Fatima Sana Shaikh

Early life

Shaikh was born on 11 January 1992, and brought up in Mumbai. Her father Vipin Sharma, is a Hindu from Jammu and her mother Raj Tabassum, is a Muslim from Srinagar. interview" Shaikh identifies as an atheist. She had gained experience in photography prior to becoming an actress.

Fatima has opened up about her personal experiences of living with epilepsy to help raise awareness of the neurological condition.

Career

Shaikh began her career as a child artist in Chachi 420 and One 2 Ka 4. Years later, she played Zoya in the Indian drama film Tahaan, which received "The German Star of India award" at "Bollywood and Beyond" festival at Stuttgart, Germany in 2009.

Shaikh was selected for Nitesh Tiwari's biographical sports film Dangal along with Sanya Malhotra, who had never acted before. Shaikh was chosen to portray Geeta Phogat. To prepare for her role, she watched several videos on wrestling to understand "how wrestlers move, walk, their body language". Both Malhotra and Shaikh went through five rounds of auditions, physical training and workshops with Tiwari and Aamir Khan. Anupama Chopra said in her review that Shaikh was "terrific" in the film.

In 2018, Shaikh played Zafira Baig, a warrior-archer thug in the epic action-adventure film, Thugs of Hindostan. It underperformed at the box office. In 2020, she first played a wife struggling for her husband's innocence in Ludo opposite Rajkummar Rao. She then played a traditional girl opposite Diljit Dosanjh in Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari. In 2021, Shaikh played an unhappy wife having an affair opposite Jaideep Ahlawat in Ajeeb Daastaans.

Shaikh had two releases in 2022. She first played a Kashmiri housemaid and a wife realising her worth in a segment of the series Modern Love Mumbai, opposite Bhupendra Jadawat. Anuj Kumar of The Hindu noted, "Fatima’s performance makes her segment fly. Under Shonali’s watch, she is both flower and fire at the same time." She then played a Rajasthani woman opposite Harshvardhan Kapoor in Thar. Taran Adarsh was appreciative of her lovely performance. The film earned her a nomination at the Filmfare OTT Awards for Best Actress in a Web Original Film.

Shaikh started 2023 with Dhak Dhak, where she played a female motorbike traveller. Her performance earned her nomination for Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress. Following this, Shaikh portrayed Indira Gandhi alongside Vicky Kaushal and Sanya Malhotra in Sam Bahadur, a film based on the life of Sam Manekshaw. It was a moderate success at the box office. While Mayank Shekhar found her performance to be "admirable", Prannay Pathak was critical of her "unsteady portrayal".

In her first release of 2025, Shaikh played a working wife facing unplanned pregnancy opposite Ali Fazal in Metro... In Dino. Titas Chowdhury noted, "Fazal and Shaikh's chemistry is palpable and Fatima truly is a revelation." Later, she played a spirited French instructor opposite R. Madhavan in Aap Jaisa Koi.

Shaikh was ranked in The Times Most Desirable Women at No. 48 in 2020.

