Sujata Mehta

{{short description|Indian actress of Gujarati origin}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2016}}

{{Use Indian English|date=February 2016}}

Sujata Mehta (born 11 March 1959){{Cite web |last=Raghuvanshi |first=Harish |title=મહેતા, સુજાતા પ્રહલાદરાય |url=https://gujarativishwakosh.org/%E0%AA%AE%E0%AA%B9%E0%AB%87%E0%AA%A4%E0%AA%BE-%E0%AA%B8%E0%AB%81%E0%AA%9C%E0%AA%BE%E0%AA%A4%E0%AA%BE-%E0%AA%AA%E0%AB%8D%E0%AA%B0%E0%AA%B9%E0%AA%B2%E0%AA%BE%E0%AA%A6%E0%AA%B0%E0%AA%BE%E0%AA%AF/ |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=Gujarati Vishwakosh |language=gu}} is an Indian actress of Gujarati origin who has acted in plays and Hindi films, mostly known for her lead role in Pratighaat (1987) and supporting roles in Yateem (1988) and Gunaah (1993).{{cite web | title = On the sands of time — 1987: Year of the invisible hero|author=M.L. Dhawan|work=The Sunday Tribune| url = http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020721/spectrum/main5.htm |date=21 July 2002| accessdate = 2014-09-24 }}{{cite web | title = Theatre actress Sujata Mehta spotted |work=MiD DAY| url = http://www.mid-day.com/articles/theatre-actress-sujata-mehta-spotted-at-the-queer-film-festival/215099 |date=25 May 2013| accessdate = 2014-09-24 }} She also played the lead role in the critically acclaimed and National Award-winning Malayalam movie Purushartham (1987).

Early career

Sujata was born on 11 March 1959 in Navsari in Shrimali family to Rekha and Prahlad Rai, an Indian independence activist. She is a graduate in Psychology.

Theatre career

Her uncle Hasu Mehta and aunt Devyani Mehta were theatre actors in Bombay (now Mumbai). Under their influence, she was attracted to the theatre. She started her career as a child actor at the age of 13 as a lead actress in a role of blind girl in English play Wait Until Dark. She acted in children's play and Hindi video film Siyahi produced by INT.

She learned from her experience and became a leading actress despite not having any formal training in the theatre.{{cite web | title = Interview With Sujata Mehta | work = Mumbai Theatre Guide | url = http://www.mumbaitheatreguide.com/dramas/interviews/sujata_mehta%20.asp | accessdate = 2014-09-24 | archive-date = 23 April 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140423134433/http://www.mumbaitheatreguide.com/dramas/interviews/sujata_mehta%20.asp | url-status = dead }} She played a young lady with cancer in Kanti Madia's play Ame Barafna Pankhi. She had a leading role in Paralysis opposite Upendra Trivedi. She acted in several TV plays broadcast by Doordarshan. She also acted in Pravin Joshi's Thank You Mister Glad. Her acclaimed performance as a woman suffering from mental illness in the Gujarati play Chitkar had over 600 shows across the world.

Film career

Her first big break came with N. Chandra's social film Pratighaat (1987) with Nana Patekar where she played a college teacher who is humiliated in public by gangsters. The role was originally played by Vijayashanti in the Telugu film Pratighatna (1986). Sujata was appreciated for her stellar performance in the film.

In Yateem (1988), directed by J. P. Dutta, she played the role of step-mother who tries to seduce her step-son (Sunny Deol). Her performance won her accolades and critical acclaim and a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress nomination. She played the role of a lawyer in Kanwarlal (1988) and was seen in a prominent role in Mahesh Bhatt’s Gunaah opposite Sunny Deol. She did not confine herself to a certain image and played a wide variety of roles in movies like Gunahon Ka Devta (1990), Gunehgar Kaun (1991), Pratigyabadh (1991), Tyaagi (1992), Aaj ki Aurat (1993), Dhartiputra (1993), Hulchul (1995), Judge Mujrim (1997), Meri Mohabbat Mera Nasiba (1995) and Jung (1996).

TV career

Mehta played the role of a proud daughter-in-law in the dynastic drama Khandaan (1985) and the emotional role of Raj Lakshmi in Shrikant (1987); both broadcast on Doordarshan. She play a college girl in Yes Sir (1987). She played Draupadi in Shyam Benegal's Bharat Ek Khoj (1988). She has also acted Andaz (1995) and played Gunsundari in Saraswatichandra (2013). She was a part of several Indian TV soap operas, playing the roles of a mother in Ye Meri Life Hai (2004) and Kyaa Hoga Nimmo Kaa (2006).{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}} She had also modeled in many commercials.

Filmography

=Film=

class="wikitable sortable"

!Year

!Title

!Language

!Role

!Note

1987

|Pratighaat

|Hindi

|Laxmi Joshi

|

1987

|Rajlakshmi

|Hindi

|Rajlakshmi

|

1988

|Yateem

|Hindi

|Chanchal Yadav

|

1988

|Kanwarlal

|Hindi

|Advocate Sandhya

|

1990

|Gunahon Ka Devta

|Hindi

|Inspector Shilpa Verma

|

1991

|Gunehgar Kaun

|Hindi

|Madhu Saxena

|

1991

|Pratigyabadh

|Hindi

|Phoolrani

|

1992

|Tyagi

|Hindi

|Sujata Dayal

|

1992

|Rishta To Ho Aisa

|Hindi

|Sharda

|

1993

|Sadhna

|Hindi

|

|

1993

|Anmol

|Hindi

|

|

1993

|Aaj Kie Aurat

|Hindi

|Sunita Menon

|

1993

|Gunaah

|Hindi

|Rita

|

1993

|Dhartiputra

|Hindi

|Gulab bai

|

1993

|Krishan Avtaar

|Hindi

|Suman

|

1994

|Udhaar Ki Zindagi

|Hindi

|Gauri

|

1994

|Maha Shaktishaali

|Hindi

|

|

1995

|Hum Sab Chor Hain

|Hindi

|Rashmi

|

1995

|Hulchul

|Hindi

|Lekha

|

1995

|Meri Mohabbat Mera Naseeba

|Hindi

|

|

1996

|Jung

|Hindi

|Sita

|

1997

|Judge Mujrim

|Hindi

|Sujata Sinha

|

2000

|Aaj Ka Nanha Farishta

|Hindi

|

|

2018

|Dhaad

|Gujarati, Hindi

|

|

2018

|Chitkar

|Gujarati

|

|

2019

|Dhara 370

|Hindi

|

|

= Television =

class="wikitable sortable"

! Year !! Serial!! Role!! Channel

1985KhandaanDD National
1987ShrikantRaj LakshmiDD National
1988

|Yes Sir

|

|DD National

1988

|Bharat Ek Khoj

|Draupadi

|DD National

1995

|Andaz

|

|

2004Ye Meri Life HaiRonit's motherSony TV
2006Kyaa Hoga Nimmo KaaSTAR One
2013

|Saraswatichandra

|Gunsundari

|

References

{{Reflist}}