Fatima Sana Shaikh

Shaikh was born on 11 January 1992 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh,^[5][6] and brought up in Mumbai. Her father Vipin Sharma, is a Hindu from Jammu and her mother Raj Tabassum, is a Muslim from Srinagar.^[7] Shaikh identifies as an atheist.^[8] She had gained experience in photography prior to becoming an actress.^[9]

Fatima has opened up about her personal experiences of living with epilepsy to help raise awareness of the neurological condition.^[10][11]

Shaikh began her career as a child artist in Chachi 420 and One 2 Ka 4.^[3] Years later, she played Zoya in the Indian drama film Tahaan, which received "The German Star of India award" at the Bollywood and Beyond festival at Stuttgart, Germany in 2009.^[12]

Shaikh was selected for Nitesh Tiwari's biographical sports film Dangal along with Sanya Malhotra, who had never acted before. Shaikh was chosen to portray Geeta Phogat.^[13] To prepare for her role, she watched several videos on wrestling to understand "how wrestlers move, walk, their body language".^[13] Both Malhotra and Shaikh went through five rounds of auditions, physical training and workshops with Tiwari and Aamir Khan.^[9] They were trained by coach and former wrestler Kripa Shankar Patel Bishnoi.^[9] Released in 2016, Dangal received critical acclaim and became the highest-grossing Indian film ever with earnings of more than ₹2,000 crore (US$210 million) worldwide.^[14] Anupama Chopra stated in her review that Shaikh was "terrific" in the film.^[15]

In 2018, Shaikh played Zafira Baig, a warrior-archer thug in the epic action-adventure film, Thugs of Hindostan.^[16] It underperformed at the box office.^[17] In 2020, she first played a wife struggling for her husband's innocence in Ludo opposite Rajkummar Rao.^[18] She then played a traditional girl opposite Diljit Dosanjh in Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari.^[19] In 2021, Shaikh played an unhappy wife having an affair opposite Jaideep Ahlawat in Ajeeb Daastaans.^[20]

Shaikh had two releases in 2022. She first played a Kashmiri housemaid and a wife realising her worth in a segment of the series Modern Love Mumbai, opposite Bhupendra Jadawat.^[21] Anuj Kumar of The Hindu noted, "Fatima’s performance makes her segment fly. Under Shonali’s watch, she is both flower and fire at the same time."^[22] She then played a Rajasthani woman opposite Harshvardhan Kapoor in Thar.^[23] Taran Adarsh was appreciative of her lovely performance.^[24] The film earned her a nomination at the Filmfare OTT Awards for Best Actress in a Web Original Film.^[25]

Shaikh started 2023 with Dhak Dhak, where she played a female motorbike traveller.^[26] Her performance earned her nomination for Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.^[27] Following this, Shaikh portrayed Indira Gandhi alongside Vicky Kaushal and Sanya Malhotra in Sam Bahadur, a film based on the life of Sam Manekshaw.^[28] It was a moderate success at the box office.^[29] While Mayank Shekhar found her performance to be "admirable",^[30] Prannay Pathak was critical of her "unsteady portrayal".^[31]

In her first release of 2025, Shaikh played a working wife facing unplanned pregnancy opposite Ali Fazal in Metro... In Dino.^[32] Titas Chowdhury noted, "Fazal and Shaikh's chemistry is palpable and Fatima truly is a revelation".^[33] Later, she played a spirited French instructor opposite R. Madhavan in Aap Jaisa Koi.^[34]

Shaikh was ranked in The Times Most Desirable Women at No. 48 in 2020.^[35]