Vaishnavi MacDonald

Vaishnavi Mahant
Vaishnavi MacDonald at the beginning of her career
Born	(1974-09-09) 9 September 1974 Mumbai, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1988–present
Known for	Shaktimaan, Miley Jab Hum Tum, Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke, Oru Mutham Manimutham
Spouse(s)	Leslie Macdonald
Children	1

Vaishnavi MacDonald is an Indian film and TV actress who is best known for playing Geeta Viswas in Mukesh Khanna's television series Shaktimaan, telecasted on Doordarshan. She is currently seen in Dangal's recently launched Aye Mere Humsafar She has acted in various Bollywood films such as Bambai Ka Babu, opposite Saif Ali Khan, Ladlaa and Barsaat Ki Raat (1998). She is also known for playing Shilpa Sharma in Miley Jab Hum Tum, Shail in the Zee TV show Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke and Leela Taneja in the television series Tashan-E-Ishq.

Early life and career

Her father is a Vaishnav Hindu (the reason she took the screen name Vaishnavi), while her mother is Christian. Raised as a Hindu, she converted to Christianity in the early 1990s. She is currently a born again Christian believer who is more into a relationship with God not religion.

As a child she moved to Hyderabad where she decided to become a scientist. However, while vacationing in Mumbai, she had the opportunity to appear in the Ramsay Brothers' horror film Veerana and decided to pursue acting as a profession. She subsequently appeared in Barsaat Ki Raat, Ladlaa, Maidan-E-Jung, Bambai Ka Babu, Daanveer and Oru Mutham Manimutham (a 1997 Malayalam film with actor Mukesh).

From 1998 to 2005, she played the female lead Geeta Vishwas in the superhero series Shaktimaan on Doordarshan. The show, as well as her character, got high acclaim and was considered her breakthrough role. When her journalist character Geeta Vishwas was written out of the series, fan protests prompted the producers to bring her back. In 2000, she played the role of ACP Ratna, a daring police officer in the comedy serial Raju Raja Rajasaab on Sahara TV.

She went on to play leading roles in several Telugu films.

She played the role of Sameera's mother Sapna in Chhoona Hai Aasmaan and Bhaskar's mother in the Sony Entertainment Television serial Bhaskar Bharti. She also appeared in Karmyudh on Doordarshan in the role of Inspector Shivangi Chauhan.

She is married to Leslie Macdonald and has a daughter Margaret Macdonald.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Veerana	Child Jasmine Pratap
1994	Laadla
1995	Maidan-E-Jung	Radha
1996	Bambai Ka Babu	Anita
1996	Daanveer	Sudha
1997	Oru Mutham Manimutham	Lekha	Malayalam Movie
1998	Barsaat Ki Raat	Rangeeli
2001	Dal – The Gang	Reshma
2006	Baabul
2006	Mata	Swamini ("dil wanted" song)	Kannada movie
2008	Saanchaa
2011	Mummy Punjabi	Amrita (Jackie Shroff's wife)
2014	Super Nani	Mann's mother
2017	Who Is the First Wife of My Father	Nikita
2018	Raja Abroadiya	Prakash Kaur
2019	Dosti Ke Side Effects	Shristi's mother
2019	Hansa Ek Sanyog

Television

Year	Title	Role
1998–2005	Shaktimaan	Geeta Vishwas
1998– 99	Main Dilli Hoon	Sanyogita
1998	Saturday Suspense
1998	Awaz Ki Duniya	Herself (co-anchor)
1999	Naagin	Cameo
1999	Baat Ban Jaaye	Guest Appearance
1999	Zee Horror Show – The Party
2000	Raju Raja Rajashaab	ACP Ratna
2000	Naqab
2001	Dushman
2001	Chingari
2001	Gharana
2001	Choti Maa – Ek Anokha Bandhan	Sharda/Shakti
2001	Chandan Ka Palna Resham Ki Dori	Shreya (Surrogate mother)
2001	Suraag – The Clue
2004	Dekho Magar Pyaar Se	Priyanka
2004	K. Street Pali Hill	Ishita Khandelwal
2005	Kasautii Zindagii Kay	Madhavi Bose/Madhavi Vineet Khanna
2005–2007	Ek Ladki Anjaani Si	Meera Sachdev
2006	Mamta	Vasundhara
2007–2008	Chhoona Hai Aasmaan	Sapna/Anupama Singh
2007–2008	Kahe Naa Kahe	Urmila
2008	Saas v/s Bahu	Herself (contestant)
2008–2010	Miley Jab Hum Tum	Shilpa Sharma (Mayank's Mother)
2009	Mere Ghar Aayi Ek Nanhi Pari
2009	Bhaskar Bharti	Bhaskar's mother
2010	Bairi Piya	Sunanda Devi Pundir
2010	Karmyudh	Shivangi Chauhan
2010	Sapnon Se Bhare Nena	Anjali
2010–2012	Sasural Genda Phool	Suhana's Mother
2011	Maa Exchange (Reality Show)	Herself
2012–2015	Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke	Shail Garg
2015–2016	Tashan-E-Ishq	Leela Taneja
2016	Pardes Mein Hai Mera Dil	Cameo Role
2017–2018	Dil Se Dil Tak	Indu Bhanushali (Parth's mother)
2017–2018	Hum Paanch Phir Se	Parikrama (Anand's first wife)
2017–2019	Yeh Un Dinon Ki Baat Hai	Vishakha Maheshwari/Somani (Sameer's mother)
2017	Savdhaan India (1 Episode)
2018	Mitegi Laxman Rekha	Devyani( Vishesh's Mother)
2019–2020	Divya Drishti	Mahima Shergill aka Lal Chakor
2020–2021	Aye Mere Humsafar	Surajmukhi Sharma
2020(Cameo)	Shaadi Mubarak	Mrs. Gopalani
2021-present	Kyun utthe dil chod aaye	Vashma's mother and Baig's wife
2021-present	Jijaji Chhat Parr Koii Hai	Rajjo Jindal-Nanhelal's beloved first wife and Jeetu's mother

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Serial	Outcome
2006	Indian Telly Awards	Best Actress in a Supporting Role	Ek Ladki Anjaani Si	Nominated
2014	Indian Telly Awards	Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Jury Award)	Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke	Nominated
2014	Zee Rishtey Awards	Best Mata Pita Award	Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke	Won
2015	Zee Rishtey Awards		Tashan-E-Ishq	Won
2016	Zee Gold Awards	Best Actress in a Supporting Role	Tashan-E-Ishq	Nominated
2020	Padmashri Award	Art		Nominated
2020	Global Book Awards	For her book		Nominated

External links

• Vaishnavi MacDonald on IMDb
• Vaishnavi MacDonald on Instagram

She is going to launch her first book "The Invisible Hand Of God" on 1st October 2020.

She has also launched her website – https://sites.google.com/view/vaishnavi-reinvented