Kamalinee Mukherjee is an Indian actress. She has predominantly appeared in Telugu films as well as Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Bengali and Kannada language films.

Kamalinee Mukherjee
Born (1984-03-04) 4 March 1984 (age 40)
OccupationActress
Years active2004–present

After graduating with a degree in English literature, she completed a workshop on theatre in Mumbai. She made her acting debut in Phir Milenge (2004), a film that was based on the subject of AIDS. She then appeared in the Telugu film Anand also in 2004.

Early life

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Kamalinee was born 4 March 1980[1] and brought up in Kolkata, India. Her father is a marine engineer and her mother is a jewellery designer.[citation needed] She is the eldest of the three siblings in the family.[2] Owing to her "love for being on the stage"[2] since childhood, she acted in all sorts of amateur and professional stageplays while in school and college. Incidentally, she always portrayed masculine characters in these plays.[2] Besides theatre, she developed a love for reading, painting and writing.[3] She also underwent several years of training in Bharatanatyam.[3]

After graduating with a degree in English literature from Loreto College in Kolkata, she began a hotel management course in New Delhi but left it to pursue a course in theatre in Mumbai.[4]

Acting career

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Breakthrough

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After a chance meeting, actor-director Revathi offered her a role in her second directorial venture, Phir Milenge, a film about AIDS. Though initially apprehensive about her entering into the acting profession, her parents were very supportive.[3] In the film, she plays a radio jockey, and the younger sibling to Shilpa Shetty's character.[4][5]

Around the same time, Sekhar Kammula, a national award-winning director from the Telugu film industry, was in the process of casting for his next Telugu film, Anand. After noticing her in an advertisement, Kammula selected her for the role. Mukherjee said that the role of an independent and modern woman, which was just like her own personality, appealed to her.[3][6] The film won six prestigious 2004 Nandi Awards bestowed by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. Among these, Mukherjee won the Nandi Award for the Best Leading Actress.[7] She also won two awards for being the best debutante actress of the year.[8][9]

2005–present

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After receiving appreciation for her portrayal of a strong-willed, independent and modern woman in Anand, her next film was Meenakshi, in 2005. Despite the film not finding much commercial success, Mukherjee said that she did not regret doing the film and that it was a big learning curve.[2] Film reviewers praised Mukherjee for her acting skills.[10] In 2006, she appeared in two Telugu language films (Style and Godavari) and one Tamil language film (Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu). Style is a dance-based film with actor-choreographers Prabhu Deva, Raghava Lawrence, Charmee Kaur and Raja.[11]

Godavari, which was Sekhar Kammula's next film, starred Sumanth and Mukherjee in the lead roles. This drama film, which had the Godavari River in the backdrop, dealt with a romantic love story between the lead characters. Mukherjee portrayed the role of a woman with independent thinking and tremendous inner strength,[12] under the "backdrop of middle/upper middle class sensibilities, new aspirations, identity crisis, independence, yearnings and moreover, parental concerns".[13] The film received predominantly positive reviews, and Kamalinee's role was particularly praised. While one reviewer said that she was "beautiful ... both in looks and in her measured acting style,"[14] another reviewer praised her for the "intense yet cool portrayal".[12]

She made her Tamil debut in 2006 in Gautham Vasudev Menon's Vettiyadu Velliyadu starring Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan. Following this, came Gamyam by Krish, a film widely praised by critics and audiences alike and subsequently remade in Tamil and Kannada, both of which featured Kamalinee in the lead role. Gamyam was the only regional film from the south to be in the running for India's entry to the Academy Awards apart from sweeping both the Nandi and Filmfare Awards.[citation needed]

In 2009, she played the role of Latin Christian woman, Pemenna, in Kutty Srank, directed by Cannes award-winning director, Shaji N. Karun, and starring Malayalam matinee idol, Mammooty. The film swept the National Awards, winning in six categories including Best Film. In the same year, she worked in veteran director Vamsi's musical Gopi Gopika Godavari,.

In 2012, Kamalinee debuted in her native language, Bengali in National Award-winning director, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury's Aparajita Tumi, starring Bengali superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee. The film met with critical and commercial success.[15][16] Following Aparajita Tumi, Kamalinee also appeared in K Raghavendra Rao's devotional film, Shirdi Sai with Nagarjuna. Her next project was new-age Malayalam director, V. K. Prakash's Natholi Oru Cheriya Meenalla, where she played a quirky character opposite Fahadh Faasil.

