Manjari Fadnis – Bollywood and South film actress of ‘Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na’ fame

Manjari Fadnis is a Bollywood film actress who appeared in a very few movies, both in lead and supporting roles. She is best known for playing Imran Khan’s girlfriend in Bollywood blockbuster ‘Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na’ released in 2008. She received Stardust Award for Breakthrough Performance – Female award for this performance. She marked her screen debut with Rok Sako To Rok Lo in 2004, and later appeared in Mumbai Salsa, Grand Masti, Nirdosh, Zokkomon, Wah Taj, Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon, Wah Taj etc. She also appeared in a few south Indian movies belonging to Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada languages, apart from Marathi and Bengali. Her appearance in the short film Khamakha (2016) was also noticed.

She was a contestant of ‘Popstars season 2’ aired on Channel [v] in 2003

Manjari Fadnis was born in 1988 in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. She grew up in Pune and other major Indian cities, as her father was an army officer. In 2003 she appeared in singing reality show Popstars season 2, aired on Channel [v], and reached top 8, though couldn’t qualify for the musical band ‘Aasma’. Yet she received her first Bollywood movie after this performance. She was casted aside Yash Pandit in the movie, Rok Sako To Rok Lo (2004), which also starred Sunny Deol.

The following year she appeared in Faltu, Bengali debut film in a lead role, once again aside Yash Pandit. The movie directed by Anjan Das received positive reviews and represented India at Spain film festival. The following year she played lead role in Mumbai Salsa, directed by Manoj Tyagi, which went unnoticed.

The major break came as ‘Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na’ in 2008

In 2008 she appeared in Bollywood coming of age romantic comedy film, ‘Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na’ playing the pivot role of Meghna Pariyar, earning accolades. She also appeared in the popular song, Nazrein Churana, sharing screen space with Genelia D’Souza and Imran Khan. Though she played a memorable role in the movie, she failed to get offers from Bollywood and moved to south.

She joined south Indian film industry in 2008

After the release of Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na, she appeared in her first south Indian film the same year. Telugu movie, Siddu from Sikakulam marked her debut opposite Allari Naresh and the movie opened to negative reviews. In 2009 she marked her Tamil debut with Muthirai, where she formed a part of ensemble cast. She shared screen space with Allari Naresh once again in Subapradam (2010) and also appeared in Telugu movies like Shakti (2011), Inkosaari (2010) etc. But her career failed to take off.

She also tried her luck in other south Indian language films – Munjane (2012) and Mr. Fraud (2014) in lead roles, Kannada and Malayalam respectively. Both the movies flopped at box office. Only relief she got was Grand Masti, Bollywood adult comedy where she became a part of ensemble cast.

She returned to Bollywood in 2013

She was paired with Aftab Shivdasani in Bollywood adult comedy, Grand Masti which was a box office hit. The movie also starred Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi, Sonalee Kulkarni and Karishma Tanna in pivot roles. Her next release Warning received a cold response. In 2015 she joined the ensemble cast of the comedy film, Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon, which is her only hit film after Grand Masti’s success in 2013. In 2018 she played the lead role of a murder accused in Bollywood thriller Nirdosh, co-starring Ashmit Patel and Arbaaz Khan. Her 2019 suspense thriller, Barot House released on ZEE5 received favourable reviews. In 2019 she marked her web series debut through Fuh se Fantasy:The Blindfold.

Manjari Fadnis – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. She appeared in a total of 7 language films. Yet she couldn’t succeed as an actress.

2. She was paired with actor Yash Pandit for both her debut films in Hindi and Bengali – her first two releases.

3. She appeared in half a dozen short films, of which Khamakha which explores a bus journey is most popular.

4. She shared screen space with Mohanlal for her single release in Malayalam, Mr. Fraud, a thriller.