Sanya Malhotra (born 25 February 1992) is an Indian actress who works inHindi films. She has had supporting roles in the sports filmDangal (2016) and the action filmJawan (2023), both of which rank among thehighest-grossing Indian films. Her other commercially successful films were the comedyBadhaai Ho (2018) and the biopicSam Bahadur (2023).
Malhotra was born on 25 February 1992 inDelhi into aPunjabi Hindu family.[1][2] She is a trained dancer in contemporary and ballet.[3] After graduating fromGargi College,[4] Malhotra participated in the dance reality showDance India Dance and made it to the top 100.[5] She moved to Mumbai, where she began appearing in auditions and began assisting camerapersons for television commercials.[6] She was later contacted by the film casting directorMukesh Chhabra.[5]
Malhotra was selected forNitesh Tiwari's biographical sports filmDangal along withFatima Sana Shaikh, who was also relatively new.[3] Before the film, she said that she did not know much about wrestling. She then watched several videos on wrestling and "how wrestlers move, walk, their body language" and also did the training.[3] Both Malhotra and Sheikh went through five rounds of auditions, physical training and workshops with Tiwari andAamir Khan.[6] They were trained by coach and former wrestlerKripa Shankar Patel Bishnoi.[6] Released in 2016,Dangal received critical acclaim and became thehighest-grossing Indian film ever with earnings of more than₹2,000 crore (US$230 million) worldwide.[7]Anupama Chopra said in her review that Malhotra provides "strong support" to the story.[8] Malhotra later choreographed the song "Sexy Baliye" for theSecret Superstar (2017), which featured Khan.[9]
Malhotra in 2019
Two years later, Malhotra starred inVishal Bhardwaj's dramaPataakha (2018) alongside newcomerRadhika Madan.[10] Based on the short storyDo Behnen by Charan Singh Pathik, it tells the story of two warring sisters inRajasthan.[11] The story was based on the wives of Pathik's brothers.[11] To prepare for the film, both she and Madan met the real inspiration behind the characters to learn their nuances.[11] The two stayed in Ronsi village nearJaipur and learned theRajasthani dialect; they also got accustomed to milking buffaloes, thatching roofs, plastering the walls with dung and walking for long distances while balancingmatkas full of water on their head and another around their waist.[12] They also had to put on 10 kg of weight.[13] CriticRaja Sen found Malhotra to be a "fearless actress" and thought that she "plays this character with unhinged enthusiasm".[14] In the same year, she took on a supporting role inAmit Sharma's critically and commercially successful comedyBadhaai Ho, starringAyushmann Khurrana.[15]
Malhotra's two films of 2020—the biographical filmShakuntala Devi and the black comedyLudo—were initially planned for theatrical release. However, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in India, they were released directly onAmazon Prime Video andNetflix respectively.Shakuntala Devi, directed byAnu Menon, is about themathematician of the same name and starredVidya Balan in the titular role, with Malhotra portraying Devi's daughter Anupama.[21] Mike McCahill ofThe Guardian found Malhotra to be "quietly affecting" in her part and commended her for holding her own opposite her co-star.[22]Anurag Basu's anthology film,Ludo, featured her alongside an ensemble cast.[23]India Today's Nairita Mukherjee took note of the "outstanding camaraderie" between Malhotra and her co-starAditya Roy Kapur.[24] For her performance inLudo, she received another nomination for the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.[25]
In 2023, Malhotra had a starring role as a small-town cop in pursuit of a missingjackfruit in the Netflix satirical filmKathal.[34]Hindustan Times's Monika Rawal Kukreja was appreciative of her comic timing.[35] Her performance earned her a Filmfare OTT Award for Best Actor in a Web Original Film (Female).[36] She next had a supporting role as a doctor inJawan, an action film starringShah Rukh Khan.[37] It ranks as one of Indian cinema's biggest grossers.[38] In her final release of the year, she played the wife ofSam Maneckshaw in the biopicSam Bahadur, starringVicky Kaushal in the title role.[39] Anuj Kumar ofThe Hindu reviewed, "Malhotra as his lovely, supportive wife Siloo proves equal to Vicky’s charm".[40] It was a modest commercial success.[41]
Tanisha Bhattacharya ofFilmfare noted, "Malhotra has made a career out of seeking content-centric films. She has wowed the audience with her natural performance."[45] Shilpa Dubey ofFemina stated, "Contradicting the cookie-cutter style big-screen debuts, her onset in Bollywood was a refreshing game-changer in Dangal."[46] Malhotra ranked 3rd inRediff.com's "The 10 Best Actresses" list of 2021.[47] She is an endorser for several brands and products includingFastrack andShoppers Stop.[48][49]
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