In 2016, Kamalinee worked with award-winning director Karthik Subbaraj in his second directorial venture, a woman-oriented film, Iraivi.[17] After her special-appearance song in Malayalam director Vysakh's 2014 film Cousins, she was cast opposite Mohanlal in the box office record-breaking Pulimurugan. Pulimurugan was the second highest-grossing Malayalam film.[18]

Other activities

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Kamalinee is a supporter of the non-profit organizations CHORD India and World Vision, which are both involved in rehabilitation, welfare and the education of children.[19][20] She produces beauty tutorial videos along with her two younger sisters, Mrinalinee and Shohinee, for Mrinalinee's YouTube channel Mirror Mirror.[21] In 2014, she launched Chinese-American poet Wand Ping's anthology Ten Thousand Waves in Hyderabad, India at a poetry reading event. Kamalinee was also part of the poets panel at the Bengaluru Poetry Festival in August 2016 where she read a selection of her poems alongside award-winning poet Dr. Neal Hall. She is an avid baker and cook and enjoys experimenting with cuisines from around the world.[22]

Filmography

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Year Film Role Language Notes
2004 Phir Milenge Tanya Sahni Hindi Debut film
Anand Rupa Telugu Telugu Debut as lead actress; Nandi Award for Best Actress
Nominated: Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu
2005 Meenakshi Meenakshi
2006 Style Priya
Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu Kayalvizhi Raghavan Tamil Tamil Debut
Godavari Seetha Mahalakshmi Telugu Nominated: Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu
2007 Classmates Razia
Pellaindi Kaani Gayatri
Happy Days Shreya Madam Cameo appearance
2008 Gamyam Janaki Nominated: Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu
Jalsa Indu Cameo appearance
Brahmanandam Drama Company Arpitha
2009 Kadhalna Summa Illai Janaki Tamil partially reshot version of Gamyam
Gopi Gopika Godavari Gopika Telugu Nominated: Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu
2010 Savari Janaki Kannada Kannada Debut
Police Police Harika Telugu
Kutty Shranku Pemmena Malayalam Malayalam debut
Maa Annayya Bangaram Manjula Telugu
Nagavalli Gayathri
2011 Virodhi Sunitha
2012 Aparajita Tumi Ushoshi Bengali Bengali Debut
Shirdi Sai Radhakrishna Bai Telugu
2013 Natholi Oru Cheriya Meenalla Prabha Thomas Malayalam
Ramachari Geetha Telugu
Jagadguru Adi Shankara Ubhaya Bharathi Cameo appearance
2014 Govindudu Andarivadele Chitra
Cousins Malayalam Cameo appearance - Song
2016 Iraivi Yazhini Tamil
Pulimurugan Myna Malayalam

References

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  1. ^ "Kamalinee Mukherjee's birthday: Stunning performances of the actress you should not miss". The Times of India. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Jeevi (19 July 2006). "Kamalinee Mukherjee - Idlebrain.com Interview". Idlebrain.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
  3. ^ a b c d Jeevi (10 April 2004). "Kamalinee Mukherjee - Idlebrain.com Interview". Idlebrain.com. Archived from the original on 28 October 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
  4. ^ a b Sengupta, Reshmi (21 August 2004). "Star-struck sister act". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2008. She's 24, but ... Kamalinee Mukherjee.
  5. ^ Iyer, Shilpa (27 August 2004). "Phir milenge: Sensitive attempt". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 21 August 2009. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
  6. ^ "Kamalini's here to stay". The Times of India. 20 September 2007. Archived from the original on 17 January 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
  7. ^ "Nandi Awards 2004 Response". Idlebrain.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
  8. ^ "Santosham Film Awards 2005". Idlebrain.com. Archived from the original on 20 March 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2007.
  9. ^ "CineMAA Awards 2004". Idlebrain.com. Archived from the original on 2 November 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
  10. ^ "Minni magic stands out in love flick". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 19 November 2005. Archived from the original on 21 August 2009. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
  11. ^ "Style - The right steps". Indiaglitz.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2010. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
  12. ^ a b "Movie review - Godavari". Idlebrain.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
  13. ^ Sarma, Prasada (8 July 2006). "Godavari revisited". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 21 August 2009. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
  14. ^ "Godavari - A quiet flow". Indiaglitz.com. 19 May 2006. Archived from the original on 12 February 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
  15. ^ "Critic Review". The Times of India. 19 May 2018. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  16. ^ "APARAJITA TUMI (2012) - Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury Delivers Yet Again With A Suave And Sensitive Bengali Film". WashingtonBanglaRadio.com. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  17. ^ "Movie review - Iraivi". madaboutmoviez.com. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  18. ^ "Pulimurugan Review". muyals.com. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  19. ^ "CHORD India - About Us". chordindia.org. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  20. ^ "World Vision - About Us". worldvision.org. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  21. ^ "Mirror Mirror". Archived from the original on 1 September 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2017 – via YouTube.
  22. ^ "Kamalinee Mukherjee performances". The Times of India. 19 May 2019. Archived from the original on 7 March 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
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