Mamta Mukhund Kulkarni (born 20 April 1972) in Mumbai, is a former Bollywood Actress. She currently lives in New York City. Mamta Kulkarni gained fame after posing topless (but with her arms crossed over her breasts) for a photograph that appeared on the cover of Stardust, a popular Indian film magazine in September, 1993. She was charged under India's obscenity laws, and found herself under attack from both conservative religious groups, and women's groups. The outspoken actress lashed out at protesters, calling them hypocrites. Kulkarni was finally convicted in July 2000, and fined Rs 15,000. However, this caused yet another controversy because she appeared in court in a burqa to evade photographers, which led to death threats and protests from the local Islamic community.
Mamta Kulkarni made her Bollywood film debut in the 1992 movie "Tiranga". In 1993 she starred opposite Saif Ali Khan in "Aashiq Awara" which won her a Filmfare Lux New Face Award. She went on to appear in more films such as "Karan Arjun" (1995), "Sabse Bada Khiladi" (1995) and "Baazi" (1995), which did well at the box office. However most of her roles involved only a little more than being a love interest to the leading man of the films or glamorous song-and-dance sequences, in keeping with her status as a sex symbol.
Mamta Kulkarni had expressed regret at being typecast as an item girl. Her luck seemed to have changed when Rajkumar Santoshi, in whose earlier movie "Ghatak" she had a cameo appearance, cast her as the female lead in his 1998 movie "China Gate", an ambitious remake of 'The Magnificent Seven'. In a deglamourized role and sharing screen space with some of Hindi cinemas finest actors, she had the perfect opportunity to showcase her acting talent.
However, things did not go as planned. Relations between Santoshi and the actress soured, and rumors began circulating that Mamta Kulkarni was dropped from the movie, and reinstated only after gangster Chhota Rajan intervened on her behalf.
When the movie was finally released, it was also a huge flop. Furthermore, the only song in the movie, the item number Chamma Chamma, was picturised on Urmila Matondkar, even though Kulkarni had built her reputation with such numbers. To add insult to injury, the song turned out to be a chartbuster, and was even used in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge!, and greatly increased Urmila's popularity.
Angered at the turn of events, Kulkarni lashed out at Santoshi, accusing him of cutting her screen time because she had refused his advances. Santoshi denied all rumours related to the movie, and the matter was given a quiet burial. However, this proved to be the death blow to Kulkarni's career. She only appeared in a handful of movies after that, and new offers dried up. She quit movies after her last appearance in the 2002 film Kabhie Tum Kabhie Hum. Then she moved to New York City after she married an NRI. Mamta also did movies in Tamil,Telugu,Bengali and Malayalam.
Name : Mamta Kulkarni
Nick Name : Rani
Date of Birth : 20 April, 1972
Height : 5'5"
Birth Place : Mumbai, Maharashtra
Education : Graduate of Delhi University
Languages : Hindi, English
Profession : Actress, Model
Debut Film : Tiranga (Hindi)
