Vishakha Singh

Vishakha Singh (born 5 May 1986) is an Indian film actress, producer and entrepreneur. She Gained popularity as Neetu Singh, Zafar's girlfriend in Fukrey Series.

Vishakha Singh
Singh in 2017
Born (1986-05-05) 5 May 1986
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates[1]
NationalityIndian
EducationBusiness Studies, Communications, Delhi University
OccupationActress, Producer, Entrepreneur
Height1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)

She has appeared in many South Indian language films, before starring in Bollywood projects with director Ashutosh Gowariker's 2010 period piece Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, alongside Abhishek Bachchan and Deepika Padukone. She was nominated for the Best Breakthrough Performance of the Year in 2010, for the same role by StarDust Awards.[2]

She also works as a part-time venture capitalist in her father's company based out of London and Dubai. Her father's name is Mr. Jitendra Singh. She is a frequent figure on the Red Carpet at the Cannes Film Festival and was part of the producers workshop at the Festival de Cannes in 2014. Vishakha has been invited to be on the jury of one of Rome's biggest film festivals for independent Italian and European filmmakers, Rome Independent Film Festival (RIFF) in May 2015.[3] and was also a guest and judge at the Molise Cinema Film Festival in Italy.[4] She is also one of the committee members of Srishti Madurai.[5]

Her production house Lokaa Entertainment is a Mumbai based, content & creativity driven motion pictures production and distribution company founded in 2016. Lokaa Entertainment co-produced the 2016 National award-winning film, Onaatah, directed by Pradip Kurbah.[6]

Vishakha Singh is also an entrepreneur.[7] As principal co-founder of Iconic Bot (Vicit Infot Tech Pvt. Ltd.), India's first multi-lingual AI powered celebrity fan management tool, she is spearheading the initiative to make artificial intelligence a part of the promotional mix of the Indian film industry. Vishakha was a winner of the Women Entrepreneur Quest 2017 (WEQ) - an annual contest sponsored by Anitab.org India and the Government of India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST), WEQ highlights and rewards exceptional technology startups founded by women. The Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) also plays an integral role in supporting and organizing WEQ 2017. Vishakha was also selected for Zone Startups India's empower 2017 initiative which selected 15 tech startups across themes such as IoT, Artificial Intelligence, and Deep Learning for an accelerator programme. In an article titled, "Here’s a closer look at the 15 female tech entrepreneurs who made it to the 2nd edition of empoWer Zone Startups", on www.yourstory.com the author mentions empoWer as the first tech accelerator for women entrepreneurs in India. Vishakha is also part of the Facebook SheLeadsTech initiative to promote women entrepreneurs. In 2015, Vishakha launched Thappad.com a social media app aimed at gauging trends in society.

Career

She did her schooling from Abu Dhabi Indian School (ADIS) and Delhi Public School.[8] She completed her graduation in business studies from Delhi University.[9] She said that she wanted to be a teacher and did her post graduation in advertising and public relations.[10] She started modelling in 2007 and appeared in many television and print commercials.[11] She made her feature film debut with a Telugu film Gnaapakam in 2007, which did not do well.[11] After that, she starred in one Tamil, and two Kannada films, Housefull and Antaraatma.

She made her Hindi film debut with Hum Se Jahan, which was never released on DVD and only in theatres, in 2008.[11] However, she got noticed in director Ashutosh Gowarikar's Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, for which she received a "Best Breakthrough Performance – Female" nomination from Stardust Awards (2011).[12][13][14][15][16] She acted in Abhijeet Sengupta's Do Aur Do Paanch, which did not release.

In 2012 Vishakha ventured into film production by co-producing Peddlers, a film directed by Vasan Bala. The other producers were Guneet Monga and Anurag Kashyap Films. Peddlers was selected at the critic week at the Cannes Film Festival.,[17][18] She has also co-produced Haraamkhor, directed by Shlok Sharma, with Guneet Monga and AKFPL.[19] The film is set to release in 2015. After three years, she made a comeback to acting in Tamil films. Vishakha's second Tamil film Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaiya released on 13 January 2013 and which went on to become the first blockbuster of the Tamil film industry in that year. Back in Bollywood, she signed on three films that released in succession in 2013. Her first two films were Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani's Fukrey and Vikram Bhatt's Ankur Arora Murder Case; both the films released on 14 June 2013. Her third film was director Shahant Shah's Bhajathe Raho, which released the next month. She said that Fukrey made a lot of difference and changed people's perceptions and that she turned down nine films after Fukrey.[19]

