Surveen Chawla birthday: From TV bahu to Mandala Murders star, why fans call her Bollywood’s most underrated actress

Birthday girl Surveen Chawla began her journey from reality shows and daily soaps like Kahin To Hoga and Kasautii Zindagii Kay, quickly becoming a household name as a beloved TV bahu. She seamlessly transitioned into films, winning hearts across Kannada, Punjabi, Tamil, and Hindi cinema. From Ugly to Mandala Murders, she carved a path on her own terms, versatile, and unforgettable. As she turns 41 today, fans are lauding her latest appearance in Mandala Murders on Netflix.





However, there was a time the industry all but wrote her off. Known for bold roles like Hate Story 2, she was unfairly boxed into a glamorous stereotype. But behind the screen was a woman making tough calls, turning down typecast roles, standing her ground against the casting couch, and silently walking away when things got murky“. After Hate Story 2, I was bombarded with ‘bold and sexy’ roles. It got tiring, and that’s why I didn’t sign any Hindi movies. I don’t want to do films for the sake of it. I’d rather wait,” she said in an earlier interview with Hindustan Times in 2016.

She said, “People label you, and they don’t see what more you are capable of. Film-makers should see if actors fit their characters. Post Hate Story 2, everyone felt that since I have done a sensual role, they can give me similar ones. But, when people offer me a ‘bold’ role, it flabbergasts me. Why don’t the makers look beyond, and see what the actor is capable of doing?”


Surveen also opened up about the darker side of the industry in a chat with Siddharth Kannan. She revealed how the casting couch culture nearly made her quit Bollywood altogether. “There was a time when it was all about the casting couch. It just felt dirty to even step out, and I was like, ‘I don’t want to do this.’ There was that phase. It was almost like it was trending,” she said, explaining how these compromises were not occasional but frequent.

She admitted that saying no came with a price. “Every time I would lose a part because I had the audacity to say no or the audacity to just keep my ground in some way, shape, or form. But it was crazy. I felt like I had hit the end of the road,” she added.




In another conversation with Hauterfly, Surveen shared an incident that took place on Mumbai’s Veera Desai Road. “We had just spoken about my marriage inside his cabin, he even asked how my husband was doing… So, when I came to the door to say bye, he leaned towards me trying to kiss me, and I had to push him back. I was startled and asked him what he was doing, and I just walked off,” she recalled. That single moment left a deep mark. “I had to push him back. I was startled… and I just walked off."


Off-screen, Surveen Chawla has kept her personal life private. She tied the knot with Akshay Thakker in a quiet ceremony in Italy back in 2015, only revealing the news two years later through a heartfelt tweet in 2017.

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