Avani Modi – Gujarati model and actress of ‘Calendar Girls’ fame

Avani Modi is a Gujarati model who works in south Indian cinema and Bollywood. She made her Bollywood debut in Madhur Bhandarkar’s film based on fashion industry, Calendar Girls, after working in a few south Indian movies. Avani is known for her hot photo shoots as well as sizzling image in south Indian cinema, and she has worked in a couple of Tamil and Telugu films respectively. Calendar Girls, Carry On Kesar (Gujarati), Strawberry (Tamil), Naan Rajavaga Pogiren (Tamil), Gulabee (Telugu) and Sarweshwar (Telugu) are her film releases till now.

Avani Modi was born in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. She completed her education from Ahmedabad. She got attracted to acting when she started participating in cultural events at college. As her father had a short stint in film industry as an assistant director, she got more interested in films. She started off with modelling, and also worked as an anchor for a local channel of ETV followed by brief roles in TV shows.

Avani got her first break in south Indian cinema, when she was casted in a parallel lead opposite Nakul in 2013 action flick, Naan Rajavaga Pogiren. The film was an average grosser which helped her to grab a few more projects from south Indian cinema. Strawberry was her second Tamil film, where she played the female lead. Calendar Girls marked her debut in Bollywood, where she played one among the 5 girl models. She played the Pakistani model Nazneen Malik in the film and her role got noticed.

Avani Modi – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. Avani is not related to India’s PM Narendra Modi. As they share common surname and place of birth (Gujarat) she has been asked the same question multiple times.

2. She once surprised everyone when she replied to one such question that she is Narendra Modi’s daughter. Instantly she clarified like she is his daughter just like every girl in Gujarat. But this statement helped her to hog in limelight for a while.

3. Her father Vinod Modi has worked as an assistant director of well-known film director Shomu Mukherjee some years back.

4. She was featured in a short film Gulab, which won the Best Film Award at Canada International Film Festival.

5. Once Avani’s phone number was mistakenly published in an ad by the BMC in newspapers, and she started receiving calls continuously.

6. During her struggling days in films, she was once criticised by a screenwriter who told that she doesn’t know even ‘A’ of acting.

7. She was featured in Altaf Raja’s music video, Gulshan Mein Tere Jaisa – the song belonging to the album Ashkon Ki Baraat in 2012.

8. Amitabh Bachchan is her favourite actor, and to work with him in her dream.