Seema Rahmani

Seema Rahmani is a film actress, television presenter, writer, producer, director, singer, event host, poet, and a philanthropist.

Seema Rahmani
Rahmani hosting The World Travel Awards Show, Asia & Australasia, 2014
Born (1969-12-03) December 3, 1969
Kuwait
NationalityIndian/American
OccupationActress, event host, TV presenter, writer, director, poet, entrepreneur, humanitarian
Years active2000 - present
Websitewww.amazon.com/author/seemarahmani

She currently lives in India.

Early life

While her family background links to Pune, Maharashtra, Seema was born and raised in Kuwait where her father worked with an oil company and her mother as an English teacher in a Kuwaiti government high school. She did her initial schooling at Indian School, Salmiya, Kuwait, after which she left for the U.S. at the age of 15. She completed high school in Newark, New York, a Bachelor of Science with a minor in Mathematics at State University of New York at Fredonia, and an M.A. in Marketing/Advertising from Emerson College in Boston. She enjoyed a marketing/advertising and public relations corporate career for a few years before she started her acting career.[1][2]

Career

Seema took time off from her public relations corporate job in Los Angeles, California in 1997 to visit Spain. Upon returning from Barcelona, she decided to leave her corporate career and join theater in Los Angeles, thus beginning her acting career. She soon landed stints in two television series - Alias for ABC and Roswell for Warner Brothers 2000-2001. Rahmani moved to India in 2003 and worked in films such as Vinod Pande's true-story inspired Sins in 2005 where she was noticed for her range and fluency in exploring a character's vulnerability,[3][4] Zee TV Films' Arjun Varma, and Missed Call by Mridul Toolsidas and Vinay Subrmanium, which was adjudged the Best International film at Israel's Red Sea International Film Festival.[5] Rahmani's performance received accolades in the super-hit comedy film Loins of Punjab Presents in 2007, which won the Audience Award for best feature film at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles.[6] These films gave her recognition and drew the attention of independent filmmakers looking for an "effortlessly natural" actor and a "quintessential Indian face".[7][8]

In 2005, only two years into her arrival as an actor in the Indian film industry in Mumbai, and in the wake of a media sting operation that brought acts of incredulous unprofessionalism of Bollywood "power-positioned" personalities to the forefront of intense media discussions and debates, politically incorrect but honest, Rahmani uninhibitedly contributed to public awareness in the controversial matter by authoring a genuine and journalistic personal account of ungentlemanly behaviors she had experienced. The article was lauded and published by Outlook Magazine (10th anniversary edition)[9] and The Times of India. Rahmani said she felt "a sense of responsibility to help silence wasteful talks that denied an obvious compromising of ethics in what should be an art-dedicated, safe, fair, and respectful environment for actors to work in."

Rahmani at the Rome International Film Festival 2011, Italy

Her work between 2007-2012 as host/anchor of the super hit TV show on animals called Heavy Petting, which aired on NDTV Good Times, brought her recognition both as a television presenter and spokesperson for compassion towards animals and animal rights.[10][11][12][13] She and her crew traveled the length and breath of India, passionately and lovingly eradicating cultural fears associated with animals and showing viewers how and why to care about them.

As a film actor, Rahmani again demonstrated her versatility in the critically acclaimed 2012 independent film Good Night Good Morning and in the lighthearted comedy Love Wrinkle-free.[14][15][16][17][18]

In 2013 Seema revisited the theater circuit after ten years, this time in Delhi, writing, directing, producing and acting. Her play Life Like Rainbow Grey, the premier performances of which were sponsored by The American Embassy in New Delhi, in celebration of Women's International Day (also on World Peace Day), was very well received. The play, which then went on to be selected for The Contemporary Arts Festival, is a true to life account of her experiences working with children who were wards of the state of California and living in an institutionalized group home run by a religious establishment. The play, which includes doses of original poetry and song, also delves into the subject of healthy parenting and marriages.[19][20] Rahmani then authored a compilation of short-acts and monologues, and skits for children. She went on to co-write and direct several plays.

Her literary offerings include "The Journey of a Truth Seeker," a memoir published in 2020, "Hold the Space of Truth," a spiritual self-help and healing handbook, published in 2020, and a collection of short stories for children. Her first book of poetry "Euphoria, A Journey Unravels..." published through a Kolkata publishing house in 2003, was deeply appreciated by former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in a personal letter to her, listing poetry he resonated with.

Seema has produced a timeless music album "Rab Se...", an original collection of carefully crafted empowering & loving lullabies and songs in Hindi "for children and their adults" [released January 2016]. The album features revered and respected singers from India, namely, Rekha Bhardwaj, Roop Kumar Rathod, Suresh Wadkar, ghazal maestro Sudeep Banerjee, plus Aditi Paul, Dilip Shankar and herself.[21][22] The music and songs in this album have been appreciated for their unique therapeutic and relaxing effect on both children and adults.

