Mumtaj
Introduction '''Mumtaj''' is an Indian Imam and former actress known of her works in Tamil cinema. She entered the film industry through the Tamil film ''Monisha En Monalisa'' (1999) by T. Rajender and subsequently garnered popularity appearing in glamorous roles in films including ''Kushi'' (2000), ''Looty'' (2001) and ''Chocolate'' (2001). In 2018 after her appearance in  ''Bigg Boss Tamil 2'' (marked her last media appearance), she announced her retirement from the film industry for good after spending 19 years in the industry and has no interest in making a comeback to the industry.Mumtaj was known as a popular actress in the Indian film industry in the 2000s for appearing in several films such as ''Monisha En Monalisa'' (1999), ''Kushi'' (2000), ''Chocolate'' (2001), ''Gemini'' (2002), ''Three Roses'' (2003), ''Chellame'' (2004), ''London'' (2005), ''Jerry'' (2006), ''Veerasamy'' (2007) and ''Rajadhi Raja'' (2009) were all seen as blockbuster films for Mumtaj.
Early life Mumtaj completed her schooling at Mount. Mary's Convent School, Bandra  in Mumbai. As a teenage ardent film fan, she revealed that her room was full of posters featuring Sridevi, and when the school bus used to cross Filmistan Studios, she used to crane her neck out to catch a glimpse of the artistes.
Film career Mumtaz's acting career began after she was spotted by film producer Sudhakar Bokade in a dance programme at Mount Mary School in Mumbai, when he subsequently offered to do a film with her, after he completed an ongoing project with Dilip Kumar titled ''Kalinga'' during 1996.As ''Kalinga'' faced delays, Bokade could not eventually start the film with Mumtaz, even though she had begun acting classes. During her stint at the acting course, she was recruited by veteran filmmaker Chetan Anand to work on his film produced by Bharat Shah, with Shah Rukh Khan in the lead role. For one and a half years, Mumtaz waited for the shoot to begin, before the project was shelved following Anand's death. Later in 1997, Tamil director T. Rajender signed Mumtaz to play the lead role of a pop singer in his romantic drama film, ''Monisha En Monalisa'' (1999). The film took two years to make owing to production troubles and Rajender's political activity, before opening to negative reviews from critics in April 1999.Mumtaz then made a supporting role in S. J. Surya's ''Kushi'' (2000), where she portrayed a glamorous college student alongside Vijay and Jyothika. Her performance in the song "Kattipudi Kattipudida" won her appreciation and further film offers, and as a result, Mumtaz was able to increase her appearance fee substantially. In her following projects, rather than her acting skills, her performances in song sequences won her appreciation and she regularly accepted to feature in item numbers. In the early 2000s, some of the more notable music videos shot on her included "Macha Machiniye" from ''Star'' (2001), "Malai Malai" from ''Chocolate'' (2001),"Missi Missi Papa" from Looty and "Subbamma Subbamma" from ''Roja Kootam'' (2002).Despite the success of her song appearances, Mumtaz was keen to prolong her career in the film industry by selecting performance-oriented roles and subsequently announced her intentions of reducing one-song appearances. In 2003, she turned producer and financed the film ''Thathi Thavadhu Manasu'', featuring her alongside rookie actresses Sona, Urvasi Patel and Sindhuri in the leading roles. The film was based around two real life incidents — the murder of a lawyer in bright daylight and the accident in which 40 individuals were killed. The film however performed poorly at the box office, with a critic writing "the movie's approach struggles between two completely opposite directions — a cheap, exploitative film and a tearjerker" and that "the producer seems to have banked on the film's glamour to bring in the viewers since that is what the title and the movie's promos focus on" and that "this is unfortunate because the main story has actually been taken quite well".In the mid-2000s, she announced plans of a comeback in acting roles, and notably appeared in ''Jerry'' (2006) and T. Rajender's long-delayed ''Veerasamy''. However, several of her other films during the period became stuck and eventually did not release, including projects such as Raviraja's ''Very Good'', S. A. Chandrasekhar's ''Nenjankootill Neeye Nikkirai'', Igore's ''Thik Thik Thik'' and the multi-starrer ''Vedakozhi''. She has since seldom been seen in films, making a brief foray to play the antagonist in ''Rajadhi Raja'' (2009), before appearing in the Telugu films, ''Atharintiki Daaredi'' (2013) and ''Aagadu'' (2014) in glamorous supporting roles.
