Kitu Gidwani

Gidwani was born in Mumbai. Her Sindhi Hindu parents migrated from Pakistan after the partition. They lived in a refugee camp in Worli.^[3] She has a brother.

She studied in Fort Convent School, Mumbai. She graduated in Commerce and has an M.A. in French.^[4] She started acting in French plays. Soon she was acting in English plays directed by Janak Toprani. She acted in some television serials and subsequently acted in a French film Black (1987), playing a Brazilian girl in it.^[5]

Gidwani made her television debut in 1984 on the TV soap Trishna, and during the 1980s and '90s, gave some memorable performances in TV serials like Swabhimaan, Air Hostess and Junoon.^[6] She caught a lot of attention after her kissing scene in bed with actor Tom Alter in Junoon. In 1997, she was doing four serials at one time, besides Swabhimaan and Junoon, she was also acting in Saahil, Yeh Kahan Aa Gaye Hum.^[7] She recently appeared in multi-starrer Hindi serials Kaashish and Kulvadhu.

In 1997, she played the role of a Hindustani classical singer, Pallavi, who struggles to get her voice back after losing her mentor/mother, in Dance of the Wind. The role won her Best Actress Award at Three Continents Festival, Nantes.^[8] In Pankaj Butalia's Shadows in the Dark she played Lajma, a middle-aged woman living in present-day Pakistan.^[5] In the 2010s she played small roles in Fashion, Dhobi Ghat and Student of the Year.^[6]

In 2001, in conjunction with Wills Lifestyle, an apparel chain owned by ITC Limited, she promoted Wills Sport Lifestyle brand of clothing.^[9] In 2006, she also acted in a play, Your Place or Mine by Darshan Jariwala.^[10]

She also did a play, Sock 'em With Honey, where she played a traditional Parsi woman from Pakistan, whose daughter falls in love with a Jew, prompting her first trip abroad.^[11]

In 1997, Gidwani won the Best Actress Award at the Three Continents Festival, Nantes, France. The award recognized her outstanding achievement for the role of Pallavi in Dance of the Wind.^[12]