Vishakha also made her Malayalam debut in director Rajesh Pillai's forthcoming film Motorcycle Diaries, and her next Tamil film is with Vaaliba Raja, with the same team that worked on Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaiya.[20] She returns to Telugu films with Rowdy Fellow, opposite Nara Rohit[9] and has stated that she plays "a girl who looks like an angel but is a devil in disguise".[11] She is also acting in The Maya Tape, a horror thriller, directed by Nikhil Alag, in which she plays a journalist.[19] She was signed for an important role in the film, albeit a cameo role, in R. Kannan's Oru Oorla Rendu Raja.[21]

Social activism

Vishakha Singh along with Gopi Shankar Madurai launched multiple complaints on behalf of athlete Santhi Soundarajan in National Commission for Scheduled Castes and National Human Rights Commission of India also initiated Justice For Santhi Campaign which was instrumental in fetching her a permanent job at Tamil Nadu Sports Development Authority.[22][23][24][25][26][27]

Filmography
Year Film Role Language Notes
2007GnaapakamSarangiTelugu
2008PidichirukkuManju MariyadasTamil
Humsey Hai JahaanEsha SinghHindi
2009House FullNeethuKannada
2010AntharathmaMahi Shyam
The Genius of BeautyEnglish
Khelein Hum Jee Jaan SeyPritilata WaddedarHindiNominated, Stardust Award for Breakthrough Performance – Female
2013Kanna Laddu Thinna AasaiyaSowmiyaTamil
Ankur Arora Murder CaseDr. RiyaHindi
FukreyNeetu
Bajatey RahoManpreet
2014Rowdy FellowMeghanaTelugu
Motorcycle DiariesSwathyMalayalam[28]
Oru Oorla Rendu RajaKalpanaTamilGuest appearance
2016Vaaliba RajaShalu
Bayam Oru PayanamAbhinya
2017Fukrey ReturnsNeetu SinghHindi
2020The Maya TapeFilming[29]
2020ThuramTeluguFilming[30]
2021Aranmanai 3SumaTamilPre Production

References
  1. "Film pedigree doesn't ensure BO success: Vishaka - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  2. "Bollywood's Best Actresses, 2010". Rediff.com. 31 December 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  3. "Vishakha on the jury of film festival in Rome". The Times of India.
  4. "At MoliseCinema Vishakha Singh sells Bollywood". molisecenema.it. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  5. "Committee Members - Srishti Madurai". srishtimadurai.org.
  6. "Onaatah - of the Earth". worldfilmpresentation.com. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  7. Tabassum, Ayesha (22 December 2017). "Actress Vishaka Singh turns entrepreneur". indulgeexpress.com. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  8. "Film pedigree doesn't ensure BO success: Vishaka". The Times of India. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  9. "Vishakha Singh returns to Telugu movies". The Times of India. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  10. "Film pedigree doesn't ensure BO success: Vishaka". The Times of India. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  11. "|". Deccan Chronicle. 26 October 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  12. "Vishakha Singh is a complete natural. She catches one's attention instantly.,". Taran Adarsh, Oneindia.com. 2 December 2010.
  13. "Vishakha create a smouldering,". Nikhat Kazmi, Times of India. 2 December 2010.
  14. "Vishakha Singh does very well as Pritilata Waddedar,". Raja Sen Rediff.com. 3 December 2010.
  15. "Vishakha Singh are superb". Sarita Tanwar, Mid Day. 4 December 2010.
  16. "Vishakha Singh has her moments; she has an expressive face and equally expressive eyes". Komal Nahta, koimoi.com. 3 December 2010.
  17. "Vishakha Singh ventured into film production with Peddlers". The Times of India.
  18. sudhish kamath (26 May 2013). "Cup runneth over". The Hindu. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  19. "I am not your typical actress: Vishakha Singh". The Times of India. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  20. "Vishakha is game for a motorcycle ride". The Times of India. 7 October 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  21. Vishakha’s special role in Kannan’s film, The Times of India, 19 April 2014
  22. "Human rights body rejects Santhi Soundarajan's complaint, claims it's too late to accept it". The News Minute. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  23. "Santhi Set To Fight For Justice Jan 03, 2017, 19:43 IST, Times Now". Timesnow.tv. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  24. "Ministry of sports served notice on Santhi Soundarajan's complaint". espn.in. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  25. "Santhi's plea". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 21 December 2014.
  26. "Why We Should Join The Campaign Seeking Justice For Runner Shanthi Soundarajan". huffingtonpost.in. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  27. "Santhi set to rebuild life as official athletic coach - The Hindu". The Hindu. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  28. "I have a karmic connection with Tamil films". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  29. Bollywood (8 August 2013). "'Fukrey' girl Vishaka Singh's next to be a supernatural thriller | CanIndia NEWS". Canindia.com. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  30. "Vishakha Singh to act with Manoj Bajpayee". The Times of India. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
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