Mandana Karimi (born Manizeh Karimi; 19 May 1988) is an Iranian actress and model based in India. After working on several successful modelling projects around the world, she appeared as a lead in the Bollywood film, Bhaag Johnny. She participated in the popular reality TV show, Bigg Boss 9 and became the 2nd runner up in 2015.

Early life

Karimi was born on 19 May 1988 in Tehran, Iran, into a Muslim family. Her father has Iranian and Indian ancestry and her mother is a Persian. She was raised in Tehran. About her Indian connection she commented, "I had come to India many times, visiting my family or for holidays."

Career

Karimi started her career as an air hostess, and later quit that job to pursue a career in modelling. In 2010, after working on various international modelling projects, she came to Mumbai for three months on a modelling contract. About her experience in India she said, "I had a different experience, staying without my family. I absolutely loved it! Work was great, but at that time, I had other contracts around the world. Then, in 2013, I decided to move to Mumbai and try acting."Karimi has done TV commercials with Shahrukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor.In February 2015, she made a guest appearance in the film ''Roy''. Later that year, in September, her movie ''Bhaag Johnny'' was released. She also appeared in the October 2015 film, ''Main Aur Charles'', where she played the role of Charles Sobraj's assistant. Karimi's next film, ''Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3'', a sex comedy, was released on 22 January 2016.Karimi was a contestant in the reality TV show, ''Bigg Boss 9'', where a group of celebrities from various walks of life live together in a large house. One of the contestants is eliminated every week, based on public votes. The show went on air in October 2015 on Colors. She was one of the three finalists of the season and ended up as a runner-up.In 2018, she joined Star Plus's ''Ishqbaaaz'' as Nancy.In October 2018, Karimi accused Umesh Ghadge the director of ''Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3'' of sexual harassment. She had also accused director Sajid Khan of sexual harassment at the time and expressed her intention to quit Bollywood after Khan appeared as contestant on ''Bigg Boss 16'' in 2022.Mandana participated in an Indian TV reality show called ''Lock-Upp''.

Personal life

In an interview, Karimi said, "The first film that I watched was Sholay when I was 8 or 9 years old. My father was one of the few people in Iran who possessed a tape of the film, though the Government didn't allow to keep video cassettes.''" She further commented, "''Mainly, I've grown up watching Iranian films, especially by directors like Majid Majidi and my favourite actress is Golshifteh Farahani."Karimi speaks Persian, English, and Hindi.In July 2016, Karimi got engaged to her boyfriend, Gaurav Gupta, an Indian businessman from Mumbai. The couple married in court in early March the following year, which was followed by a lavish Hindu wedding in March 2017.In July 2017, Karimi filed a domestic violence case against her husband and his family, which she later withdrew in hopes of saving her marriage. They got divorced in 2021.