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Early life and education

She was born on 18 December 1986 in Amritsar, Punjab. Her father owns a management firm and her mother, Dr. Kusum Lata Chadda, is a professor of political science at PGDAV College of Delhi University, who has authored two books and also works with Gandhi Smriti.Chadda was brought up in Delhi, India. After completing her schooling from Sardar Patel Vidyalaya in 2002, she completed her undergraduate degree from St. Stephen's College, Delhi.

Career

This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. (May 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information. Please remove or replace such wording and instead of making proclamations about a subject's importance, use facts and attribution to demonstrate that importance. (May 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)Chadda began her career as a model and then she moved to theater. She has performed plays touring in India and Pakistan. Later, she also received her training under Barry John.

Initial struggles (2008–2011)

Chadda made her acting debut in a supporting role as Dolly in Dibakar Banerjee-directed 2008 film Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!. Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN described her as a "revelation " in the film. She appeared in the 2010 comedy film Benny and Babloo as Fedora. Taran Adarsh reviewing for Bollywood Hungama stated that Chadda "stand out with confident portrayal" and Komal Nahta from Koimoi stated that she lend "fine support" in the film. In the meanwhile, a Kannada movie in which she had acted, titled Nirdoshi was released in 2010 after a delay of almost 3 years.

Breakthrough (2012)

In 2012, she played a pivotal role in Anurag Kashyap's crime drama Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 1. The plot (spanning 50 years) tells a story of power struggles, politics and vengeance among three crime families. She stated in an interview that this role as 'Nagma Khatoon' helped her get 11 film roles. The film premiered at the 65th Cannes Film Festival and she was universally praised for her performance. Taran Adrash found Chadda "simply brilliant from the very inception". Mansha Rastogi of Now Running said "Chadda brings a perfect blend of the strength and helplessness of a woman in the yesteryears". She reprised her role as Nagma Khatoon in the sequel Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2. The film premiered in the Cannes Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival with its prequel. According to Madhureeta Mukherjee of The Times of India "Chadda holds fort in the sequel too, strong and poised, she's fab", and Taran Adarsh stated she "fetches dignity to her character". Chadda received a Filmfare Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category and won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.

Recognition (2013–2015)

Chadda's first release of 2013 came in the Mrighdeep Singh Lamba-directed coming of age comedy film Fukrey, in which she portrayed a tough-talking female don Bholi Punjaban. Taran Adarsh wrote "Richa Chadda is in terrific form and from her introduction itself, the graph of the film steers Northwards". She then appeared in one of the segments in the Anurag Kashyap-produced anthology film Shorts titled "Epilogue". Chadha and Shirvastav play a dysfunctional couple who seem extremely unhappy with each other. The segment featuring Chadda, received mixed reviews from critics.Chadda next appeared in a supporting role as Rasila in Sanjay Leela Bhansali-directed drama film Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, an adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Meena Iyer of The Times of India said "You have to applaud Richa Chadda ... for being the talent [she is]". Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com wrote "Richa Chadda doesn’t have a big role but she owns the scenes she walks in with her inbuilt fire". She received a nomination in IIFA Best Supporting Actress category for the role.
Chadda next appeared in Navneet Behal-directed 2014 film Tamanchey in the role of Babu, a criminal. Chadda's role received mixed reviews, being compared to her earlier works. Saibal Chatterjee reviewing for NDTV criticized: "Chadda, coming off a string of well-received screen performances, is completely off-colour here. There is far less meat in the role than she imagines", though Mohar Basu from Koimoi found Chadda "feisty and brilliant in the film". Chadda has worked with director Mira Nair in a Mexican-American anthology film Words with Gods which is directed by nine different directors. Chadda plays the role of Meghna in the segment titled "God Room". It was screened out of competition at the 71st Venice International Film Festival.Masaan was appreciated at 2015 Cannes Film Festival and won two prestigious awards.
NDTV's Saibal Chatterjee gave Masaan(2015) 4.5 stars, saying "Richa Chadha inhabits not just the body of Devi Pathak, but her entire soul. The result is as powerful a screen heroine as any we have seen in years." Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN, said- "Masaan is a deeply affecting film that is brought to life by its remarkable cast, particularly Sanjay Mishra, Richa Chadha, and terrific new-find Vicky Kaushal."Richa Chadda talks about ‘HER’ kind of cinema after Masaan release- "People ask me what kind of cinema I ‘represent’, don't know the answer to that. All I know is that I want to be a part of change in Indian cinema. Just a tiny dent."After a massive appreciation for Masaan, her next movie was a biopic of Charles Sobhraj, Main Aur Charles. She played the role of Charles’ girlfriend. Being a law student, she defended Charles in legal proceedings as she tries to convince police how misunderstood the criminal Sobhraj really is. Her blind love and faith is well captured in her adamant expressions and lines. "He (Charles) can escape but no one can escape him," she says.

