Taapsee Pannu : An Indian model-turned-film actress

Taapsee Pannu (born 1 August 1987) is an Indian model-turned-film actress, who has worked in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi film industries. Born in a Punjabi Sikh family, Taapsee worked as a software professional and also pursued a career in modelling before becoming an actress. During her modelling career, she appeared in a number of commercials and won titles such as "Pantaloons Femina Miss Fresh Face" and "Safi Femina Miss Beautiful Skin" in 2008.

After a short stint with modelling, Taapsee made her acting debut with the 2010 Telugu film Jhummandi Naadam directed by Raghavendra Rao. Since then, she has appeared in a number of critically acclaimed films such as Aadukalam, Vastadu Naa Raju, Mr. Perfect, and Vandhaan Vendraan. Her Tamil film Aadukalam met with critical acclaim and enjoyed commercial success upon release and eventually went on to win six National Film Awards at the 58th National Film Awards. She has also worked in a Malayalam film and has been signed in for three Telugu films and a Hindi film.

Taapsee was born on 1 August 1987 in New Delhi, India into a Punjabi Sikh family. She has a sister named Shagun Pannu and plans to launch her into films as well. She did her schooling at the Mata Jai Kaur Public School in Ashok Vihar, Delhi. After completing her graduation in computer science engineering from the Guru Tegh Bahadur Institute of Technology in New Delhi, she worked as a software engineer. Taapsee has developed "fontswap", an application for the iPhone. She became a full-time model, after she auditioned and was selected for Channel [V]'s talent show Get Gorgeous, which eventually led her to acting. Taapsee has appeared in numerous print and television commercials and won several titles during her modelling days, including "Pantaloons Femina Miss Fresh Face" and "Safi Femina Miss Beautiful Skin" at the 2008 Femina Miss India contest. As a model, she endorsed brands like Reliance Trends, Red FM, UniStyle Image, Coca-Cola, Motorola, Pantaloon, PVR Cinemas, Standard Chartered Bank, Dabur, Airtel, Tata Docomo, World Gold Council, Havells and Vardhman. She has also been featured on the cover of some magazines such as Just For Women and MaaStars. After a few years, she lost interest in modelling as she thought that she could never gain proper recognition through modelling but only through films, and finally decided to act.

Taapsee made her cinematic debut in 2010 with K. Raghavendra Rao's romantic musical Jhummandi Naadam. She played the role of a daughter of a US based millionaire who comes to India to carry out a research on traditional Telugu music. Taapsee got three more offers in Telugu prior to the film's release. Her next film Aadukalam (2011), marked her debut in Tamil cinema. She played the role of an Anglo-Indian girl falling in love with a rural fellow played by Dhanush. The film, set in the backdrop of Madurai, in a rural background, and revolves around cockfights. It was critically acclaimed and proceeded to win six National Film Awards at the 58th National Film Awards. Speaking about her role, a reviewer from Sify explained that, "Debutant Taapsee is a promising find and she suits the character of an Anglo Indian girl to the T." She returned to the Telugu film industry with Vastadu Naa Raju (2011) which featured her opposite Vishnu Manchu. She made a foray into the Malayalam film industry later that year, through Doubles (2011) opposite Mammootty and Nadiya Moidu. A review from Rediff commented that, "Taapsee Pannu as Saira Banu, whose entry into the scene becomes the bone of contention between the siblings, has nothing noteworthy to do".

Taapsee played a short role in her next release, Mr. Perfect (2011), in which she acted alongside Prabhas and Kajal Aggarwal was a moderate success. She starred in a high budget film titled Veera (2011) opposite Ravi Teja and Kajal Aggarwal, that received moderate reviews. She was next seen in her second Tamil film Vandhaan Vendraan that fetched mixed reviews and did not fare well at the box office. Her next film was Krishna Vamsi's Mogudu where she acted as a traditional Telugu girl opposite Gopichand and garnered critical acclaim for her performance. She is currently working on the Tamil–Telugu bilingual Gundello Godari—titled Maranthen Mannithen in Tamil— apart from Daruvu and Shadow She is also made her Bollywood debut through Chashme Baddoor where she shares the screen with Siddharth and Rishi Kapoor. The film is a remake of the 1981 film with the same title. Taapsee has opted out of Madha Gaja Raja, due to non availability of dates.

Richa Chadda : A Indian film and theatre actress

Richa Chadda is a Indian film and theatre actress. She made her debut with a critically acclaimed performance in Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! where she made her appearance as Dolly. She is best known for her fiery portrayal of the character of Nagma in Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 1 and Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 2, films based on the Wasseypur District of Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India.

