Ragini Nandwani

Ragini Nandwani (born 4 September 1989) is an Indian actress who appears in few Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam language films. She became popular after playing the lead in the Hindi soap opera Mrs. Kaushik Ki Paanch Bahuein (2011–12). She made her Bollywood debut with the crime thriller film Dehraadun Diary (2013), which was based on a real murder case.

Nandwani made her debut in the Tamil film industry with the action thriller film Thalaivaa (2013), directed by A. L. Vijay. She played a second female lead in the film opposite Vijay and earned critical acclaim for her role.

Early life
Nandwani was born on 4 September 1989 in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India.

Career
Nandwani started her career with small supporting roles in television shows like Ye Meri Life Hai, Thodi Khushi Thode Gham and CID (Episodic appearance). In 2011, Nandwani came into the limelight with Zee TV's daily soap Mrs. Kaushik Ki Paanch Bahuein. Nandwani played the lead role of Lovely Kaushik, an unconventional daughter-in-law and earned a good name for herself. Meanwhile, the actress was approached for a Hindi film. She auditioned for the film and got selected. Nandwani then chose to opt out of the TV show in October 2012 and was replaced by another actress.

Ragini then started shooting for the Hindi film which was later titled as Dehradun Diary. Her co-stars in the film were Adhyayan Suman, Ashwini Kalsekar, Rati Agnihotri, Neelima Azeem and Rohit Bakshi. The film was based on a real murder case. The film was released on 4 January 2013 but didn't prove to be a commercially successful film and was a box office flop. The film also received mixed to negative reviews from the critics. Despite the film's failure, Nandwani managed to get many film offers.

The actress got her first major break in the Tamil flick Thalaivaa, opposite Vijay, who is a superstar in the Tamil film industry. The film is an action thriller film directed by A. L. Vijay and Nandwani has a key role of a North Indian in the film, which basically features Amala Paul as the female lead. Nandwani stated in an interview that all of her film sequences were shot in Mumbai over 25–30 days. The film was released worldwide on 9 August 2013 except in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, where it was delayed due to some controversies, but finally released on 20 August 2013. The film received good response from the audience as well the critics, but the film suffered a severe loss commercially due to its late release in Tamil Nadu.

Nandwani's performance in Thalaivaa was well received by the audience. She has been offered more South Indian films, but she is first brushing up on her language project. She will now be seen in a cameo role in a Marathi film Krupa Swaminchi, which is based on the life of Shri Swami Samarth. She is also looking forward to work simultaneously in Hindi films and television shows as well.

After the successful performance in Thalaivaa, she was offered to act in the commercial Malayalam movie project Peruchazhi [meaning :bandicoot rat], as a heroine opposite Mohanlal along with Mukesh. The film became a big hit in the Mollywood industry.

Nandwani is currently shooting for the Telugu film Siddhartha, opposite Sagar, produced by Dasari Kiran Kumar, who earlier produced films like Genius and Ramleela. Dayanand Reddy, who worked ten years in Pawan Kalyan creative works banner, is making his debut as director with this film. The film is scheduled to release soon. She was also seen in Bhakton Ki Bhakti Mein Shakti on Life OK in 2016 (episodic role).

She is currently working in a Marathi film Krupa Swaminchi. She has also signed a Bollywood film which will be officially announced soon. She has done a Malayalam movie Peruchazhi, in which she appears as the female lead opposite to Mohanlal.