Gauri Pradhan Tejwani Explained

Gauri Pradhan Tejwani
Birth Place:Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Birth Name:Gauri Pradhan
Nationality:Indian
Known For:Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi
Kutumb
Left Right Left
Tu Aashiqui
Years Active:2000–2010; 2014–2015; 2017–2019; 2023–present
Children:2

Gauri Pradhan Tejwani (née Pradhan) is an Indian actress and former model who works in Hindi television. She is best known for playing the roles of Gauri Pratham Mittal in Sony TV's Kutumb, Nandini Karan Virani in Star Plus's Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Dr. Deepika Ghosh in Special Squad and Anita Sharma in Colors TV's Tu Aashiqui.

Early life and education

Pradhan was born in Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India in Marathi family. Her father Major Subhash Vasudeo Pradhan is a retired Indian Army Officer and her mother Asha is a homemaker. Pradhan is the second of three siblings; her elder brother Bharat, is a petrochemical engineer, while her younger sister Geetanjali, is a M.D. Pradhan is the only one in her family to have pursued modelling and acting as a career.[1]

Her childhood was spent travelling throughout the country owing to the nature of her father's job. As a result, she studied in different schools, one of them was the Carmel Convent School in Udhampur. After her father's retirement, the family settled in Pune (Maharashtra), where she attended Sir Parshurambhau College for a course in BSc (Electronics).[2] Later she enrolled for a course in psychology from an institute affiliated with London University.

Personal life

Gauri met her husband Hiten Tejwani in Hyderabad while shooting for a commercial for Breeze soap. Later on, they met on the sets of tele-series Kutumb and were coincidentally cast as the lead pair. The onscreen chemistry led to the brewing of romance between them and they started dating.[3] While playing the characters of star crossed lovers Karan and Nandini in another daily soap Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, they decided to get married.[4]

After two years of courtship, they got married as per Maharashtrian customs at a private ceremony in the Sun-n-Sand Hotel in Pune on 29 April 2004, with about 40–50 guests in attendance. Soon after they went to Ko Samui in Thailand for honeymoon. Their reception was held at Juhu's Army Club on 9 May 2004, with over 400 guests.[5] [6]

On 11 November 2009, they became parents when Pradhan gave birth to twins, a son and a daughter, at the Lilavati Hospital, Bandra, Mumbai.[7]

Career

Pradhan's modelling stint commenced at age 18, primarily in Pune. In 1998, while still in her second year of a BSc course she moved to Mumbai to take part in Femina Miss India. She along with Smriti Irani are those contestants who reached great stardom on TV. Dipannita Sharma was also a contestants and made it to top 5.[8] [9] [10] She did a lot of ramp shows and has done television commercials for many well known companies such as Sprite, Bru, Dabur, Pond's, Santoor, Colgate, Philips, Breeze, etc.[11]

Pradhan made her acting debut with the historical tele-series Noorjahan which was telecasted in Doordarshan in 1999. She never thought of becoming an actor, but when Cinevistaas offered her the lead role in Noor Jahan, she decided to give it a shot.

She also appeared in three music videos (which were Talat Aziz's Khubsoorat, Hans Raj Hans's Jhanjar, and Sonu Nigam's Yaad) during the year 2000 to 2001.

In October 2001, Pradhan rose to fame with tele-series Kutumb on Sony TV where she played the lead role of Gauri Agarwal Mittal. The show ended in 2002, but the channel & production house brought the second season of the show, Kutumb, with the same leads. Soon after in 2003, she did an episodic role as Shweta in Krishna Arjun on Star Plus, and she then appeared in another family drama named Naam Gum Jayegaa on Sony TV as the female lead Priyanka Singh. In 2003, she also appeared as Mayuri / Gauri in the horror tele-series Kya Hadsaa Kya Haqeeqat.In 2002, she participated in one of the episodes of the singing reality show Kisme Kitna Hai Dum on Star Plus along with other television actors.

After a string of cameos and a short series, Pradhan was approached in 2004 to play the lead as Nandini Thakkar in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi on Star Plus. The role brought her numerous awards. In the same year, she appeared in Isse Kehte Hai Golmaal Ghar that aired on Sahara One channel as the main lead opposite Manav Gohil. The series premiered on 30 October 2004, and aired every Saturday at 8:30 p.m. IST.

In March 2005, she entered the show Special Squad on Star One as the Forensic Expert and Special Squad head Dr. Deepika Ghosh. Pradhan has also made special appearances in other Indian series like Rihaee and Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin on Sony TV.

In 2006, she participated in reality shows such as Nach Baliye 2 (a celebrity couple dance reality show) and Jodee Kamaal Ki (a celebrity couple game show) on Star One along with her husband Hiten Tejwani, and played the part of Kanan in the romantic drama-series Kaisa Ye Pyar Hai.

In May 2008, she entered the youth oriented show Left Right Left (that aired on SAB TV) as Captain Shona Das, an army consultant. In that vary year, she along with her husband Hiten Tejwani appeared as contestant in two reality shows; Kabhi Kabhii Pyaar Kabhi Kabhii Yaar and Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?. In 2008, Pradhan and her husband also hosted some of the episodes of the celebrity couple dance reality show Nach Baliye 4 on Star Plus.

In 2009, Pradhan did a long cameo in Star Plus's afternoon long-running hit show Kumkum  – Ek Pyara Sa Bandhan as Aditi Kapoor along with her husband.

After having twins, Pradhan took a five-year break from television and decided not to work till her children turned four. During her break, she pursued her passion for porcelain painting. She learned about this form of painting under Sangita Shetty Chowhan. Gauri is also one of the partners of the company called Colours On Fire, owned by Chowhan.[12]

In 2010, Pradhan along with her husband opened a restro-bar named Barcode 053 (a franchise of Crepe Station Café) at Andheri in Mumbai.[13] [14]

In the same year she also appeared in one of the episodes of the female celebrity game show Meethi Choori No 1 which aired on NDTV Imagine.

In 2014, after a long hiatus of five years, she made her comeback on television with Ekta Kapoor's show, Meri Aashiqui Tumse Hi (which aired on Colors TV) as Falguni Harshad Parekh.[15]

From 2017 to 2018, she played the role of Anita Sharma on Colors TV's show Tu Aashiqui.[16]

Filmography

Music videos

YearAlbumSongSingerCo-star
2000Khubsoorat (Venus Video CD)Chera Subah E BanarasTalat AzizSalil Ankola
2001Jhanjar (Tips Music)Teri Jhanjhar Kisne BanayiHans Raj HansJohn Abraham
2001Yaad (T-Series)Humein Tumse Pyar Hai Kaise KaheSonu NigamVivan Bhatena

Television

YearSerial RoleNotes
2000–2001NoorjahanMehr-un-Nissa / Empress Noor JahanLead role
2001–2002KutumbGauri Agarwal / Gauri Pratham Mittal
2002Krishna ArjunShwetaEpisodic role
2002–2003KutumbGauri Pradhan / Gauri Pratham Mann / Shweta Chattopadhya MannLead role
2003Naam Gum JayegaaPriyanka Singh
Kya Hadsaa Kya HaqeeqatKab Kyon KahanMayuri / Gauri Episodic role
2004–2005Isse Kehte Hai Golmaal GharLead role
2004–2008Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu ThiNandini Thakkar / Nandini Ansh Virani / Nandini Karan Virani
2005Jassi Jaissi Koi NahinGauri PradhanGuest appearance
RihaeeEpisodic role
2005–2006Special SquadForensic Expert Dr. Deepika GhoshLead role
2006Kaisa Ye Pyar HaiKanan Supporting role
2007Kasamh SeMrs. Anupam Kapadia Guest
2008Left Right LeftCaptain Shona DasSupporting role
2009Kumkum – Ek Pyara Sa BandhanAditi Kapoor
2014–2015Meri Aashiqui Tumse HiFalguni Nitin Joshi / Falguni Harshad Parekh Jatin Sukhadiya
2015Rishton Ka MelaNeha
2017–2018Tu AashiquiAnita Sharma
2023–2024Pashmina – Dhaage Mohabbat KePreeti Suri

