well appreciated, and the movie fared average at box office. The movie was inspired from Chashme Buddoor and the movies sharing the plot, where multiple heroes try to woo a single girl through tactics.

A single item song “Sajna Ve Sajna” changed her screen image

The following year, she had a complete makeover and appeared in an item number “Sajna Ve Sajna” for the movie Chameli. The role was contrast to the character she played in her debut Bollywood flick, where she appeared as a simple girl in traditional attire. After the item song got noticed, she mostly got glamorous roles and item songs from different language films, not just Hindi. As an actress too, she received only limited success.

Her Punjabi film, Dil Apna Punjabi was a commercial hit

She made her Punjabi film debut through Dil Apna Punjabi in 2006. She was paired with Harbhajan Mann, and she played parallel lead, a TV host aside Neeru Bajwa in the movie. The movie directed by Manmohan Singh was a commercial hit. However she failed to get more movies in Punjabi, and concentrated most on item songs.

In 2009 she got opportunity to play supporting roles in two Salman Khan starrers, Main Aurr Mrs Khanna and Wanted, followed by Mumbai Cutting. In 2014 she had a delayed Bollywood release, Karar: The Deal, where she was paired with Tarun Arora. In 2018 she played second lead of an aspiring model and actress in crime thriller, Nirdosh. She appeared in glamorous roles in both these movies.

Bigg Boss 5 is her most popular TV appearance where she finished as runner-up

Mahek Chahal in Bigg Boss

She has appeared as a celebrity guest in many entertainment shows on television and also acted in TV shows like Darr Sabko Lagta Hai, Kavach… Kaali Shaktiyon Se etc. However her appearance in Bigg Boss 5 is most popular. She also appeared in Bigg Boss Halla Bol, the spin-off of the original reality show. Fristet – a reality show of Norway and Kahani Comedy Circus Ki – a comedy reality show on Colors TV are other major appearances.

Mahek Chahal – Some interesting and less-known facts

Ashmit Patel and Mahek Chahal – When they were in a beautiful relationship

1. She was in relationship with Bollywood actor Ashmit Patel for 5 years, before they called it quit in 2020. The popular contestants of Bigg Boss have been good friends for 12 years, and were in a live-in-relationship after Ashmit proposed Mahek in 2017. There were rumours that they will be tying knot soon.

2. Ashmit Patel and Mahek Chahal have appeared together as celebrity guests for TV shows like Comedy Nights Bachao in 2016 and as contestants in Power Couple (2015-2016), where they got eliminated. They also worked together in Bollywood thriller, Nirdosh.

3. She also had a brief relationship with her childhood friend Danish Khan, who proposed her on the set of grand finale of Bigg Boss 5, which she accepted. The relationship lasted only two years.

4. She appeared in the popular Punjabi music videos – Jindey and Chak De Boli of Jazzy B and Sukshinder Shinda, Dil Te Maar Gayi of Manmohan Waris etc.

5. She is a trained classical dancer.

6. She had a brief career as a VJ for B4U Hindi entertainment channel.

7. She owns a clothing line in Norway, titled ‘Mahek Chahal Clothing’.

8. She has worked as a ramp model, both in India and Norway.

9. She was voted out of Bigg Boss show earlier. However she re-entered the show as a wild card entry and finished second.

10. She was first considered for Akshay Kumar’s heroine in Ajnabi. If so the movie would have marked her acting debut in Bollywood. However the negative role later went to successful model Bipasha Basu, who marked her Bollywood debut.

11. She made appearance as an item girl in Bollywood songs – “Sajna Ve” from Chameli, “Chamki Mast Jawaani” from Yamla Pagla Deewana, “Agre Ka Ghagra” from Jai Veeru etc.

12. She appeared in item songs of south Indian films – “Mu Mu Mudhante” of Telugu movie Kedi, “Ka Thalkattu” of Kannada movie Mr. Airavata etc apart from a few Punjabi, Tamil and Bengali film songs.

13. As a model, she has been featured in the ads of Godrej refrigerator, Bombay Dyeing, Fevicol, Bar-One Chocolate etc.

14. Spicy Indian food is her hot favourite.