Samanvay. Sandesh is presently working as a director and is married to film and theatre actress Amruta Subhash. Acting career Debut in Marathi and South cinema Kulkarni made her screen debut as the titular character in Girish Karnad's Kannada film Cheluvi. Karnad first saw her when she was still in college and approached her for the project. The film is based on A Flowering Tree: A Woman's Tale, in which she portrays a poor young woman with a hidden magical ability that allows her to shift into a tree that blooms with exotic flowers. When the film was released, it was also dubbed into Hindi. The first Marathi film to star Kulkarni was Mukta (1994), which was directed by Jabbar Patel. It is the narrative of an upper-caste girl and a lower-caste guy who struggle with their caste's contradictions. It is recognised as one of the most significant Marathi films made between 1993 and 1998. The same year, she appeared in the Tamil romantic film May Maadham, which was a commercial failure. Mani Ratnam had recommended her name to the director. She then acted in the NFDC-produced film Doghi (1995), for which she got Maharashtra State Film Award and Filmfare Marathi Award for best actress. In 1996, Kulkarni starred in the first installment of Amol Palekar's trilogy on sexuality, Daayraa. The story revolves around a love relationship between a transvestite dancer and a gang-raped lady who starts dressing up as a male. The film had its world premiere at the 1996 Toronto International Film Festival and was also shown at the London Film Festival, Hamptons International Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, and Vancouver Asian Film Festival. However, due to its controversial topic, it was not screened in Indian theatres. The film received positive reviews and gained her widespread acclaim. At the Festival de Valenciennes, she received the Best Actor Award—Grand Prix du Jury. Her other releases during this time were the English-language film Vrindavan Film Studios by Italian filmmaker Lamberto Lambertini and the award-winning Marathi political drama Gharabaher. She also collaborated with Doordarshan on a Hindi film, Gulabari, which aired in 1995, as well as television shows such as Badalte Rishtey and Kata Rute Kunala in 1996. The latter received RAPA Awards for Best Television Performance of the Year. She was also seen in one episode (Kya Yahi Pyaar Hai - Directed by Tanuja Chaturvedi)