Sobhita Dhulipala (born 31 May 1992) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu films. She won the Femina Miss India Earth 2013 title at Femina Miss India 2013 pageant and represented India at Miss Earth 2013. Dhulipala made her acting debut in Anurag Kashyap's Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016) and subsequently played the lead role in the Amazon Prime Video drama series Made in Heaven (2019–2023).Dhulipala went on to appear in the Telugu films Goodachari (2018) and Major (2022), the Malayalam films Moothon (2019) and Kurup (2021), the Tamil two-part epic Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan: II (2023), and the Hindi series The Night Manager (2023).

Early life and education

Sobhita Dhulipala was born on 31 May 1992, in Tenali, Andhra Pradesh into a Telugu Brahmin family. Her father Venugopal Rao, was a Merchant Navy engineer and her mother Santha Kamakshi was a primary school teacher. She grew up in Visakhapatnam She moved to Mumbai by herself at the age of sixteen and later attended H.R. College of Commerce and Economics in University of Mumbai. She is also a trained classical dancer in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. Dhulipala was crowned the Navy Queen at the annual Navy Ball pin 2010.

Career

Upon passing the auditions, she decided to continue with the rounds. After winning Femina Miss India South 2013 title, a zonal pageant of Femina Miss India, Dhulipala attained an auto-entry into the top 23 of the 50th year of Femina Miss India and became the first runner-up. She was also awarded Miss Stylish Hair, Miss Adventurous and Miss Fashion Icon, Miss Talent, Miss digital Diva. Subsequently, she represented India in Miss Earth 2013 in the Philippines, but could not finish in the top 20, instead landing sub-titles of Miss Photogenic, Miss Beauty for a cause, Miss Talent and Miss Beautiful face. She also featured in Kingfisher Calendar 2014.Dhulipala made her film debut with Anurag Kashyap's ''Raman Raghav 2.0'' in 2016. and also signed a three-film deal with Kashyap's production company Phantom Films in July 2016. The film premiered at the Director's Fortnight at Cannes Film festival 2016, where she was nominated by critics for best supporting performance. In early August 2016, she signed two films, ''Kaalakaandi'' directed by Akshat Verma and ''Chef'' directed by Raja Menon, both starring opposite Saif Ali Khan.In 2018, Dhulipala appeared in her first Telugu film ''Goodachari'' starring Adivi Sesh. She also starred as one of the leads in the Amazon Prime original series Made In Heaven. In 2019, she appeared in a pivotal role in ''Bard of Blood'', an Indian fictional spy thriller Netflix web television series based on the 2015 espionage novel of the same name as an intelligence agency operative. Dhulipala made her debut in Malayalam cinema with the 2019 Geetu Mohandas directorial-feature ''Moothon'' alongside Nivin Pauly. She featured in the Dulquer Salmaan starrer ''Kurup'' (2021).In 2022, Dhulipala had a supporting role in the Hindi-Telugu biographical action film ''Major'', starring Adivi Sesh as Sandeep Unnikrishnan. She also appeared in Mani Ratnam's period film ''Ponniyin Selvan: I''. and its sequel ''Ponniyin Selvan: II'' in 2023.

Pageantry

A college friend of Dhulipala's was interning at the Miss Office and suggested she audition for the upcoming pageant. Describing herself as an "uncool geek" and stating she wished for validation, Dhulipala entered with the intentions of only clearing the first round to prove to her friends she could. in the Philippines, but could not finish in the top 20, instead landing sub-titles of Miss Photogenic, Miss Beauty for a cause, Miss Talent and Miss Beautiful face. She also featured in Kingfisher Calendar 2014.

Pond's Femina Miss India (2013)

After winning Femina Miss India South 2013 title, a zonal pageant of Femina Miss India, Dhulipala attained an auto-entry into the top 23 of the 50th year of Femina Miss India and became the first runner-up. She was also awarded Miss Stylish hair, Miss Adventurous and Miss Fashion icon, Miss talent, Miss digital diva. Subsequently, she represented India in Miss Earth 2013, but could not finish in the top 20. She also featured in Kingfisher Calendar 2014.

