Fatima Sana Shaikh (born 11 January 1992) is a Hindi-language film actress.
Fatima Sana Shaikh — Key Facts & Archival Overview
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Fatima Sana Shaikh (born 11 January 1992) is a Hindi-language film actress. Shaikh starred in films such as Chachi 420 (1997) and One 2 Ka 4 (2001) as a child artist. In 2016, she starred as wrestler Geeta Phogat in the box office smash Dangal. Since then, she has been in the streaming anthology films Ludo (2020), Ajeeb Daastaans (2021), and Modern Love Mumbai (2022).
Personal and early life
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Fatima Sana Shaikh was born and raised in Mumbai on January 11, 1992. Raj Tabassum, her mother, is from Srinagar, and Vipin Sharma, her father, is from Jammu. Shaikh identifies herself an atheist, despite the fact that her father was reared Hindu and her mother was raised Muslim.
Prior to becoming an actress, she worked as a photographer.
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Career
Shaikh began her career in Chachi 420 and One 2 Ka 4 as a kid artist. Years later, she starred as Zoya in the Indian drama film Tahaan, which won "The German Star of India award" at the 2009 "Bollywood and Beyond" festival in Stuttgart, Germany.
Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra, who had never acted before, were cast in Nitesh Tiwari's biographical sports film Dangal. Shaikh was cast in the role of Geeta Phogat. She viewed multiple wrestling movies to learn "how wrestlers move, walk, and use their body language" in preparation for her role. Malhotra and Sheikh both went through five rounds of auditions, as well as physical training and workshops with Tiwari and Aamir Khan. Kripa Shankar Patel Bishnoi, a former wrestler and coach, trained them. Dangal, which was released in 2016, gained critical acclaim and went on to become the highest-grossing Indian film of all time, generating more than 2,000 crore (US$250 million) globally.
In the epic action-adventure film Thugs of Hindostan, she portrayed Zafira Baig, a warrior-archer Thug. Shaikh will appear in the Hindi version of the Tamil film Aruvi. Applause Entertainment is producing the Hindi version. Fatima will play Indira Gandhi in an untitled 2022 Sam Manekshaw biopic film directed by Meghna Gulzar, alongside Vicky Kaushal and Sanya Malhotra.
Filmography
 | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
Films
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Ishq | Cameo | As child artist |
| Chachi 420 | Bharti Ratan | As child artist | |
| 1999 | Bade Dilwala | Baby Sana | As child artist |
| 2001 | One 2 Ka 4 | Inspector Abbas' youngest daughter | As child artist |
| 2008 | Tahaan | Zoya | |
| 2012 | Bittoo Boss | Priya | |
| 2013 | Akaash Vani | Sumbul | |
| 2015 | Nuvvu Nenu Okkatavudam | Sruti | Telugu film |
| 2016 | Dangal | Geeta Phogat | |
| 2018 | Thugs of Hindostan | Zafira Baig | |
| 2020 | Ludo | Pinky | |
| Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari | Tulshi Rane | ||
| 2021 | Ajeeb Daastaans | Lipakshi | |
| 2022 | Thar | Chetna | |
| 2023 | Dhak Dhak | TBA | Filming |
| Sam Bahadur | Indira Gandhi | Completed |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002–2004 | Kitty Party | Unknown | |
| 2009 | Ladies Special | Geeti | Season 1 |
| Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo | Suman | Recurring role | |
| 2011 | Best of Luck Nikki | Richa Shivoy | Special appearance in Boys Meet Girls |
| 2022 | Modern Love Mumbai | Lalzari | Segment: "Raat Rani" |
Music videos
| Year | Title | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Tujhse Meri | Aditya Salankar |
| 2020 | Palkein Kholo | Vishal Bhardwaj |
Accolades
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Screen Awards | Best Actress (Popular) | Dangal | Nominated |
| Jackie Chan Action Movie Awards | Best Action Actress | Won | ||
| 2022 | Filmfare OTT Awards | Best Actor in a Web Original Film (Female) | Thar | Nominated |
Media
Shaikh was ranked in The Times Most Desirable Women at No. 48 in 2020.
