Meet actor who was air hostess, became a model and later went on to work in hit film with Shah Rukh Khan

Trigger Warning: This article contains a mention of death.

Several actors initially aim for different careers, but their passion for acting eventually draws them to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. As a result, they pack their bags and head to Mumbai to chase their dreams of becoming successful Bollywood actors.

While some achieve success quickly, others face years of challenges before reaching the top. This article will share the inspiring journey of a female actor who started her career as an air hostess. Later, she did one of the superhit films that featured Shah Rukh Khan. Today’s pick for us is Vidya Malavade. She is popularly known for her character in SRK starring Chak De! India.

Vidya Malavade’s journey from being air hostess to becoming actor

Vidya Malavade was born on 2 March 1973 in Maharashtra. She is the niece of veteran actress Smita Patil. She began her career as an air hostess. After this, she delved into the world of modeling and was chosen by ad filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar for some advertisements.

Vidya Malavade’s Bollywood debut 

She made her acting debut with Vikram Bhatt’s Inteha (2003), however, it tanked at the box office. Malavade got her breakthrough role in Chak De India in the year 2007. She played the role of a goalie and captain of the Indian women’s national hockey team. Shah Rukh Khan played the role of the coach. Vidya also played a key role in the film Kidnap featuring Sanjay Dutt and Imran Khan. 

Have a look at her profile: 

Vidya Balan’s web series 

The actress did several famous web series. The list includes Mismatched, Mismatched 2, Dr. Arora, Inside Edge 2, Flesh, Who’s Your Dady, and others. 

Vidya Malavade’s personal life

A few know that Vidya’s first husband died in a plane crash when the actress was only 27 years old. During her air hostess time, she met Captain Arvind Singh Bagga, a pilot with Alliance Air. They got married in 1997.

In an old interview with Siddharth Kannan, the actress recalled the deadly incident and shared that she was in Germany when she heard about her husband’s death. She went through bad times but managed to control her life by doing yoga and meditation. 

Malavade left her air hostess job and entered the film industry through modeling. She later got married in 2009 to Sanjay Dayma, the director of the film Ramji Londonwaley. 

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