Deepti Naval is an acclaimed actress whose acting potential has enabled many films to reach a new height. She is also a poet and a social worker.
After her schooling in Amritsar in Punjab, Deepti Naval migrated to the United States, where she was educated at the City University of New York and received her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts at Hunter College in Manhattan. She made her debut with the movie Ek Baar Phir in 1979 and has acted on over 60 movies. Notable among those are Chasmebaddoor, Kamala, Mirch Masala, Naram Garam, Ankahi, Main Zinda Hoon, and Panchvati. As she was not getting roles of her choice, she took a long break and returned to films by the turn of the new millennium and acted in Leela, Yatra and Freeky Chakra. As for her acting ability she is as talented as Shabana Azmi or Smita Patil, but she somehow did not get their stature in respect of awards. She was honored at the 2007 Tribute Honoree of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles.
Deepti Naval also wrote and directed a TV serial Thoda sa Aasman. She also produced a travel show The Pathless Traveled. A selection of poems Lamha Lamha was published in 1983 and more recently Black Wind. She is also a painter and photographer. Presently, she runs the Vinod Pandit Education Trust for girl children. She was one time married to director Prakash Jha and was also involved with Vinod Pandit who later died.
