Rajshri Deshpande

Rajshri Deshpande was born in a working-class family in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. She is the youngest of three siblings. She has an undergraduate degree in law from Symbiosis Law School and a postgraduate degree in advertising from Symbiosis International University. She got into the advertising industry to support herself but soon found her calling in acting. She also has a diploma in filmmaking from Whistling Woods International in Mumbai.^[2]

Deshpande made her Bollywood debut in 2012 with a small role in the Aamir Khan starrer Talaash.^{[citation needed]} She then moved to television and appeared in Kuch Toh Log Kahenge and 24: India, in 2013. She subsequently returned to the big screen with a small role in Salman Khan's Kick. She also appeared in the Malayalam film Haram^[3] in 2015, where she had a double role. In Hindi cinema, it was the portrayal of Laxami in Pan Nalin's Angry Indian Goddesses that provided her with a bigger platform.^{[2][dead link]} The film received the 1st Runner Up – People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival^[4] and the People's Choice Award at the Rome Film Festival.^[5] Deshpande played the leading role^[6] in Sanal Kumar Sasidharan's film Sexy Durga in 2017, which won the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam Film Festival.^[7]

Deshpande made her digital debut with BBC One's McMafia, directed by James Watkins, in January 2018.^[8] She was also seen in the Netflix show Sacred Games, directed by Anurag Kashyap.^[9][10] In it, she played the character of Subhadra and was praised for her role as the wife of Nawazuddin Siddiqui's character.^[11] A scandal arose when she was accused of being a porn star by some viewers, as the show included a nude sex scene. The actress replied that she hadn't done anything wrong.^[11] She later portrayed Ismat Chughtai^[12] in Nandita Das's Manto.

In 2025, Deshpande won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress – Marathi for her performance in Satyashodhak.^[13]