Fatima Sana Shaikh (born 11 January 1992) is an Indian actress, who works in Hindi films. Shaikh appeared as a child artist in such films as Chachi 420 (1997) and One 2 Ka 4 (2001). In 2016, she portrayed wrestler Geeta Phogat in the top-grossing sports film Dangal. She has since starred in the streaming projects Ludo (2020), Ajeeb Daastaans (2021) and Modern Love Mumbai (2022), and portrayed Indira Gandhi in the biographical drama Sam Bahadur (2023).

Early and personal life

Fatima Sana Shaikh was born on 11 January 1992 born and brought up in Mumbai. Her mother, Raj Tabassum, is from Srinagar, and her father, Vipin Sharma, is from Jammu. While her father was raised as Hindu and her mother a Muslim, Shaikh identifies as an atheist. She had received experience in photography prior to becoming an actress.

Career

Shaikh began her career as a child artist in ''Chachi 420'' and ''One 2 Ka 4''. Years later, she played Zoya in the Indian drama film ''Tahaan'', which received "The German Star of India award" at "Bollywood and Beyond" festival at Stuttgart, Germany in 2009. She also worked in Kartik Aryan and Nusrat Bharucha starred AkashVani.Shaikh was selected for Nitesh Tiwari's biographical sports film ''Dangal'' along with Sanya Malhotra, who had never acted before. Shaikh was chosen to portray Geeta Phogat. She also worked in Kartik Aryan and Nusrat Bharucha starred AkashVani.Shaikh was selected for Nitesh Tiwari's biographical sports film ''Dangal'' along with Sanya Malhotra, who had never acted before. Shaikh was chosen to portray Geeta Phogat. To prepare for her role, she watched several videos on wrestling to understand "how wrestlers move, walk, their body language". Both Malhotra and Shaikh went through five rounds of auditions, physical training and workshops with Tiwari and Aamir Khan. They were trained by coach and former wrestler Kripa Shankar Patel Bishnoi. Released in 2016, ''Dangal'' received critical acclaim and became the highest-grossing Indian film ever with earnings of more than worldwide.She played Zafira Baig, a warrior-archer Thug in the epic action-adventure film, ''Thugs of Hindostan''. Shaikh will be featuring in a Hindi remake of Tamil movie ''Aruvi''. The Hindi version is being produced by Applause Entertainment. Shaikh will be seen as Indira Gandhi, along with Vicky Kaushal and Sanya Malhotra in ''Sam Bahadur'' (2023) based on the biography of Sam Manekshaw directed by Meghna Gulzar.