Nikki Galrani Pinisetty

Nikita Galrani Pinisetty ( Galrani; born 3 January 1992) is an Indian actress known for her works in Tamil and Malayalam films. Her commercially successful films include 1983, Vellimoonga (2014), Darling (2015) and Velainu Vandhutta Vellaikaaran (2016).

Early life and education Born as Nikita Galrani on 3 January 1992 in Bangalore, Karnataka, she is the younger daughter of Manohar and Reshma Galrani, who are of Sindhi ancestry. She has an elder sister, Sanjjanaa, who is also an actress.

Galrani was educated at the Bishop Cotton Girls' School, Bangalore. Thereafter she did her PUC at the Bishop Cotton Women's Christian College, Bangalore, and later took up a course in fashion designing. She said that she did her PUC in science because her parents and sister wanted her to become a doctor, but they later let her pursue designing. She then did modelling and appeared in many advertisements. She resides in Chennai. She signed her first film to play the lead role in Ajith, the Kannada remake of the Tamil film Paiyaa, after an audition. Within three days, she had signed her next project, her first Tamil film, Yagavarayinum Naa Kaakka and few weeks later, her first Malayalam film as well: 1983. In spite of being the last film she signed in 2013, 1983 released first in early 2014 and became her debut film and was her first major box office hit. She portrayed the role of Manjula Sasidharan, a rural village school girl and said that the character was exactly the opposite of what she was in real life and that she had to sunbathe to get dark for the role. The film received critical acclaim and became a box office success, while Galrani went on to win the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South for her performance.

A week later, Galrani had her second release, Nivin Pauly and Nazriya's Ohm Shanthi Oshaana, in which she had performed a cameo role. The film, made on a budget of under 5 crores, went on to collect over 20 crores at the box office. At the end of the year, IBTimes called Galrani the most successful actress of 2014 in Malayalam cinema. Even before the release of her first Kannada film, she had been signed for three more Kannada projects as well: Jamboo Savari, a remake of the Telugu film Swamy Ra Ra, Obiraya and Paravashanadenu, although the latter two were shelved midway. Ajith and Jamboo Savari released in quick succession in the second quarter of 2014. She had signed up Sharath A Haridaasan's Enthoru Bhagyam and V. K. Prakash's next project, but had to opt out of both due to conflicting schedules.

Debut in Tamil and Telugu cinema (2015–2016)

The delay of Yagavarayinum Naa Kaakka meant that the horror comedy Darling that she began shooting for much later became her debut Tamil release. It was successfully completed over 365-day at the Kollywood Industry, and went on to become successful at the Indian box-office. Galrani portrayed a spirit possessed girl "that you will be rooting for", and her performance was well received by critics, who stated that she gave a "good performance" and had "played her part really well". Sify.com stated that "Nikki Galrani is cute and adorable, she is quite good at emotional sequences as well". Darling was followed by the releases of her two Malayalam films Ivan Maryadaraman and Oru Second Class Yathra. and the Kannada film Siddhartha that featured her in a pivotal role which she shot for in August 2014. In June 2015, Yagavarayinum Naa Kaakka was eventually released. Her character in the film, she said, was a "carbon copy of what I am in my real life". Sify.com stated that "Galrani's infectious smile and energy is a major plus in the first half".

Galrani starred opposite Suresh Gopi in the Malayalam film Rudra Simhasanam. Her next Tamil film, Ko 2 was commercially successful at the Tamil box-office. Both of her Telugu language debut films performed fairly at the Tollywood box office. Galrani starred in Velainu Vandhutta Vellaikaaran (2016) a Tamil film where she played a police officer opposite Vishnu Vishal. The film was financially successful. IndiaGlitz.com stated "Nikki added much more glamour to the film in songs and live entire the film by her stunt sequences". Galrani also made a cameo appearance in Shajahanum Pareekuttiyum. Her next Tamil film was opposite G. V. Prakash Kumar again, with Kadavul Irukaan Kumaru. Blasting News stated that "Nikki Galrani was spectacular, and the trio literally captured the soft part of audience's hearts".

2017–present In 2017, Galrani acted in Tamil film Motta Shiva Ketta Shiva opposite Raghava Lawrence followed by Maragadha Naanayam. She also acted in a Malayalam film Team 5 (2017) and successively four Tamil films Neruppu Da (2017), Hara Hara Mahadevaki (2017), Kalakalappu 2 (2018) and Pakka (2018). She also worked in Kannada entitled O Premave (2018). In 2019, she appeared in Tamil action films with Charlie Chaplin 2, Dev and Kee. In 2020, She made her comeback in Malayalam with the comedy Dhamaka.

Personal life

On 24 March 2022, Galrani got engaged to her long-time boyfriend and actor Aadhi Pinisetty. The couple married on 18 May 2022.

Filmography

+ List of the films acted by Nikki GalraniYearTitleRole(s)LanguageNotes 2014 1983 Manjula Sasidharan Malayalam Debut; Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South Ohm Shanthi Oshaana Thennal K. Warrier Guest appearance Oru Second Class Yathra Lakshmi Yagavarayinum Naa Kaakka Kayal Tamil Rudra Simhasanam Haimavathi / Mrinalini Malayalam Rajamma @ Yahoo Sherin 2016 Malupu Kayal Telugu Krishnashtami Pallavi Ko 2 Priyadarshini Tamil Velainu Vandhutta Vellaikaaran Archana Shajahanum Pareekuttiyum Thresiamma Punnose Malayalam Cameo appearance Kadavul Irukaan Kumaru Priya Tamil 2017 Motta Shiva Ketta Shiva Jaanu Maragadha Naanayam Chanakya Team 5 Nancy Malayalam Neruppu Da Vasumathi Tamil Hara Hara Mahadevaki Ramya 2018 Kalakalappu 2 Aishwarya Pakka 'Rajini' Radha O Premave Anjali Kannada 2019 Charlie Chaplin 2 Sara Tamil Dev Krithika Cameo appearance Kee Diya 2020 Dhamaka Annie / Ann Mary Malayalam 2021 Raajavamsam Gayathri Tamil2022 Idiot Smitha Sivudu Vennela Telugu Only acted in the Telugu version 2024 Virunnu Perly Malayalam Tamil

Television

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Film Result 2015 17th Asianet Film Awards Best New Face of the Year – Female 1983 Vanitha Film Awards Best Newcomer Actress 62nd Filmfare Awards South Best Female Debut – Malayalam 4th South Indian International Movie Awards Best Debut Actress – Malayalam Kerala Film Critics Association Awards Best Newcomer Actress 2016 Edison Awards Best Debut Actress Darling