Richa Chadda was born in Amritsar and brought up in Delhi, India, to a Hindu-Punjabi father and a Bihari mother. Her father owns a management firm and her mother is a renowned professor at Delhi University, who authored two books and also works with Gandhi Smriti. After completing her schooling from Sardar Patel Vidyalaya in 2002, she graduated with a Bachelors in History from St. Stephen's College, Delhi. Chadda later went on to get a PG Diploma in Social Communication Media from Sophia College, Mumbai.

Richa 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.

Richa acted in the critically acclaimed movie Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! as the character of Dolly, both the movie and her role were well appreciated. She was cast by Anurag Kashyap for his movies Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 1 and Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 2 wherein she plays the pivotal character of Nagma Khatoon in the narrative. In the movie, she matured from 16 to 60 years of age. She got the name "Ms. Fire" for her spirited portrayal in the epic movie. This performance was well appreciated by the Critics. The movie was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012 and the entire cast was present at the event.

Rediff.com called it the Second Best Performance of the Year: "In a film packed with crazy characters stuffed to the gills with quirks and an ensemble throbbing with authentic, theatrical intensity, it takes some significant magic to stand out. Chaddha does so almost effortlessly in Anurag Kashyap's Gangs Of Wasseypur, right from its uneven Part One where she violently lambasts the menfolk around her till she gets into a position of control, and the madder Part Two, where she, as matriarch, controls the show. It is a firecracker of a performance, one that sets up Chaddha -- who was so thrilling in Oye Lucky Lucky Oye a few years ago -- as an actress with a tremendous amount to offer."

Karan Anshuman of the Mumbai Mirror said "Richa Chadda essays the strongest and best role written for a woman in recent memory (yes Dirty Picture included) with a memorable performance. For me, Chadda and her character are the best thing about GoW". Khalid Muhammed said "Richa Chadda is first-rate, using her eyes and voice as sharp lethal weapons." Rajeev Masand said : "This film is a male bastion, but the women are unforgettable. Richa Chaddha sparkles as Sardar’s steely wife Nagma."

She won the Filmfare Best Actress (Critics) award in 2013, for her performance it was said : "She had a cracking performance up her sleeve, one that nearly stole the show in GOW. Richa’s control over her character’s emotions and the arc, going from a shy newly married girl to an iron handed matriarch, you thought her track was straight from the Godmother. The critics were swayed by her underplay and Richa took home her first Filmfare Award."

Richa is next starring in the movie Tamanchey wherein she plays a glamorous role of an outlaw gangster girl.

Richa has worked with the acclaimed Academy Award Nominated Director Mira Nair in an International Short film that includes the likes of Ben Kingsley in its cast. The movie will be released in 2013.

Richa is acting in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's epic movie Ram Leela, a Gujarati version of Romeo & Juliet, wherein she plays the character of Raseela. The film is currently under production and is likely to be released in late 2013.

Richa has also been signed by Farhan Akhtar's Excel Entertainment for their upcoming movie Fukrey, wherein she plays the role of a female mafia don called Bholi Punjaban. The film is slated to be released in Summer of 2013.

Soha Ali Khan : Bollywood actress

Soha Ali Khan (born 4 October 1978) is a Bollywood actress best known for her role of Sonia in Rang De Basanti (2006) for which she won IIFA Awards for Best Supporting Actress and GIFA Awards for Best Supporting Actress. She is daughter of Mansoor Ali Khan and Sharmila Tagore , a Bengali Indian film actress and a member of Bengal's Tagore family. She is the sister of Saif Ali Khan.

Soha was born into a Muslim family to Nawab of Pataudi. Both her father, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and paternal grandfather, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, are former captains of the Indian cricket team. Her mother, Sharmila Tagore and her older brother Saif Ali Khan are Bollywood actors while her older sister Saba Ali Khan is a jewellery designer. She is the youngest child for her parents. She attended The British School, New Delhi and read geography at Balliol College, Oxford and earned a Masters degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is in a committed relationship with actor Kunal Khemu, and both of them live together.

Before embarking upon her film career, Soha worked for the Ford Foundation and Citibank. She is involved in a range of activities outside the acting world, including serving on the Advisory Board for a new project of the public entrepreneur group, Res Publica. She has also recently modeled for the spring-summer collection of Globus, an Indian chain of boutiques.

Soha made her acting debut with the Bollywood film Dil Maange More (2004), where she shared credits with Shahid Kapoor, Ayesha Takia and Tulip Joshi. She has since received critical acclaim for her performances in the Bengali film Antar Mahal (2005) and Rang De Basanti (2006). Khoya Khoya Chand, earned her critical acclaim, although it was not successful at the box office. In 2009, she appeared in 99, which was a critical and commercial success and her performance was acclaimed. Her next release was Tum Mile opposite Emraan Hashmi. Although a box office failure, Soha received positive reviews for her performance. Her upcoming release include Mumbai Cutting. Soha also hosted a show called Godrej Khelo Jeeto Jiyo on Star Plus.