Ashwini Kalsekar is an Indian actress who works predominantly in the Marathi and Hindi television and film industry.
She has primarily worked with Sriram Raghavan, Rohit Shetty, Ram Gopal Varma and Ekta Kapoor. After playing a cop in the popular TV show CID, Kalsekar had her first lead role on television in Zee TV's 1999 series Mr. Gayab. She had rose to fame with negative characters in Kasamh Se, Afsar Bitiya, Jodha Akbar, Itna Karo Na Mujhe Pyaar and Kavach. She also featured as a judge in the Marathi reality show "Fu bai fu" in 2011.
Kalsekar debuted in Tollywood like her husband Murali Sharma with Badrinath. Since 2019, she focused on OTT with Zee5's series "Chargesheet: The Shuttlecock Murder", in the MX Player web series "Cheesecake" as Chaaru, an animal communicator, which premiered in December 2019, in 36 Farmhouse on Zee5 and in the Hotstar Specials show Rudra: The Edge of Darkness.
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Early life
Ashwini Kalsekar was born into a Marathi family in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Her father Anil Kalsekar was a bank employee. Ashwini completed her B.A. from Mumbai and graduated in 1991. She pursued theatre from 1991 to 1994 after her studies. From 1992 to 1993, she was studying under actress Neena Gupta to pursue her dream to become an actress. She also trained under Muzammeel Vakil, a theatre acting coach, from 1992 to 1995. Ashwini is also a trained Kathak dancer.
Personal life
Ashwini married Nitesh Pandey in 1998. They were divorced in 2002 due to undisclosed reasons. In 2009, she married film and television actor Murali Sharma.
Career
In an interview to The Indian Express, she said that Shanti was her first acting project. She then worked in successful television serials such as CID, Anjaane, Siddhant and K. Street Pali Hill.
In 1990, Ashwini first appeared in the Odia film Paradeshi Chadhei. Ashwini performed in the Marathi film Tula Jhapar La (1996). Supporting roles would follow in Marathi films.
(2012).
Ekta Kapoor provided significant breaks to appear in the soap opera Kasamh Se as the antagonist Jigyasa Walia, receiving the Indian Television Academy Award for Best Actress in a Negative Role, the Indian Telly Award for Best Actress in a Negative Role, and other major awards.
In 2012, Ashwini was again approached by Ekta Kapoor to play the role of Maham Anga, a foster mother of Emperor Akbar in her historical drama series Jodha Akbar. The role fetched her critical acclaim and major awards. She would receive the 2014 Indian Telly Award for Best Actress in a Negative Role, the Boroplus Gold Award for Best Actress in a Negative Role, and other major awards.
In 2012, she was a part of a Marathi comedy reality show, Fu Bai Fu for 2 seasons, on a panel of judges, along with Swapnil Joshi and Sanjay Jadhav.
In 2014, Ashwini performed the role of Pam Khanna in Ekta Kapoor's soap opera Itna Karo Na Mujhe Pyaar.