Filmography

Films

Television

Music videos

Accolades

References

References

1. "Meet Aamir Khan's wrestler daughters".
2. Aneja, Atul. (25 June 2017). "China's 'Dangal' mega-success echoes at second BRICS film festival". The Hindu.
3. (3 April 2019). "Fatima Sana Shaikh on her #MeToo story: It happened when I was very young".
4. (2024-01-15). "Filmfare Awards 2024 full list of nominees: Shah Rukh Khan gets 2 Best Actor nominations, Animal leads with 19 nods".
5. (11 January 2024). "Fatima Sana Shaikh Birthday Special".
6. (29 August 2018). "Fatima Sana Shaikh: Lesser known facts about the actress". TOI.
7. (29 October 2020). "I am an atheist, I believe in karma: actress Fatima Sana Shaikh".
8. (27 October 2020). "Interview With Fatima Sana Shaikh for 'Suraj Pe Mangal Bhaari' And 'Ludo' {{!}} The Quint". The Quint.
9. Rathi, Vasundhara. (20 December 2016). "Braving the bruises". The Hindu.
10. Rathi, Vasundhara. (25 May 2023). "Opening Up about Epilepsy". Firstpost.com.
11. . (14 November 2022). ["Exercising daily helps her combat her epilepsy"](https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/fatima-sana-shaikh-opens-up-about-epilepsy-diagnosis-says-exercising-daily-makes-her-feel-good/articleshow/95507978.cms?from=mdr). *[[The Economic Times]]*.
12. Jha, Subhash K.. (24 July 2009). "Santosh Sivan unaware of Tahaan honour in Germany".
13. (16 December 2016). "Dangal selection process: Sanya Malhotra talks about the emotionally exhausting experience". India.com.
14. Cain, Rob. (19 June 2017). "How An Indian Drama Became The World's Highest-Grossing Sports Movie Of 2017". [[Forbes]].
15. Chopra, Anupama. (22 December 2016). "Dangal Movie Review". Film Companion.
16. (19 October 2018). "Thugs of Hindostan Movie Review: Bloated And Tacky Despite Amitabh Bachchan Plus Aamir Khan".
17. (31 December 2018). "Zero, Race 3 and Thugs of Hindostan: Presenting the Khans' box-office report of 2018". [[The Indian Express]].
18. Gupta, Shubhra. (13 November 2020). "Ludo review: Hijinks in the time of Corona".
19. Kumar, Pradeep. (13 November 2020). "'Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari' movie review: Manoj Bajpayee shines in this comedy". The Hindu.
20. (2021-04-16). "Ajeeb Daastaans movie review: Neeraj Ghaywan saves Karan Johar's uneven Netflix film from disaster".
21. (May 19, 2022). "EXCLUSIVE: Modern Love Mumbai's Fatima Sana Shaikh on overcoming fear of being lead actor: Kitna darega insaan".
22. (13 May 2022). "'Modern Love: Mumbai' review: A slam-dunk of an anthology if ever there was one". [[The Hindu]].
23. (21 February 2022). "Anil Kapoor teams up with son Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor for Netflix's film ''Thar''". [[India Today]].
24. (6 May 2022). "''Thar'' Movie Review: ''Thar'' is worth watching for its plot, direction, music score.".
25. "Filmfare OTT Awards 2022 - Nominations".
26. (29 June 2022). "Dhak Dhak stars Dia Mirza, Ratna Pathak, Fatima Shaikh, Sanjana Sanghi ride from Delhi to Khardung La, set record".
27. "69th Filmfare Awards :Ranbir Kapoor's Animal leads with 19 nods, check full nomination list".
28. (13 December 2021). "Vicky Kaushal welcomes Dangal girls Sanya Malhotra, Fatima Sana Shaikh onboard Sam Manekshaw biopic".
29. "Sam Bahadur Box Office Collection Day 3: "Stands On Its Feet Despite A Hurricane Called Animal"".
30. Shekhar, Mayank. (1 December 2023). "'Sam Bahadur' movie review: Played it too straight, Sam?". [[Mid-Day]].
31. Pathak, Prannay. (1 December 2023). "Sam Bahadur movie review: Facile and forgettable vignette reel powered by Vicky Kaushal". [[Hindustan Times]].
32. "Metro... In Dino Trailer Out: Aditya Roy Kapur Sara Ali Khan Anupam Kher Neena Gupta Pankaj Tripathi Konkona Sen Sharma Ali Fazal And Fatima Sana Shaikh Are All Set To Bring Retro's Story On The Big Screens".
33. "Metro In Dino Review: Anurag Basu Delivers Masterclass On Modern Love, Pritam's Music Adds To The Magic".
34. (2025-06-25). "'Aap Jaisa Koi' trailer: R Madhavan, Fatima Sana Shaikh in a romance of equals". The Hindu.
35. "The Times Most Desirable Woman of 2020: Rhea Chakraborty - Living through a trial by fire, gracefully - Times of India".
36. (19 March 2019). "Fatima Sana Shaikh Shares Throwback Pic From The Sets Of Chachi 420, Featuring Tabu".
37. (26 January 2013). "Movie Review: Akaash Vani". [[Mid-Day]].
38. (23 December 2020). "4 Years of Dangal: Sanya Malhotra shares unseen BTS pictures featuring the cast including Aamir Khan".
39. Bhowal, Tiasa. (28 October 2020). "What Fatima Sana Shaikh learnt from the Thugs of Hindostan debacle: Interview".
40. (27 December 2019). "Anurag Basu's upcoming film Ludo featuring Abhishek Bachchan, Rajkummar Rao to release on 24 April 2020".
41. (16 November 2020). "सूरज पे मंगल भारी ने दर्शकों को द‍िखाया स‍िनेमाघरों का रास्‍ता, द‍िलजीत बोले #ChaloCinema".
42. (19 March 2021). "Karan Johar unveils teaser of Netflix anthology Ajeeb Daastaans which is set to premiere on 16 April". Bollywood Hungama.
43. (16 May 2022). "'Dhak Dhak': Fatima Sana Shaikh, Ratna Pathak Shah, Dia Mirza and Sanjana Sanghi promise a ride of a lifetime". The Times of India.
44. "Film Review: Sam Bahadur".
45. (19 April 2024). "Anurag Basu's Metro In Dino starring Aditya Roy Kapur, Sara Ali Khan to release on November 29, 2024". Bollywood Hungama.
46. "Fatima Sana Shaikh On Her Role In Aap Jaisa Koi: 'Was Interesting To Play A Bengali Woman, They Are Strong & Sensual'".
47. (19 March 2024). "Vijay Varma and Fatima Sana complete 'Ul Jalool Ishq'; Manish Malhotra hosts wrap-up party".
48. (10 January 2021). "Fatima Sana Shaikh: five things you didn't know".
49. (2 June 2012). "Lucky Nikki turns two".
50. "Aneet Padda to star in OTT series 'Nyaya' with Fatima Sana Shaikh".
51. (3 September 2020). "'Palkein Kholo': Fatima Sana Shaikh turns director for Vishal Bharadwaj's music video".
52. "Screen Awards 2017 nominations announced".
53. (23 July 2018). "Dangal girls Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra win action award in China". [[Mid-Day]].
54. Frater, Patrick. (2019-07-30). "Jackie Chan Reignites Action Film Week in China".
55. "Filmfare OTT Awards 2022".
56. (15 January 2024). "Nominations for the 69th Hyundai Filmfare Awards 2024 with Gujarat Tourism: Full list out". Filmfare.