Critical and commercial success (2016–present)

In January 2016, Chadda appeared as a journalist in social-drama Chalk n Duster. Gayatri Gauri of Firstpost remarked ''Richa Chadda, in a supporting role as a news anchor, looks equally uncomfortable. In an effort to add aunthenticity, she is given a Gujarati dialogue, which only adds to the actor’s apparent discomfort.''She later appeared in Sarbjit, a biographical-drama film based upon the life of Sarabjit Singh. She portrayed the role of Sukhpreet, and share screen alongside Aishwarya Rai and Randeep Hooda. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but was a moderate commercial success. Surabhi Redkar from Koimoi.com praised Chadda's performance and said ''Richa Chadha as Sukhpreet, the wife does a fabulous job. She hardly speaks but emotes extremely powerfully with her eyes. As a wife longing for her husband’s return, she is spot on.''In 2017, Richa acted in an Indian web-series Inside Edge, playing the lead character of a struggling actress. The series was positively received by both critics and audience. In the same year, Jia Aur Jia was released. The film received unfavorable reviews from critics and did not perform well at box office too.After that, she reprised her role as Bholi Punjaban in Fukrey Returns, a much-awaited sequel to 2013 film Fukrey. Just like its prequel, the film received mostly positive reviews from critics and became a huge commercial success, grossing more than 70 crore in just 12 days. The film has become the highest-grossing film of Chadda. Umesh Punwani of Koimoi.com describes Richa's performance as ''Richa Chadha retains the swag and is as badass as she was in the first one. Her unconventional chemistry with Varun Sharma shines brighter in this one taking forward the dreamy pair of Choocha-Bholi.''

Richa Chadda worked in Sudhir Mishra's version of the Devdas saga, entitled Aur Devdas as Paro. Her much delayed film with Pooja Bhatt, Cabaret, released on 9 January 2019. Chadda also worked for David Womark's Indo-American production Love Sonia. The film had its world premiere at the London Indian Film Festival on 21 June 2018. The film was released in India on 14 September 2018.Her two films, Section 375 a courtroom drama produced by Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak and directed by Ajay Bahl, co-starring Akshaye Khanna is releasing on 13 September 2019. And her second film Panga directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari with Kangana Ranaut as main lead, is due for release on 24 January 2020. And her Upcoming web-film Lahore Confidential ZEE5 Spying thriller film includes a cross-border love story for RAW Agent Ananya, played by Richa,Chadda released on 11 December 2020.Richa Chadha-starrer Shakeela released in theatres on 25 December 2020. Written and directed by Indrajit Lankesh. Also stars Pankaj Tripathi as the male lead.
Her upcoming film includes Anubhav Sinha’s Abhi Toh Party Shuru Hui Hai.

Production Company (2021)

In 2021 She turned producer. She started her own film production company named Pushing Buttons Studios with Ali Fazal.

Personal life

In 2006, Chadha directed and wrote 20-minute documentary film called "Rooted in Hope."
In 2008, she participated in the "Gladrags Megamodel Contest."
In May 2016, Chadda revealed in an interview to NDTV that she had suffered from bulimia (an eating disorder) for several years, and that she had recovered after seeking professional help from a clinical psychiatrist. Attributing her eating disorder to patriarchy, misogyny and the prevalence of the 'male gaze' in the field of entertainment, she exhorted other women to go public with their own (patriarchy-induced) eating and mental disorders and called for the destruction of 'ways of thinking' which oppressed women.She has been in a relationship with Ali Fazal. She currently resides in Mumbai.Richa Chadda considers B. R. Ambedkar as her icon.

Modeling and endorsements

In 2014, she posed as a mermaid for a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ad campaign, encouraging people to avoid eating fish and to go vegetarian. The same year, she walked the ramps of Lakme Fashion Week and performed in a play called Trivial Disasters.
Although she appeared in PETA ads supporting vegetarianism, she opposed the beef ban in Indian state of Maharashtra.In 2015, Richa Chadda represented India at the 18th Marrakech International Film Festival. The festival representatives invited her as a Jury member alongside Hollywood film-maker and screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola, the president of the Marrakech Film Festival.
She had also done advertisements for Minute Maid, Tata Sky, Archies Gallery, Virgin Mobile and Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate.