Namrata shirodkar (born 22 January 1972 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India) is an Indian actress. Her sister is the actress Shilpa Shirodkar. She is the grand-daughter of famous Marathi actress Meenakshi Shirodkar, who starred in Brahmachari (1930s), and was the first actress to wear a swimsuit and gambol in a pool, albeit to depict Lord Krishna bathing in the Holy river Yamuna with his gopis.
Born in a moderate Marathi-speaking family, Namrata Shirodkar is an Aquarian, born on January 22, 1972, and one of the most beautiful Bollywood actresses, who used to live in Khar, an elite suburb in Mumbai. In addition she is a model, and has been crowned Miss India in 1993. Namrata finished amongst the top six at Miss Universe in 1993. She was also chosen as the 1st runner up for Miss Asia Pacific during 1993.
Namrata worked as a model, and was 1993's Miss India. She went on to represent India in the Miss Universe pageant and came in sixth place. She also represented the country in the Miss Asia Pacific contest, she won first runner-up.
She made her debut with a small role in Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai (1998), along with Salman Khan and Twinkle Khanna. She then went on to star in the hit Vaastav. Her performance was appreciated and she became a known name in Bollywood.
She has played mainly supporting roles in films. Films like Pukar, Hera Pheri and Astitva went on to do well. Since then her films have not done well at the box office. She was nominated for the IIFA Best Supporting Actress Award for her performance in Pukar.
In 2004 she went back into the spotlight when she played the role of Jaya Bakshi in Bride and Prejudice. She played Aishwarya Rai's elder sister in the film. The film was a hit overseas particularly in the UK but failed to do well in India. She has since left the industry after her marriage.
She began dating Tollywood actor, Mahesh Babu who is 2 years younger than her in 2000 after the filming of Vamsee. They married on February 10, 2005. Shirodkar now lives in Hyderabad with her husband. Their first child, a boy named Gautam Krishna Gattamaneni was born on August 31, 2006.
She was featured on VH1's The Greatest: 40 Dumbest Celebrity Quotes Ever for her answer at the 1993 Miss World contest to a question asked by Jackie Chan - "I would not want to live forever because I don't believe that one can live forever. And so, I don't think I would want to live forever."