Her work as a TV-show anchor forayed into her hosting select live events, including the 21st Annual World Travel Awards Asia and Australasia Ceremony held in 2014, in India, an awards event called "The Oscars" of the travel industry by The Wall Street Journal.[23][24]

Humanitarian Work
Rahmani teaching music, song, meditation, English to underprivileged children in Delhi, India

Rahmani's naturally inclined animal welfare work began early in her childhood in Kuwait. As an adult, since the early 90s, she was involved in animal welfare in India, specifically with relevance to street animals' birth control, rescue, treatment, rehabilitation, and adoption in various pockets of Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, and Rajasthan.[25] She spearheaded critical and sensitive rescue and animal birth control operations, including restructuring inhumane practices into humane operations both in Mumbai and in Panchgini.

In 2014, Seema adopted an underprivileged residential "jugghi" in South Delhi with the intention of replacing the negativity, hostility, and violent behaviors she witnessed with a peaceful, positive, and productive attitude towards life and each other. She worked with the slum's children and several parents, empowering them through counselling and discussions. She brought to the children yoga, meditation, creative arts, educational field trips and fun outings in nature. Her goals were received wholeheartedly by over 40 children and their families and the upliftment of children's lives through an empowered sense of self was achieved over a span of three years.

Filmography

Films
Year Film Role Language Notes
2004Arjun VermaSameeraHindi
2005Banana BrothersReemaHindi
2005Hum Kaun Hai?MariaHindi
2005SinsRosemaryEnglish
2005Missed CallRose/NishaHindi
2006Shakalaka Boom BoomSeemaHindi
2007Loins of Punjab PresentsSaniaEnglish
2010GangorSheetalEnglish, Bengali
2012Love, Wrinkle-freeNatalieEnglish
2012Good Night Good MorningMoiraEnglishalso executive producer
2013RepriseMeenaEnglish
2014UnfreedomChandraEnglish
2015KahaniMemsahibHindi

Television
Year Title Channel Role Notes
2007-2012 Heavy Petting NDTV Good Times Travelling Show Host Animal Show
2007-2010 The Big Fat Indian Wedding NDTV-Good Times Travelling Show Host
2006 Karamchand Sony TV Dr. Rita Kapoor
2001 Alias ABC Sara
2000 Roswell Warner Brothers Nurse

References
  1. "Nudity is no Sin: Seema Rahmani". SantaBanta.com. 10 March 2005. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  2. "Full of Spunk". The Hindu. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  3. "No squeamish apologetic sexual exploitation". India Glitz IANS. 24 February 2005. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  4. "I enjoy work that makes sense to me". BOLLYSPICE. 22 January 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  5. "Reelism Films' Missed Call wins laurels at Israel film festival". Business of Cinema. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  6. "Loins Of Punjab wins prestigious audiences award at The IFFLA Awards". SantaBanta.com. 12 May 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  7. "Edible innerwear isn't too much to swallow is it". The Hindu. 27 May 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  8. "Not ashamed of my body, says Seema Rahmani". IBN. 17 January 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  9. "The-Casting-'Ouch'". Outlook Magazine. 4 April 2005. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  10. "Seema Rahmani Is Back With Heavy Petting!!". NDTV. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  11. "Watch Seema Rahmani solve your pet peeves in the new season of 'Heavy Petting' only on NDTV Good Times". Indiantelevision.com. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  12. "Seema Rahmani Says, It's a 'Sin' to Harm Animals". PETA. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  13. "Happy B'Day Bluebird!". Dog With Blog. 2 December 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  14. "Good Morning Good Night review: Phone a friend!". Sify Movies. 22 January 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  15. "Review: Good Night, Good Morning is brilliant". IBN Live. 17 January 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  16. "Love Wrinkle Free". Bollywood Hungama. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  17. "Love Wrinkle Free captures heart of Goa". IBN Live CNN-IBN. 24 May 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  18. "Love, Wrinkle-free is clean indie fun at its best". DNA. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  19. "Life Like Rainbow Grey". 4to40.com. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  20. "Life Like Rainbow Grey". allevents.in. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  21. "Joanne Fernandes". Goa Streets. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  22. "LADIES NIGHT/ FASHION NIGHT every Wednesdays at the Grand Hyatt Goa". Goa Prism. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  23. "Vivica A. Fox Brings Hollywood Glam To The 'World's Leading Luxury Island Destination'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  24. "World Travel Awards 2014". World Travel Awards. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  25. "Puppy-love-Actor-rescues-rain-hit-canines-Wants-people-to-adopt-dogs". Times of India. 11 August 2005. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
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