Seema Rahmani

Seema Rahmani
Born Kuwait
Nationality Indian-American
Occupation Actress
Years active 2000 - present
Website http://www.seemarahmani.com/

Seema Rahmani is an American (of Indian descent) film actress, television presenter, writer, producer, director, singer, event host, poet, and a philanthropist.

She lives both in India and in the U.S.

Early life

While her family background links to Pune, Maharashtra, Seema was born and raised in Kuwait where her father worked with an oil company and her mother as an English teacher in a Kuwaiti government high school. She did her initial schooling at Indian School, Salmiya, Kuwait, after which she left for the U.S. at the age of 15. She completed high school in Newark, New York, then a Bachelor of Science with a minor in Mathematics at State University of New York at Fredonia, and an M.A. in Marketing/Advertising from Emerson College in Boston. She enjoyed a corporate PR career for a couple of years before she started her acting career.[1][2]

Career

Seema took time off from her public relations corporate job in L.A., California in 1997 to visit Spain. Upon returning from Barcelona, she decided to leave her corporate career and join theater in Los Angeles, thus beginning her acting career. She soon landed stints in two television series - Alias for ABC and Roswell for Warner Brothers 2000-2001. Rahmani moved to India in 2003 and worked in films such as Vinod Pande's true-story inspired Sins in 2005 where she was noticed for her range and fluency in exploring a character's vulnerability,[3][4] Zee TV Films' Arjun Varma, and Missed Call by Mridul Toolsidas and Vinay Subrmanium, which was adjudged the Best International film at Israel's Red Sea International Film Festival.[5] Rahmani's performance received accolades in the super-hit comedy film Loins of Punjab Presents in 2007, which won the Audience Award for best feature film at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles.[6] These films gave her recognition and drew the attention of independent filmmakers looking for an "effortlessly natural" actor and a "quintessential Indian face".[7][8]

Her work between 2007-2012 as host/anchor of the hit TV animal-show Heavy Petting on NDTV Good Times brought her recognition both as a television presenter and spokesperson for compassion towards animals and animal rights.[9][10][11][12]

As a film actor, Rahmani again demonstrated her versatility in her 2012 films Good Night Good Morning and Love Wrinkle-free.[13][14][15][16][17]

In 2013 Seema revisited the theater circuit, this time in Delhi, writing, directing, producing and acting. Her play Life Like Rainbow Grey, the premier performances of which were sponsored by The American Embassy in New Delhi, in celebration of Women's International Day (also on World Peace Day), was very well received. The play, which then went on to be selected for The Contemporary Arts Festival, is a true to life account of her experiences in working with children in an institutionalized group home who were wards of the state of California, and also delves into the subject of parenting and marriage.[18][19] Rahmani then wrote its sequel Life Like Violet Rain, and a compilation of ten short-acts.

Her work as a show-host forayed into live events including the 21st Annual World Travel Awards Asia and Australasia Ceremony held in 2014, in India, an awards event called "The Oscars" of the travel industry by The Wall Street Journal.[20][21]

Seema has also produced the music album "Rab Se...", a unique and original collection of empowering & loving lullabies in Hindi "for children and their adults" [released January 2016], featuring revered and respected singers from India Rekha Bhardwaj, Roop Kumar Rathod, Suresh Wadkar, ghazal maestro Sudeep Banerjee, plus Aditi Paul, Dilip Shankar and herself.[22][23]

Humanitarian Work

Seema's animal welfare work began early in her childhood in Kuwait. As an adult, she has been involved in animal welfare specifically with relevance to animal birth control, rescue, and adoption of domestic animals since the early 90s and again intensively since 2003 in various pockets of Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, and Rajasthan.[24] She spearheaded rescue and animal birth control operations, including restructuring inhumane practices into humane operations both in Mumbai and in Panchgini. Seema also adopted an underprivileged "jugghi" in South Delhi and worked with its under-privileged children empowering them through various facets in the art of living, including, yoga, meditation, creative arts, and educational field trips.

