Sarita Choudhury

Sarita Catherine Louise Choudhury (born 18 August 1966) is an English actress, best known for her role in the Mira Nair-directed feature film Mississippi Masala (1992).[2] In the late 1990s, Choudhury added to her repertoire with supporting roles in the thriller A Perfect Murder (1998), 3 A.M. (2001), and the John Cassavetes remake Gloria (1999). In 2002, she starred in Just a Kiss. She played a lesbian virgin in Spike Lee's She Hate Me (2004) and acted as Anna Ran in Lady in the Water, a 2006 thriller by M. Night Shyamalan.[3][4] She also played Egeria in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015) and co-starred with Tom Hanks in the 2016 film A Hologram for the King.

Sarita Choudhury
Choudhury at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival
Born
Sarita Catherine Louise Choudhury

(1966-08-18) 18 August 1966
Blackheath, London, England
NationalityBritish
OccupationActress
Years active1990–present
Children1[1]

Early life

Choudhury was born in Blackheath, London, England, and is of half Indian Bengali and half British English descent. Her parents, Julia Patricia (née Spring) of English descent, and Prabhas Chandra Choudhury, a scientist of Indian Bengali descent, married in 1964 in Lucea, Jamaica. She studied economics and film at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. She has one younger brother, Kumar Michael Choudhury, and one older brother, Chandra Paul Choudhury.[5][6]

Career

Choudhury starred opposite Denzel Washington in the 1990 film Mississippi Masala, for which she received her Screen Actors Guild (SAG) card.[7] She was still working as a waitress in Manhattan's East Village to make ends meet while the film was in theatres.[7] After her debut film Mississippi Masala became an art house hit, Sarita Choudhury acted as a Pakistani country-western singer in Wild West (1992), a Chilean maid who is raped in Bille August's adaptation of The House of the Spirits, and a lesbian mother in Fresh Kill.

Choudhury appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street for five episodes during the 1998–99 season as Dr. Kalyani, a medical examiner. Choudhury played the role of the King's mistress, Helen Pardis, in the NBC drama Kings. The series was based upon the Biblical story of King David but set in modern times. Her character's Biblical counterpart was Rizpah, a concubine of King Saul.

She worked with independent film director Sona Jain in For Real. In an interview with The Statesman she said, "After Mississippi Masala and Kama Sutra I started getting offers in New York... doing theatres... I just went with the flow. One fine day, I thought that I haven't been back to India, haven't shot there and that's something I wanted to. There were Bollywood offers but it was not until Sona's script that made me look at India."[8] The film had a commercial release in September 2010.

She appears as character Saul Berenson's wife, Mira in the TV series Homeland. In 2011, she appeared in the joint British/French TV series Death in Paradise. Choudhury also had a brief cameo the 2013 comedy Admission. She appeared in the films The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015), as President Snow's assistant, Egeria. In 2015, she appears as the Deputy White House Political Director Sophia Varma in the American crime drama Blindspot.

