10 Things About National Award Winner Surekha Sikri

Surekha Sikri birthday: Veteran theatre and film actor Surekha Sikri, who in recent times received much love for playing the role of Dadi Sa in the television serial Balika Vadhu, is celebrating her 76th birthday today.

Sikri's work was well-liked in Netflix's Ghost Stories where she played the role of Mrs Malik, an old woman with paralysis who has been abandoned by her son, alongside Jhanvi Kapoor. Her portrayal of the grandmother/mother-in-law in Neena Gupta and Ayushmann Khurrana's film Badhaai Ho, got her the National award.

Here are some lesser-known facts about the veteran actor:

1. Sikri initially wanted to become a writer. The three-time National Award-winning actor believes cinema reflects society and that is one of the primary reasons why female actors of a certain age are not given notable roles.

2. Sikri doesn't like playing "stereotypical parts".

3. Sikri, who was born in 1945 in New Delhi, was very good at studies. She grew up aspiring to become a journalist or writer. But the career choices eventually took her to a different direction.

4. She and veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah are related to each other. As per reports, before marrying Ratna Pathak Shah the actor was briefly married to a Manara Sikri who is also known as Parveen Murad. Manara is the step-sister of Sikri.

5. She had won National Award for her supporting role in Badhaai Ho and had also earlier won a National Award for Tamas and Mammo.

6. The Balika Vadhu actor had suffered a brain stroke on 8 September last year and was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital in Mumbai.

7. She made her debut in the 1978 political drama film Kissa Kursi Ka and played supporting roles in numerous Hindi and Malayalam films as well as in Indian soap operas.

8. The critically acclaimed actor is a graduate of the National School Of Drama and worked with their Repertory Company for over a decade. She then moved to Mumbai thereafter to start her career in the film and television industry.

9. She starred in Godan, Saat Phere Just Mohabbat and Banegi Apni Baat.

10. She received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1989 for her immense contribution towards the Hindi theatre and the ASSOCHAM Ladies League's Mumbai Women of the Decade Achievers Award in 2014.

Feature Image Credit: Junglee Pictures/YouTube