Other work Mumtaj was a judge in the first season of the reality dance competition ''Boys Vs Girls'', which aired on Star Vijay, and season 6 of ''Maanada Mayilada'', which aired on Kalaignar TV. She later took part as one of the contestants in the Tamil reality show, ''Bigg Boss Tamil 2'' hosted by Kamal Haasan. Marking her final appearance in the industry before her retirement.
Filmography  Year  Film  Role  Language  Notes1999  ''Monisha En Monalisa''  Monisha  Tamil Debut film ''Malabar Police''  Julie  Tamil  ''Chala Bagundi''   Herself   Telugu  Special appearance in the song "Entha Bagundhi Brotheru" ''Jananaayakan''  Nancy Parera  Malayalam  ''Unakkaga Ellam Unakkaga''   Tamil  Special appearance in the song "Duniya Hey Duniya"2000  ''Kushi''  Anitha  Tamil  ''Budget Padmanabhan''  Omana  Tamil  ''Ammo! Okato Tareekhu''  Ganga  Telugu2001  ''Boond''  Neelam  Hindi  ''Kushi''  Anitha  Telugu  ''Looty''  Gayathri  Tamil  ''Sonnal Thaan Kaadhala''  Chitra  Tamil  ''Star''  Herself   Tamil  Special appearance in the song "Machiniye" ''Vedham''  Pooja  Tamil  ''Chocolate''  Nirmala / Bhama  Tamil  Dual roles ''Mitta Miraasu''  Vijaya  Tamil  ''Yeh Teraa Ghar Yeh Meraa Ghar''  Anupam Verma  Hindi  ''Azhagana Naatkal''  Rekha  Tamil 2002  ''Vivaramana Aalu''  Puppy  Tamil  ''Roja Kootam''  Herself  Tamil  Special appearance in the song "Subbammaa" ''Ezhumalai''  Sandhya  Tamil  ''Gemini''  Kamini  Telugu  ''Coolie''  Rani  Telugu  ''Kondaveeti Simhasanam''  Susmitha  Telugu  ''Thandavam''  Kaavya Menon  Malayalam 2003  ''Three Roses''  Roma  Tamil  ''Thathi Thavadhu Manasu''  Aarthi  Tamil  Also producer2004  ''Maha Nadigan''  Nandini  Tamil  ''Kuththu''   Herself  Tamil  Special appearance in the song "Otha Viral Kattuna" ''Kanti''  Herself   Kannada   Special appearance in the song "Ussaaru Ussaaru"  ''Aai''  Herself   Tamil  Special appearance in the song "Mailapur Mayila" ''Chellame''  Herself  Tamil  guest appearance2005  ''Devathayai Kanden''  Herself  Tamil  Special appearance in the song "Thunda Kanom Thuniya Kanom" ''London''  Aishwarya  Tamil   ''Pelli Kaani Pellam Avuthundi''   Herself  Telugu   2006  ''Jerry''  Janani  Tamil  2007  ''Veerasamy''  Sarasu  Tamil  2009  ''Rajadhi Raja''  Shyla  Tamil 2013  ''Atharintiki Daaredi''  Mumtaj  Telugu  Special appearance in the song "It's Time To Party"2014  ''Aagadu''  Sukanya / Belly Lilly  Telugu 2015  ''Tommy''  Herself  Telugu
Television  Year  Series/Shows  Role  Channel  Notes 2009  ''Boys Vs. Girls''  Judge  Star Vijay   2011  ''Maanada Mayilada''  Judge  Kalaignar TV  Season 06  2018  ''Bigg Boss Tamil 2''  Contestant  Star Vijay  Evicted on Day 91
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