Suchitra Pillai is a popular name in the entertainment circuit. The actress, who is known for her supporting roles, has some tremendous works to her credit. The iconic film, Dil Chahta Hai made Suchitra a star. She played Saif Ali Khan’s possessive girlfriend in the film, and her camaraderie with him is still loved by many.
Suchitra has played various roles in film, television, and OTT, and her choices of roles have always stood apart. Suchitra Pillai was recently seen in the much-anticipated season 2 of the web series, The Broken News. Suchitra’s character brings depth and authenticity to the series, and her fans love her hardcore chick persona.
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Though Suchitra Pillai has been a part of the entertainment and glamour world, very little is known about her personal life. Let us learn about Suchitra’s journey from an Electronics Engineer to an actress and various other aspects of her life.
Suchitra Pillai was born in Ernakulam, Kerala, to a Malayalam-speaking family. Before starting her career in the entertainment world, Suchitra graduated in Electronics Engineering. After being involved in Children’s theatre, Suchitra got a role in a French film, Le prix d’une femme. Suchitra was also offered a role in the English film Guru in Seven.
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Farhan Akhtar’s film, Dil Chahta Hai is one of the iconic films of the 2000s, and each character is close to people’s hearts. Apart from the lead actors, it is Suchitra’s character, 'Priya', with whom people still connect.
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Suchitra played the role of Saif Ali Khan’s dominating girlfriend, Priya. Do you know that the actress got the role without any audition? In an interview with Koimoi, Suchitra talked about the same and shared:
“The role being offered to me is another story altogether, Farhan is a friend and when he had written DCH, he called me up and said, ‘Suchi, tu ek role kar rahi’, (you’re doing a role) and I was like, ‘huh’. He said, ‘no, there’s a role for you’. And I said, ‘wow, audition’ and he said, ‘no audition, I have decided that you are doing it’, which is like such a wonderful thing for any actor. Even a small role, written and directed by Farhan Akhtar can really keep you in people’s minds, 20 years down the road.”
Suchitra Pillai began her acting journey in 1993 with a French film, but the actress made her Bollywood debut in 2001 with the film, Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai. She later starred in films like Satta, Page 3, Pyaar Ke Side Effects, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, Fashion, Fitoor and many more.
Sustaining in the glamour world is not everyone’s piece of cake especially with the harrowing tales of casting couch. Despite being a veteran actress, Suchitra too faced the same when she was offered a South Indian film, opposite a big hero. In a conversation with Siddharth Kannan, Suchitra recalled the same and shared:
“One call came years ago. He said, ‘You want to do South films?’ I said, ‘I have already done a couple but yes.’ He said, ‘There is one very good film, starring a very big good actor and the director is also very big.’ He told me that I had to play actor’s sister and that it’s a big role. I was like, ‘That’s great.’ He then said that a first time producer is bankrolling the project. I thought he is asking discount on my fees but he said, ‘It’s a first time producer so little compromise is needed.’ I said, ‘Sorry.’”
Apart from acting, Suchitra is also famous for dubbing, as she has dubbed for many Hollywood actresses. It was in 2007 that Suchitra first dubbed the Hindi version of the American film, Live Free or Die Hard. She dubbed Maggie Q’s role, 'Mah Linh', and since then, she has dubbed for Angelina Jolie in Beowulf, Maggi Gyllenhaal in The Dark Knight, and a few others.
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Talking about Suchitra Pillai’s personal life, the actress first got married to Pawan Malik from 1991 to 1998 but the duo parted ways due to reasons best known to them. She later started dating a Denmark-based environmental engineer, Lars Kjeldsen, whom she met at a friend’s house party. After the first meeting, Suchitra and Lars met again for a New Year’s Eve in Sri Lanka and started dating.
In 2005, Suchita and Lars got married in Denmark and embraced parenthood with the arrival of their daughter, Annika in 2008. However, Suchitra’s husband, Lars Kjeldsen, was in a relationship with actress, Preity Zinta before dating Suchitra. Thus, when Lars broke up with Preity, Suchitra was accused of stealing Preity’s boyfriend by many industry insiders. Clarifying the same in an interview with Siddharth Kannan, Suchitra said:
“No, that’s another story from somebody else. Preity and I were never friends, we were acquaintances because we had a common friend. But, yes, Lars Kjeldsen did date Preity Zinta for some time but that was the breakup he had before he met me and only this part is true. I didn’t come between them, they split up for a totally different reason.”
Suchitra Pillai is a strong-willed woman with a voice of her own. Despite the minor roles she plays, she never fails to make a striking impact on her audience.
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