Reality Shows

YearShowRoleChannelNotes
2002Kisme Kitna Hai DumContestantStar PlusReality Show
2006Jodee Kamaal KiContestant Star One
2006Nach Baliye 2Contestant
2008Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?Guest Contestant Star Plus
2008Kabhi Kabhii Pyaar Kabhi Kabhii YaarContestant Sony TV
2008Nach Baliye 4Host Star Plus
2010Meethi Choori No 1ContestantNDTV Imagine
2017Bigg Boss 11Guest (To Take part in family task)Colors TV
2019Kitchen Champion 5Guest Contestant (Episode 4) Cooking show

Films

Awards and nominations

YearAwardsCategoryNominatedResults
2004MTV Style Lycra AwardsMost Stylist Person on TV (Female)Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi
2005Indian Telly AwardsBest Actress in a Supporting Role
2018Best Actor in a Lead Role Female (Negative)Tu Aashiqui
Indian Television Academy AwardsBest Actress in a Negative Role (Popular)
2019Actor in Negative Role (Female)

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Gauri Pradhan Tejwani's Height, Age, Serials, Personal Life, Biography . 17 December 2014 . 30 July 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190730060151/http://www.mazale.in/gauri-pradhan-tejwanis-height-age-serials-personal-life-biography . dead .
  2. Web site: Biography of Gauri Pradhan:About Gauri . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130917113100/http://www.hiten-gauri.net/flash2/FlashHT.swf . 17 September 2013.
  3. Web site: 30 October 2020 . Shweta . Keshri . Kutumb turns 19, Hiten Tejwani and Gauri Pradhan thank fans for all the love . 10 May 2021 . India Today . en.
  4. Web site: Jodi no 1: Gauri Pradhan and Hiten Tejwani . shaaditimes . 3 November 2014 . 12 May 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200512034901/http://www.shaaditimes.com/celebrities/celebrity-news/the-tejwani-040802/ . dead .
  5. Web site: Celeb Love Story: Gauri & Hiten Tejwani . iDiva Trendspotter . 28 December 2010.
  6. Web site: Gauri and Hiten . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141217225044/http://www.weddingsutra.com/celeb_wed/featured_gauri.asp#.VJHeJdKUezE . 17 December 2014.
  7. Web site: Hiten and Gauri blessed with Twins . Gaea Times . 11 November 2009.
  8. Web site: Saas-bahu on the ramp – Mumbai Mirror –.
  9. Web site: The Hindu : Metro Plus Chennai / Profiles : Life…on her own terms . 1 June 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140605051547/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2009/06/06/stories/2009060651371900.htm . . 6 June 2009 . 5 June 2014.
  10. Web site: Smriti Irani: From model to Tulsi Virani to HRD minister | Firstpost . 1 June 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140529000945/http://www.firstpost.com/politics/smriti-irani-from-model-to-tvs-favourite-bahu-to-cabinet-minister-1542563.html . 29 May 2014.
  11. News: I don't believe in the kind of marriage that changes a person completely . Kapadia . Arshiya . 20 May 2005 . Rediff . 11 March 2010.
  12. Web site: Porcelain Painting by Actress Gauri Tejwani . buzz in town . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141103191055/http://www.buzzintown.com/mumbai/events/porcelain-painting-actress-gauri-tejwani/id--546569.html . 3 November 2014.
  13. Web site: Bar Review: Barcode 053 . Mumbai Boss . 17 August 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100821084719/http://mumbaiboss.com/2010/08/17/bar-review-barcode-053/ . 21 August 2010.
  14. Web site: Crepe Station Café opens Barcode 053 Lounge . Franchise India.com . 16 August 2010.
  15. Web site: Gauri Is Brilliant: Ekta Kapoor On Her Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi Actress . The Times of India. 17 June 2014 .
  16. Web site: Kutumb Actress Gauri Pradhan Says She's 'Prepared For Failure' . 10 May 2021 . NDTV.com.