| Bio/Wiki | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Fatty |
| Profession | Actress |
| Famous Role | Geeta Phogat in the Bollywood film Dangal (2016) |
| Physical Stats & More | |
| Height (approx.) | in centimeters- 160 cm in meters- 1.60 m in feet & inches- 5’ 3” |
| Eye Colour | Dark Brown |
| Hair Colour | Brown |
| Career | |
| Debut | Film (As a Child Artist; Hindi): Chachi 420 (1997) as Bharti Ratan Film (As an Actress; Hindi): Tahaan (2008) as Zoya Film (As an Actress; Telugu): Nuvvu Nenu Okatavudaam (2015) as Sruti TV (As an Actress; Hindi): Ladies Special Season 1 (2009) as Geeti aired on Sony Entertainment Television Web Series (As an Actress; Hindi): Modern Love Mumbai (2022) as Lalzari |
| Personal Life | |
| Date of Birth | 11 January 1992 (Saturday) |
| Age (as of 2023) | 31 Years |
| Birthplace | Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (now Hyderabad, Telangana) |
| Zodiac sign | Capricorn |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Hometown | Mumbai, Maharashtra |
| School | St. Xavier’s High School, Mumbai |
| College/University | Mithibai College of Arts, Chauhan Institutes of Science & Amrutben Jivanlal College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai |
| Religion/Religious Views | Despite being born to a Hindu father and a Muslim mother, Fatima identifies herself as an atheist. Talking about it in an interview, she said, "My mom is a Muslim, my dad is a Hindu, and my brother and I are agnostic. I believe in karma.” She added, "In my school, there were kids from all kinds of backgrounds. I have never learnt whether you should give someone their name first or religion first. When I was growing up no one asked each others’ religion, caste, class, etc. I didn’t know it was important until now when we see these getting in the way all the time. I feel people have a lot of free time to talk about all this.” |
| Food Habit | Vegetarian |
| Relationships & More | |
| Marital Status | Unmarried |
| Family | |
| Husband/Spouse | N/A |
| Parents | Father- Vipin Sharma Mother- Raj Tabassum |
| Siblings | Brother- Shaanib (elder) Sister- None |
| Favourites | |
| Actor | Shah Rukh Khan |
| Actress(es) | Preity Zinta, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone |
| Film | American Psycho (2000) |
| Film Director(s) | Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Sriram Raghavan, Vishal Bhardwaj, Zoya Akhtar |
| Book(s) | Only Love Is Real by Brian Weiss, Many Lives by Brian Weiss, Many Masters by Brian Weiss |
| Author | Brian Weiss |
Some Lesser Known Facts About Fatima Sana Shaikh
- Fatima Sana Shaikh is an Indian actress, who predominately works in the Hindi film industry. She is best known for portraying the role of Geeta Phogat in the superhit film Dangal (2016).
- Shaikh grew up in Mumbai. Her family hails from Jammu and Kashmir.
- Before venturing into the film industry as an actress, Fatima worked at a photography studio in Mumbai for around two years to gain photography experience.
- At the age of 5, she played the role of Bharti Ratan in the Hindi film Chachi 420 (1997).
- Subsequently, she played a blink-and-miss role in the Bollywood film Ishq.
- In 1999, Fatima appeared in the Hindi film Bade Dilwala as Baby Sana.
- She also appeared as a child artist in the 2001 Hindi film One 2 Ka 4.
- After that, Fatima Sana Shaikh took a break from acting for a few years to concentrate on her studies.
- In 2008, she played the role of Zoya in the Bollywood film Tahaan, marking her Bollywood debut.
- In 2009, Fatima Sana Shaikh appeared in the Zee TV serial Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo as Suman.
- She has also played the role of Richa Shivoy in the sitcom show Best of Luck Nikki (2011), which aired on Disney Channel.
- Subsequently, Shaikh appeared in the Bollywood films Bittoo Boss (2012) and Akaash Vani (2013).
- Fatima Sana Shaikh became popular by portraying the role of Geeta Phogat in the Bollywood film Dangal. Equally praised by both, the critics and the audience, the film starred Aamir Khan in the lead role. It became one of the highest-grossing films of the year with a collection of Rs. 2000 crores worldwide.
- In an interview, Fatima shared that she bagged the role of Geeta Phogat in the Bollywood film Dangal after passing 6 rounds of auditions. She also revealed that she watched various wrestling videos which helped her to understand the walk, moves, and body language of the wrestlers and perform her role with ease.
- In the same interview, Fatima revealed that she had received physical training from fitness coach and former wrestler Kripa Shankar Patel Bishnoi and attended various workshops with Tiwari and Aamir Khan.
- In an interview, Fatima shared that during the shooting of the film Dangal, she stayed at Aamir Khan’s old apartment in Mumbai for around 6 months along with Sanya Malhotra, Zaira Wasim, and Suhani Bhatnagar. Fatima also revealed that while rehearsing a scene for Dangal, she misjudged the timing, and consequently, fractured her ankle.
