Vaishnavi Dhanraj

Early life

Vaishnavi was born in Nagpur and did her schooling from Blind Relief Association's Mundle High School. After she graduated from Shivaji Science College, her family shifted to Kalyan in 2008. Vaishnavi's parents encouraged her artistic inclination and escorted her to her initial auditions. She was known as Vaishnavi Bhoyar during her student years.

Career

Vaishnavi started her acting career in 2008 with a cameo in Kasautii Zindagii Kay. Taking note of her work in this show, the production house offered her the parallel lead in Karam Apnaa Apnaa in the same year. After acting in these two shows with the name Vaishnavi Bhoyar, she replaced her surname with her father's first name- Dhanraj due to numerological reasons. In 2009 Vaishnavi joined CID as a gun toting detective named Sub-Inspector Tasha. For this show Vaishnavi refused stunt doubles and performed all her stunts herself. CID launched her stardom and she became widely popular throughout as Tasha.

Her feisty performance in CID was instrumental in her winning the main protagonist's role in Na Aana Is Des Laado when the show took a time leap of 18 years in December 2010. Vaishnavi played the character of Jhanvi, a feminist who fights for women empowerment in rural India. In early 2012 Vaishnavi contemplated leaving Na Aana Is Des Laado and rejoining CID as she was dissatisfied with her role but the issue was settled amicably and she continued being a part of Laado till it ended in July 2012. Na Aana Is Des Laado was based on the issue of female foeticide in India.

After a brief hiatus following her marriage, Vaishnavi returned to television with Parvarrish – Kuchh Khattee Kuchh Meethi on Sony T.V in May 2013. In this show she played the character of Meera Mathur,an immaculate and tranquil businesswoman, which was quite different from the ones that she had played in her previous shows. This show ended in August 2013 following which Vaishnavi was offered the main antagonist's role in Colors TV's Madhubala – Ek Ishq Ek Junoon. Her dramatic entry scene in the show featured a stunt sequence in which Vaishnavi walked over a tightrope strung over a busy Mumbai street. In this show she enacted the role of Riya Jaiswal/Devika, a self-obsessed, struggling Bollywood actress. Shortly after her entry in this show, it took a time leap of a few years as a result of which Vaishnavi decided to quit the show in January 2014.

Within a week of her exiting Madhubala – Ek Ishq Ek Junoon, Vaishnavi signed up for Star Plus's epic Mahabharat, her first television show in the mythological genre. Initially apprehensive about playing the mythical character of Hidimbaa, she took up the challenge and pulled off a critically acclaimed performance. This character required Vaishnavi to play a double role of an ugly demoness and a stunning enchantress. She later said in an interview that the heavy makeup required for the demoness look took over 7 hours to apply, and that the weighty costumes required for this part made this shooting schedule one of her most unusual assignments ever. Her stardom and popularity furthered through this role.

In March 2014 Vaishnavi was approached by Indian news channel Aaj Tak to portray Nirbhaya in the channel's new social awareness series Satyagraha 2014. At the launch of this series, Aaj Tak's managing editor Supriya Prasad said that their motive is to create a pioneering show on television, and to trigger social change by bringing back Mahatma Gandhi's values of non-violence and the pursuit of truth. Directed by Sunil Manchanda, this series appealed to the nation's conscience. Vaishnavi later admitted that this role was the most challenging and humbling experience of her career.

Over the years Vaishnavi has also acted in episodic shows including Kitchen Champion 4, India's Got Talent, Crime Patrol, Hum Ne Li Hai- Shapath, and Fear Files.

Personal life

On 23 December 2012, Vaishnavi got married to Indian actor and model Nitin Sahrawat after a year of courtship. The two had first met on the set of Nitin's show Kitani Mohabbat Hai Season 2. The ceremony was conducted in Shantikunj, Haridwar according to Vedic rituals. The wedding reception in Mumbai was attended by Vaishnavi's friends and co actors from her shows including Meghna Malik, Kritika Kamra, Dayanand Shetty, Hrishikesh Pandey and Simran Kaur. For their honeymoon the couple backpacked across Western Ghats and stayed in a rustic hut on the Konkan coast for 12 days. The wedding was included in the list of biggest celebrity weddings of the year by the media.

In March 2014 NDTV launched a new channel NDTV Prime. Nitin and Vaishnavi were the guests for the launch episode of NDTV Prime's The Getaway in which the two were given a Hyundai Elantra which they then drove down to Kamshet. The theme of this episode being adventure, the couple then paraglided off the challenging Shelar's Site. This episode was shot at their Lokhandwala Complex home and also featured their pet Labrador Retriever Thor.

Sahrawat and Dhanraj filed for legal separation in July 2015 and were divorced in January 2016, opting for a divorce in Bandra family court. Vaishnavi cited that Nitin used to physically abuse her, which forced her to opt for divorce.