| kunika | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 1, 1960 Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1988-2006 |
Kunika (born 1 January 1966) is a notable film actress, she was especially involved in a lot of films in villain and comic roles. She also is a singer and launched two albums, the first being mitti. She has two sons.
Contents |
Kunika has carved out a niche for herself in the hearts of her publics. Since her teenage years, this versatile actress decided to make it a big on the TV screen. At the age of 16, she challenged her parents to get her married to her Prince Charming, but later she realized that it was a disaster and the marriage came to an end within two years. Then she took a job in Delhi but her friends and relatives advised her to shift to Mumbai. After doing a few serials, she came to Mumbai. She wanted to act in films and had fared well in a screen test. However, actor Hemant Birje (of Tarzan fame) refused to act with a rank newcomer like her. She went back to Delhi teary-eyed but fully determined that she would not let any one man rule her destiny. After working in sales at the Grand Intercontinental, Delhi, for about six months, she started to feel stagnated. A failed marriage at the age of 20, and going through a bitter custody battle for her son Arihant of age 6 (in 1984), she thought that she should make a fresh start and so returned to Mumbai. On the flight, she met Asrani and complimented his wife's serial Kashmakash. Soon after when she called up Manju Asrani to praise her work in Kashmakash she offered her a role in her serial. He encouraged her to speak his wife and it was Manju Asrani who gave Kunika a break. It was from here that her acting career began and she never had to look back after this. She got her portfolio done, did some PR with letters and soon began the rounds to serial makers and film producers.
Her second break also came from television when Dheeraj Kumar offered her a role in Adalat. Kunika Lal has not only displayed her talents in her acting career but has also been actively involved in social activities like AIDS awareness campaigns for almost 10 years. After that, films followed. People said she would be a great vamp because she was tall, thin and sexy. They told her that Bindu's role, Aruna Irani's role can be replaced by her in their absences. She has done 90 films in 16 years. Her 'Mona darling' role was in Mohra. That's when she decided to change her image drastically. Swabhimaan, where she played an 18-year-old mother was a breakthrough role that won her many plaudits. What she didn't get in seven years of films, she achieved a lot of popularity within three months of Swabhimaan. Then, negative roles in films like Beta, Gumraah and Khiladi followed. But then she tried to play it understated, not the typical loud dialogues. She liked to be realistic. Sometimes there are differences of opinion with Zee," says the spunky woman. She had changed her name to Mallika some time ago because someone told her she wouldn't be able to get married if she didn't. Ironically, her husband didn't really like the name Mallika, but after sometime she reverted it back to "Kunika". She along with her business partner cum architect friend Shekhar Dadarkar opened a chain of restaurants called "Ten-The Happy Bistro" in Goregaon, in suburban Mumbai. She has only two dreams in her life, the first one is to be Oprah Winfrey and the other is to become a playback singer. Her fans are sure that this gifted actress will go a long way and fulfill her long-cherished dreams in the near future. Kunika Lal is one actress who doesn’t run away from reality. She has acted in more than 80 Hindi films and was a prominent face in the popular television shows like Swabhimaan and Kittie Party. She was last seen in Shaadi Karke Phas Gaya Yaar (2006).
Kunika began her film career at the age of 24 in a 1988 horror movie named Kabrastan along with notable actors Raja Murad and "TARZAN" hero Hemant Birje. She is mainly involved in negative roles and bold scenes in bulk of her movies, the hot scene with Milind Gunaji in Fareb, as lady cop with Bob Christo in Gumrah, against Sunil Shetty in a song with green saree in film Judge Mujrim (1997), and in a very big shot with Tarun Arora in Men Not Allowed. She has acted in about 50 Hindi films. She danced with Akshay Kumar in Khiladi in the song tu shama main parwana tera