- Some of her popular Bollywood films include Thugs of Hindostan (2018), Ludo (2020), Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari (2020), Ajeeb Daastaans (2021), and Thar (2022).
- In 2022, Fatima appeared in Amazon Prime Video’s Raat Rani episode of the romantic comedy anthology Modern Love Mumbai. She played the role of Lalzari, a chattering, clumsy, and exuberant Kashmiri cook, in the series. Directed by Shonali Bose, the Raat Rani episode of the series depicts the story of a girl named Lalzari from anguish to optimism. Serving as a metaphor for Lalzari’s life, the film shows her forbidden bicycle journey on Mumbai’s Sea Link bridge which is barred for two-wheelers.
- She has also been featured in the music videos of a few Hindi songs like Tujhse Meri by Aditya Salankar and Palkein Kholo by Vishal Bhardwaj.
- She has also worked as an assistant cinematographer in two TV commercials.
- Fatima Sana Shaikh has endorsed several popular brands like KitKat, Fossil, Tata Harrier, and Dabur Almond.
- In her spare time, she likes to dance, read, sketch, and do photography.
- In 2022, Fatima, along with the Indian actor John Abraham was crowned PETA India’s Most Beautiful vegetarian.
- People often confuse Fatima Sana Shaikh with the Indian actress named Sana Sheikh due to the similarity in their names.
- In an Ask Me Anything session on Instagram, Fatima revealed that she was diagnosed with epilepsy during the shooting of her debut film Dangal. During the session, when a fan asked her how she got to know about her disease, she replied,
I was diagnosed when I was training for Dangal. I got an episode and woke up straight at the hospital… I was in denial first [for five years]. And now, I have learnt to embrace it, and work and live around it.”
- In an interview, Fatima revealed that during the shooting of the Bollywood film Dangal, she got close to her co-actress Sanya Malhotra that some of their friends misunderstood their friendship as romance, leading to dating rumours. Talking about it, she said,
We simply laughed about it. Just because we are good friends, they assumed the worst.”
- In 2016, Fatima Sana Shaikh revealed on Karan Johar’s talk show Koffee with Karan that before bagging a role in Dangal, she was jobless for around three years.
- In 2017, Fatima Sana Shaikh was awarded the Jackie Chan Action Movie Award for Best Action Actress for the Bollywood film Dangal.
- She was placed at rank 48 in The Times Most Desirable Woman list of 2020.
- In an interview, Fatima shared that she too had experienced a #MeeToo moment. While talking about it, she said,
It was about a personal experience. I think people have misunderstood the #MeToo movement if they restrict it only to the film industry. It’s not only ki film industry mein aisi cheez hoti hai. Har job mein hoti hai. Jo mere saath hua hai, woh bohot pehle hua hai. Aisa nahi hai ki Dangal ke time hua hai ya uske baad. It happened when I was very young. I think people assuming that it’s very current and wondering why I am not talking about it… that’s a lot of expectation. Every woman in our country has dealt with it and I’m sure not everyone wants to talk about it publicly.”
- Fatima is a pet lover and had two pet cats named Sultan and Michelle. She also has two pet dogs named Nush and Bijlee.
- She is a bike enthusiast.
- In 2021, Fatima Sana Shaikh was featured on the cover of Cine Blitz magazine.
- She is very particular about her fitness and follows a strict workout regimen.
- Fatima has been linked with the Bollywood actor Aamir Khan several times after the duo worked together in the Bollywood film Dangal (2016). Although the two rubbished the dating rumours multiple times, things got intense after Aamir Khan announced his divorce from his second wife Kiran Rao as people blamed Fatima Sana Shaikh for their separation. In November 2022, Fatima shared a few pictures on Instagram with the caption
“To do or Knot to do, That is the question…”
The word ‘Know’ captured the attention of the netizens who started asking her if her wedding with her rumoured boyfriend Aamir Khan was on cards. Later, Aamir Khan’s daughter Ira Khan’s comment on the post added more fuel to the speculations. Ira left a trail of heart eyes emojis on her post. Fatima was also invited to Ira Khan’s engagement, where she was seen twinning with Aamir Khan.
- Fatima was also linked with the Bollywood actor Aparshakti Khurana. In an interview, when confronted about the same, Khurana said,
They don’t affect me at all because these are rumours. Plus Sanya (Malhotra) and Fatima are close enough to my wife (Aakriti Ahuja) for her to understand the equation.”