Modelling (2013)

Upon passing the auditions, she decided to continue with the rounds. After winning Femina Miss India South 2013 title, a zonal pageant of Femina Miss India, Dhulipala attained an auto-entry into the top 23 of the 50th year of Femina Miss India and became the first runner-up. She was also awarded Miss Stylish Hair, Miss Adventurous and Miss Fashion Icon, Miss Talent, Miss digital Diva. Subsequently, she represented India in Miss Earth 2013 in the Philippines, but could not finish in the top 20, instead landing sub-titles of Miss Photogenic, Miss Beauty for a cause, Miss Talent and Miss Beautiful face. She also featured in Kingfisher Calendar 2014.

Acting career

Dhulipala made her film debut in ''Raman Raghav 2.0'' in 2016. and also signed a three-film deal with Phantom Films in July 2016. For her role in the film, she was nominated by critics for best supporting performance at the Director's Fortnight at Cannes Film festival 2016. In early August 2016, she signed two films, ''Kaalakaandi'' directed by Akshat Verma and ''Chef'' directed by Raja Menon, both starring opposite Saif Ali Khan. In 2018, Dhulipala appeared in her first Telugu film ''Goodachari'' co-starring Adivi Sesh, playing a Psychology graduate. In 2019, Dhulipala's portrayed Tara, a wedding planner in Amazon Prime's original series Made In Heaven, In 2019, Dhulipala's portrayed Tara, a wedding planner in Amazon Prime's original series Made In Heaven, in which the Hindu called her 'layered and empathetic portrayal a standout'. She also appeared in a pivotal role in ''Bard of Blood'', an Indian fictional spy thriller Netflix series, based on the 2015 espionage novel of the same name as an intelligence agency operative. Dhulipala made her debut in Malayalam cinema with Geetu Mohandas directorial-feature ''Moothon'' alongside Nivin Pauly, in the same year. Her final work of the year was the Hindi film ''The Body'' alongside Emraan Hashmi. She played a pregnant woman in the anthology ''Ghost Stories''. She played a pregnant woman in the anthology ''Ghost Stories''. In 2021, Dhulipala appeared in ''Kurup''. In 2022, Dhulipala played a guest stuck in the hotel, in Hindi-Telugu biographical ''Major''. Dhulipala appeared in Mani Ratnam's period film ''Ponniyin Selvan: I'' and its sequel ''Ponniyin Selvan: II'', as Vaanathi. Dhulipala appeared in Mani Ratnam's period film ''Ponniyin Selvan: I'' and its sequel ''Ponniyin Selvan: II'', as Vaanathi. She then appeared alongside Anil Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur in two seasons of ''The Night Manager''. For the series, she won ITA Award for Best Actress - Popular (OTT). Dhulipala then reprised Tara in the second season of ''Made In Heaven''.Dhulipala is set to make her Hollywood debut with a role in the upcoming action thriller ''Monkey Man'', written and directed by Dev Patel. It will be distributed by Universal Pictures and will release worldwide on 5 April 2024.

Acting career (2016–present)

Dhulipala made her film debut with Anurag Kashyap's ''Raman Raghav 2.0'' in 2016. and also signed a three-film deal with Kashyap's production company Phantom Films in July 2016. The film premiered at the Director's Fortnight at Cannes Film festival 2016, where she was nominated by critics for best supporting performance. In early August 2016, she signed two films, ''Kaalakaandi'' directed by Akshat Verma and ''Chef'' directed by Raja Menon, both starring opposite Saif Ali Khan.In 2018, Dhulipala appeared in her first Telugu film ''Goodachari'' starring Adivi Sesh. She also starred as one of the leads in the Amazon Prime original series Made In Heaven. In 2019, she appeared in a pivotal role in ''Bard of Blood'', an Indian fictional spy thriller Netflix web television series based on the 2015 espionage novel of the same name as an intelligence agency operative. Dhulipala made her debut in Malayalam cinema with the 2019 Geetu Mohandas directorial-feature ''Moothon'' alongside Nivin Pauly. She featured in the Dulquer Salmaan starrer ''Kurup'' (2021).In 2022, Dhulipala had a supporting role in the Hindi-Telugu biographical action film ''Major'', starring Adivi Sesh as Sandeep Unnikrishnan. She also appeared in Mani Ratnam's period film ''Ponniyin Selvan: I''. and its sequel ''Ponniyin Selvan: II'' in 2023.