Ritika Singh

Ritika Mohan Singh is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Tamil films. She played a leading role in Sudha Kongara Prasad's Tamil film Irudhi Suttru (also simultaneously shot in Hindi as Saala Khadoos) alongside R. Madhavan. She received Filmfare Awards three times for the same role in three languages: Tamil (Irudhi Suttru), Hindi (Saala Khadoos) and Telugu (Guru). She has won a National Film Award, one SIIMA award, one Tamil Nadu State Film Award special Prize and three Filmfare Awards.

Career Mixed martial arts Singh was trained in kickboxing and mixed martial arts (MMA) by her father. In 2009, she represented India in kickboxing at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games. In 2012, she competed in MMA at the inaugural season of Super Fight League.

Acting career Vani Bhojan, Ashok Selvan and Ritika Singh promoting Oh My Kadavule. Ritika Singh began her acting career in 2013. She was spotted by director Sudha Kongara Prasad in an advertisement for the Super Fight League, and she later auditioned to play a leading role in her bilingual film, Irudhi Suttru (2016), titled Saala Khadoos in Hindi, after the makers managed to contact her through the competition's chairman, Raj Kundra. Portraying Madhi, a Marwari girl who grows up in the slums of Chennai, Singh was signed because the makers wanted a professional boxer to act, rather than an actress to act as a boxer. For the Tamil version, Irudhi Suttru, Singh phonetically learned her part in Tamil by writing down the dialogues in Hindi. Co-produced by the film's lead actors, R. Madhavan and Rajkumar Hirani, the film was released in 2016. Ritika received rave reviews for her portrayal, with Sify.com stating "she is a marvelous discovery" and "her lip sync, body language, and gait are major highlights for the film". For her performance in Irudhi Suttru, Ritika won the Special Mention at the 63rd National Film Awards and became the first actress who did not dub for her role to be recognised at the National Awards. Singh later appeared in Manikandan's Aandavan Kattalai, which was released in 2016. Her next film is the Telugu movie Guru (2017), a remake of Irudhi Suttru. Later, she performed in the horror comedy P. Vasu's Shivalinga (2017) and the Telugu movie Neevevaro (2018). She played the female protagonist in the romantic fantasy film Oh My Kadavule (2020) with Ashok Selvan.

In 2023, she has starred in leading role in the Hindi survivalist-thriller titled InCar. Later, she acted in the streaming series Story of Things (2023) and Bench Life (2024). Ritika plays a key role in Vettaiyan (2024) who is part of a team of investigators with Rajinikanth's character at the helm.

Filmography Films

Television

Awards and nominations +List of awards and nominations Year Title Award 2016 Irudhi Suttru National Film Award – Special Jury Award Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize Ananda Vikatan Cinema Award for Best Actress IIFA Utsavam for Best Actress Tamil Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil SIIMA Award for Best Debut Actress Saala Khadoos Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut Zee Cine Award for Best Female Debut 2018GuruFilmfare Critics Award for Best Actress – Telugu

Mixed martial arts record Loss

Daizy Singh Decision (Unanimous) SFL 22-23

Mumbai, India Loss

Irene Cabello Rivera Submission (armbar) SFL 18

Mumbai, India Win

Aya Saber Decision (Unanimous) SFL 11

Mumbai, India Loss

Manjit Kolekar TKO (punches) SFL 5

Mumbai, India