In 2005, politically incorrect but honest, in the wake of a media sting operation that brought acts of unprofessionalism in the movie industry to the forefront of media discussions and debates, Rahmani contributed to industry and public awareness in the controversial matter through authoring a personal account article published by Outlook Magazine (10th anniversary edition)[25] and The Times of India.

Filmography

Films

Year Film Role Language Notes
2004 Arjun Verma Sameera Hindi director Sandeep Varma, Zee TV Films
2005 Banana Brothers Reema Hindi director Girija Shankar
2005 Hum Kaun Hai Maria Hindi director Ravi Sharma Shankar
2005 Sins Rosemary English director Vinod Pandey, Yash Raj Films
2005 Missed Call Rose/Nisha Hindi director Mridul Toolsidas and Vinay Subramanium
2006 Shakalaka Boom Boom Seema Hindi director Sunil Darshan
2007 Loins of Punjab Presents Sania English director Manish Acharya
2010 Gangor Sheetal English, Bengali director Italo Spinelli
2012 Love Wrinkle Free Natalie English director Sandeep Mohan
2012 Good Night Good Morning Moira English also executive producer, director Sudhish Kamath
2013 Reprise Meena English director Shipriya Mahesh
2014 UnfreedomChandraEnglish director Raj Amit Kumar
2015 Kahani MemsahibHindi director Sarthak Bhasin

Television

Year Title Channel Role Notes
2007-2012 Heavy Petting NDTV Good Times Travelling Show Host Animal Show
2007-2010 The Big Fat Indian Wedding NDTV-Good Times Travelling Show Host
2006 Karamchand Sony TV Dr. Rita Kapoor
2001 Alias ABC Sara
2000 Roswell Warner Brothers Nurse

References

  1. ↑ "Nudity is no Sin: Seema Rahmani". SantaBanta.com. 10 March 2005. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  2. ↑ "Full of Spunk". The Hindu. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  3. ↑ "No squeamish apologetic sexual exploitation". India Glitz IANS. 24 February 2005. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  4. ↑ "I enjoy work that makes sense to me". BOLLYSPICE. 22 January 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  5. ↑ "Reelism Films’ Missed Call wins laurels at Israel film festival". Business of Cinema. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  6. ↑ "Loins Of Punjab wins prestigious audiences award at The IFFLA Awards". SantaBanta.com. 12 May 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  7. ↑ "Edible innerwear isn't too much to swallow is it". The Hindu. 27 May 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  8. ↑ "Not ashamed of my body, says Seema Rahmani". IBN. 17 January 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  9. ↑ "Seema Rahmani Is Back With Heavy Petting!!". NDTV. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  10. ↑ "Watch Seema Rahmani solve your pet peeves in the new season of ‘Heavy Petting’ only on NDTV Good Times". Indiantelevision.com. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  11. ↑ "Seema Rahmani Says, It’s a ‘Sin’ to Harm Animals". PETA. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  12. ↑ "Happy B'Day Bluebird!". Dog With Blog. 2 December 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  13. ↑ "Good Morning Good Night review: Phone a friend!". Sify Movies. 22 January 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  14. ↑ "Review: Good Night, Good Morning is brilliant". IBN Live. 17 January 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  15. ↑ "Love Wrinkle Free". Bollywood Hungama. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  16. ↑ "Love Wrinkle Free captures heart of Goa". IBN Live CNN-IBN. 24 May 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  17. ↑ "Love, Wrinkle-free is clean indie fun at its best". DNA. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  18. ↑ "Life Like Rainbow Grey". 4to40.com. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  19. ↑ "Life Like Rainbow Grey". allevents.in. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  20. ↑ "Vivica A. Fox Brings Hollywood Glam To The 'World's Leading Luxury Island Destination'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  21. ↑ "World Travel Awards 2014". World Travel Awards. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  22. ↑ "Joanne Fernandes". Goa Streets. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  23. ↑ "LADIES NIGHT/ FASHION NIGHT every Wednesdays at the Grand Hyatt Goa". Goa Prism. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  24. ↑ "Puppy-love-Actor-rescues-rain-hit-canines-Wants-people-to-adopt-dogs". Times of India. 11 August 2005. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  25. ↑ "The-Casting-'Ouch'". Outlook Magazine. 4 April 2005. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
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