Shweta Basu Prasad (born 11 January 1991) is an Indian actress known for her works in television, Hindi cinema, Telugu cinema and Tamil cinema. She won the National Film Award for Best Child Artist for her role in Makdee (2002). After Iqbal (2005), she transitioned to adult roles and found success with Kotha Bangaru Lokam (2008), The Tashkent Files (2019), and OTT platform films and web series such as Serious Men (2020), Criminal Justice (Season 3, 2022), India Lockdown (2022), Jubilee (2023) and Tribhuvan Mishra: CA Topper (2024).

Shweta has also worked in Bengali language films. She made a documentary on Indian classical music, and has produced and written for short films. She made her directoral debut with the short film Retake in 2023.

Education and early career Shweta Prasad was born on 11 January 1991 in Jamshedpur, in Bihar (now in Jharkhand). She migrated to Mumbai with her family while still a child. Basu is her mother's maiden name and Prasad is her father's surname. In her earlier films she was credited as Shweta Prasad; later, she added her mother's maiden name to her screen name.Shweta Prasad's name games. Hindustan Times (26 November 2007). Retrieved 21 June 2012.

Shweta studied commerce at the R. N. Podar High School, Santacruz, Mumbai, and completed her graduation in mass media and journalism. She has written columns for The Indian Express.

Shweta made her film debut in 2002 with a double role in Makdee for which she got the National Award for Best Child Actress. She then got offers from television series Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii and Karishma Kaa Karishma. In 2005, director Nagesh Kukunoor offered her the film Iqbal, and she became a household name with the role of “Khadija” in the film. She won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the 5th Karachi International Film Festival for Iqbal.

She took a break after Iqbal and continued her studies. She is a graduate in Journalism and Mass Media, and after her studies, she made a documentary Roots, on Indian classical music featuring the legends of the music industry. Shweta spent four years between 2012 and 2016 researching and making this documentary film, which features personalities like Shubha Mudgal, A R Rahman, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Birju Maharaj, Vishal Bhardwaj, Amit Trivedi and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. The film also has a ten-minute animation bit showing a 5000-year history of Indian music. Shweta, who is herself trained in playing the Sitar, is a classical music enthusiast and made this project from her own pocket out of passion. During the time, she worked as a script consultant at Phantom Films for an year.

Television and later film career Shweta made her debut in Telugu cinema in 2008, with the film Kotha Bangaru Lokam. She has also done movies in Tamil and Bengali.

She played the leading role of Nandini, wife of Chandragupta Maurya, in the television series Chandra Nandni (2016–2017). She said that this marked her comeback to television.

Her next Hindi film outing was Badrinath Ki Dulhania (2017) by Dharma Productions.

Shweta played a rookie journalist and central protagonist in The Tashkent Files (2019), a suspense drama thriller based on the death of India's second Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. She received critical praise and acclaim from critics and audiences alike. The film was received well commercially and was hailed as a surprise box office success of 2019, after successfully making a 50-day Box Office run.

Shweta has worked on OTT films and series, Serious Men, Comedy Couple, and High in 2020, Ray (2021), Jamun (2021), Criminal Justice: Adhura Sach (season 3, 2022), and Jubilee (2023).

Shweta has acted in short films Interior Café: Night, which she also produced, Visa, Chubhan, and The Lovers. She made her directorial debut with the short film Retake, that she wrote as well. The film has Anupam Kher in the lead, and made its American premiere in the short films category at the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) in May 2023.

Filmography Films Year Film Role Language Notes2002MakdeeChunni / MunniHindi2005IqbalKhadijaVaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi!Shweta2006Darna Zaroori HaiAshu2008Ek Nadir GalpoAnuBengaliBengali debutKotha Bangaru LokamSwapnaTeluguTelugu debut 2009RideRani KaskoRJ Krishnaveni 2010Kalavar KingShruti 2011Raa RaaGayathriTamil Tamil debutPriyuduTelugu Genius Item song "Dibiri Dibiri"2012 MaiTamil 2013Chandhamama Mary 2014Interior Café: NightYoung girlHindiShort film2017Badrinath Ki DulhaniaUrmila Shukla BansalMixture PotlamSuvarna Sundari Telugu Visa TejaswiniHindi / EnglishShort film2018Mard Ko Dard Nahi HotaAai (mother)HindiVijethaTelugu Megalopolis SvetlanaHindi2019The Tashkent FilesRaagini PhuleChubhanMeghna Short film 2020ShukranuReemaZEE5 filmThe LoversNitya Short filmSerious MenAnuja DhavreNetflix filmComedy CoupleZoya BatraZEE5 film 2021 JamunChetnaEros Now release2022India LockdownMehrunissaZEE5 film2024U=MeNikitaShort film

Short film Year Work Role Network Notes2022Yatri Kripya Dhyaan Dein Main lead Amazon MX Playershort film

Television Year Work Role Network Notes1998X Zone Young AnuZee TV Episode 942000–2008Kahaani Ghar Ghar KiiYoung Shruti AggarwalStar Plus2 episodes2001–2003KutumbVanshitaSony TV 250 episodes2002Koshish - Ek AashaaKajal's Daughter, 2002) Zee TV 1 episode2003–2004Karishma Kaa KarishmaSweetyStar Plus65 episodes2003The Magic Make-Up BoxMayaZee TV33 episodes2015–2016Darr Sabko Lagta HaiPangkhuri &TV1 episode2016–2017Chandra NandiniNandini MauryaStar Plus Main role2018GangstarsAishwaryaAmazon VideoTelugu series2019FlipEros NowMini series2019–2020HostagesShikha PandeyDisney+ HotstarMain role, season 2 2020Dr DonnALTBalaji2020–present HighDr. ShwetaMX Player2021RayMaggieNetflixEpisode: "Forget Me Not"2022Criminal Justice: Adhura SachLekha AgastyaDisney+Hotstar2023Jubilee Ratna DasAmazon Prime Video2024Tribhuvan Mishra: CA TopperShobha PathakNetflixZindaginamaNamrataSonyLIVEpisode: "Bhanwar"2025Oops Ab Kya?Roohi JaniJioHotstarMain roleCriminal Justice: A Family MatterLekha AgastyaMaharani Season 4Roshni BhartiSonyLIV

Personal life In September 2014, Shweta was arrested from a hotel in Hyderabad after a police raid. She was detained by the police on charges of prostitution, and sent to a rescue home, where she was held for two months. In December 2014, the Metropolitan Sessions Court, Nampally, Hyderabad, withdrew all charges against her. After her release, she issued an open letter to the media clarifying as false and misleading, a statement attributed to her by a journalist at the time of the arrest. In the letter, she said during the time of the arrest, she was attending the Santosham Film Awards event and staying at the hotel arranged by the organizers.

She married filmmaker Rohit Mittal on 13 December 2018. She announced their separation on Instagram on 10 December 2019.

Awards Year Film Award Category Result Ref2003Makdee50th National Film AwardsBest Child Artist2006IqbalZee Cine AwardsBest Actress (Critics)Screen AwardsBest Supporting Actress 51st Filmfare AwardsBest Supporting Actress 2007 5th Karachi International Film Festival Best Supporting Actress 2009Kotha Bangaru Lokam56th Filmfare Awards SouthBest Actress – Telugu2009Santosham Film AwardsBest Actress

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