Filmography
Film roles
Year Title Role Notes
1991 Mississippi Masala Meena
1992 Wild West Rifat
1993 The House of the Spirits Pancha Garcia
1994 Fresh Kill Shareen Lightfoot
1995 The Perez Family Josette
1996 Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love Tara, the Queen
1997 Dinner Party Rosie Short film
1997 Story of the Red Rose Infanta Short film
1998 High Art Joan Uncredited
1998 A Perfect Murder Raquel Martinez
1998 Restless Jane Talwani
1999 Gloria Angela
2000 Come On Sarita
2001 3 A.M. Box
2001 Trigger Happy Alison
2002 Just a Kiss Colleen
2002 Refuge Girl
2003 Rhythm of the Saints Mariela
2003 It Runs in the Family Suzie
2004 Exactly Lily Short film
2004 Marmalade Angela
2004 She Hate Me Song
2004 The Breakup Artist Mona
2004 Indocumentados Mrs. Guerrero
2005 The War Within Farida S. Choudhury
2005 L'est de la brúixola Dabashree
2006 Lady in the Water Anna Ran
2006 Lady in a Box Ms. Pullman Short film
2008 Woman in Burka Sarita Short film
2008 The Accidental Husband Sunny
2009 Entre nos Preet
2009 For Real Priya
2009 Coup de Grâce Short film
2011 Aazaan Menon
2012 Gayby Ushma
2012 Generation Um... Lily
2012 Midnight's Children Prime Minister
2012 BMW: Bombay's Most Wanted
2012 Monarchs and Men Nadzia Short film
2013 Admission Rachel
2013 Innocence Dr. Vera Kent
2013 Give Into the Night Veena Short film
2014 The Disinherited Anna
2014 Learning To Drive Jasleen
2014 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 Egeria
2014 Roman Buildings Sarita
2015 Love Comes Later Short film
2015 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 Egeria
2015 Sweets Sweets
2016 A Hologram for the King Zahra
2016 Wake O Wake Lila Short film
2017 The Last Photograph Hannah
2017 After Louie Maggie
2019 Human Terrain Adelah Nasser Short film
2020 Evil Eye Usha Kharti
2020 It Snows in Benidorm Alex
TBA The Green Knight Mother Post-production
TBA After Yang Cleo Post-production
Television roles
Year Title Role Notes
1995 Down Came a Blackbird Myrna TV Movie
1997 Subway Stories Humera TV Movie; Segment: "Honey-Getter"
1998–1999 Homicide: Life on the Street Dr. Kalyani Recurring
2000–2001 Deadline Sahira Ondaatje 3 episodes
2001–2002 100 Centre Street Julia Brooks Recurring
2004 Law & Order Nadira Harrington Episode: "Paradigm"
2004 PBS Hollywood Presents Charmaine Episode: "Cop Shop"
2007 Damages Sleep Therapist Episode: "She Spat at Me"
2009 Kings Helen Pardis Recurring
2009 The Philanthropist Rhada Shivpuri Episode: "Kashmir"
2009 Possible Side Effects Callie TV Movie
2010 Mercy Dr. Carrozzi Episode: "Wake Up, Bill"
2010 The Good Wife Simran Verma Episode: "Mock"
2010 Bored to Death Lakshmi Episode: "Forty-Two Down!"
2011 Bar Karma Sarita Episode: "Man Walks Out of a Bar"
2011 Death in Paradise Avita Episode: "Music of Murder"
2011–2017 Homeland Mira Berenson Recurring
2015–2016 Blindspot Sofia Varma Recurring
2016 Elementary Gira Pal Episode: "A Study in Charlotte"
2016 Divorce Courtney Episode: "Church"
2016 Recon Farrah TV Pilot
2016–2017 Madam Secretary Prime Minister Jaya Verma 2 episodes
2018 The Path Lilith Main cast (Season 3)
2018 Instinct Mayor Myers 2 episodes
2018 Strangers 3 episodes
2019 Jessica Jones Kith Lyonne Main cast (Season 3)
2020 Mira, Royal Detective Great-Aunt Rupa (voice)
2020 Little Fires Everywhere Anita Rees 3 episodes

References
  1. "Sarita Choudhury to shift her base to India". Gulf News. IANS. 13 September 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  2. "I only do nudity when I trust the director". Rediff.
  3. Willmore, Alison (19 November 2013). "Sarita Choudhury on Getting Involved in the Spy Side of 'Homeland'". IndieWire.
  4. "Sarita Choudhury Talks Working with Tom Hanks in A Hologram for the King: It Made My Parents 'Proud'". People.
  5. "From Queen's to Homeland". Queen's University. 2013. Archived from the original on 2 January 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  6. "Sarita Choudhury".
  7. "How Did You Get Your SAG-AFTRA Card?" TV Guide. 13 January 2014. p. 10.
  8. "People want escapism by Mathures Paul". The Statesman. 16 September 2010. Archived from the original on 30 November 2010.
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