Deepti Naval Biography: Movies, Age, Husband, Children, Family

Deepti Naval is an Indian born American actress. She is a multi-faced personality. She is also a director, painter, photographer and writer. She is mainly active in Hindi cinema. She is the first American Indian actor to join Hindi cinema.

Mainly, she was active in the area of art cinema. She won critical acclaim for her sensitive and ‘close to life’ characters that emphasized the changing roles of women in India.

Early and Personal life:

Deepti was born on 3^rd February 1952 in Amritsar, East Punjab, India. Later, she moved to New York City as her father got a teaching job at the City University of New York.

Her father Uday Chandra Naval was a professor, head of the English Dept. at the Hindu College, Amritsar. Her mother Himadri Gangahar was a teacher and a painter.

Her mother was born and brought up in Burma, she acquired her education at the Jesus and Mary Convent in Mandalay.

Later her mother migrated to India during the Japanese invasion of 1942. Her mother was a cinema enthusiast.

Acting Career:

In 2979, Deepti made her debut with Shyam Benegal’s movie Junoon. She played a lead role in Ek Baar Phir after two years. She became an actress in 1980’s parallel Cinema along with Smita Patil & Shabana Azmi.

During 1984 & 1985, she played roles in Kamla & Ankahee. In 1981, she acted in Chashme Baddur with Farooque Shaikh.

After that movie, they became an iconic on-screen couple during 1980s. They played in Chashme Baddur, Saath Saath, Kissi Se Na Kehna, Katha, Rang Birangi & Faasle together.

Later on in 2011, they again acted together in Tell Me O Kkuda. In 2013, they acted in Listen…Amaya. That was their last movie together as Farooque Shaikh died in 2013.

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Deepti Naval was very productive in 1980s. In 2990s, her career slowed down. At that time, she explored other art forms. In 2000s, she came back with social dramas like Bawandar & firaaq.

She won the Best Actress Awards in many international film festivals for her role in Leela, Memories in March & Listen… Amaya.

At the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, she was also recognized as the 2007 Tribute Honoree. She also acted in other Indian languages.

In 1990 National Film Award Ceremony, she won the award for best Feature Film in Punjabi and Best Feature Film in Kannada for Marthi da Deeva & Mane.

Under the direction of director Snjoy Nag, she was to make her debut in Bengali Movie Memories in March, but eventually it shot in English.

In 1992, Deepti Naval was active in TV with a few telefilms & serials like Sauda, Tanaav & Muqammal. In 2011, she came back & acted in the daily soap opera Mukti Bandhan on Colors.

In 2015, she made her theater debut with the poetic stage show Ek Mulaqaat. In that she played the role of Punjabi writer Amrita Pritam.

She appeared in an episode of Made in Heaven in 2019. That was a web series on Amazon Prime & was directed by Zoya Akhtar.

Other work:

She made her directorial debut with Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki Baarish with Manisha Koirala & Rajit Kapoor.

At the 2009 New York Indian Film Festival, the film won the Best Screenplay Award. On the same year, the film was released on Netflix. She was a writer & director of Thoda Sa Aasman, a TV serial centered around strong female characters.

She also produced a travel show, The Path Less Travelled. In 1983, her first selection of poems in Hindi, Lamha Lamha was published. MapinLit published a new collection called Black Wind and Other Poems in 2004.

Deepti Naval Biography: Movies, Age, Husband, Children, Family