Amrita Rao (born 7 June 1981), is an Indian actress who is known primarily for her work in Hindi films. Rao made her acting debut in Ab Ke Baras (2002), which earned her a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut in 2003. She subsequently appeared in several successful films including the romantic dramas Ishq Vishk (2003), Main Hoon Na (2004), Vivah (2006) and comedy thriller Masti (2004) eventually being "Bollywood's quintessential girl-next-door". She is the recipient of IIFA Award and two Stardust Awards. She made her debut in the Telugu film industry with the film Athidhi (2007). In 2008, she appeared in the successful film Welcome to Sajjanpur, which won her Stardust Award for Best Actress. Post this, most of her films turned out to be commercial failures. She then appeared in the National Award winning film Jolly LLB (2013). Following this, she appeared in films including Singh Saab the Great (2013), Satyagraha (2013) and Thackeray (2019). Rao appeared as the Judge on the reality show, Perfect Bride in 2009. She made her TV debut with the show Meri Awaaz Hi Pehchaan Hai in 2016. M. F. Husain pronounced Amrita Rao as his 2nd muse and made several paintings dedicated to the actress's role in Vivah. Early life Rao has never publicised her birthday details. Rao studied at Canossa Girls School, Andheri (Bombay) then to Sophia College (Mumbai) to pursue a graduate degree in Psychology but dropped out to pursue a modeling career. She comes from a Konkani-speaking family. She has a younger sister Preetika Rao, who is also an actress. Career Debut, breakthrough and success (2002–2006) Before starting her career as an actor, Rao along with her sister Preetika appeared in several commercials during her college days. Her first public appearance was in the music video for Alisha Chinai's song Woh Pyar Mera. In 2002, Rao played her first leading role as Anjali Thapar in Raj Kanwar's fantasy thriller Ab Ke Baras alongside debutante Aarya Babbar. The film, which depicts the story of U.S based girl (played by Rao) having recurrent dreams of a parallel life in India, proved to be financially unsuccessful. Rao next starred alongside Ajay Devgn in the biographical period film The Legend of Bhagat Singh. In the film, which narrates the story of Indian independence Freedom Fighter Bhagat Singh, she played the role of Mannewali (Bhagat's fiancé). The film did not perform well