Shweta Tiwari

Tiwari was born on 4 October 1980 in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh.^[1][7]

Tiwari married actor Raja Chaudhary in 1998 and they have a daughter Palak Tiwari, born on 8 October 2000.^[8] She filed for a divorce in 2007 after nine years of marriage.^[9] Tiwari reported she suffered a troubled relationship characterised by Chaudhary's alcoholism and domestic violence. She complained that he used to beat her up daily. He used to turn up on the sets of her shows and misbehave with her.^[10] Their divorce was granted in 2012.^[11]

Tiwari and actor Abhinav Kohli married on 13 July 2013 after dating for three years.^[12][13] On 27 November 2016, Tiwari gave birth to their son Reyansh Kohli.^[12][14] Reports of problems in their marriage first emerged in 2017.^[15] In August 2019, she filed a complaint of domestic violence against Kohli alleging harassment by him towards her and her daughter. Kohli was taken into police custody.^[16][17] Tiwari and Kohli separated in 2019.^[18][19]

Tiwari made her acting debut in 2000 with Aane Wala Pal. She then had her career breakthrough with Kasautii Zindagii Kay, which is her most notable work. From 2001 to 2008, she portrayed Prerna Sharma opposite Cezanne Khan, Hiten Tejwani and Ronit Roy.^[20][21] The series was a success and won her several awards and nominations including two Indian Telly Award for Best Actress in a Lead Role.^[22][23]

Tiwari then went onto appear in several Hindi, Bhojpuri and other languages films. Some of these include: Aabra Ka Daabra (2004), Hamar Sayian Hindustani (2008), Apni Boli Apna Des (2009) and Bin Bulaye Baraati (2011).^[24][25] In 2014, Tiwari also appeared in the Pakistani film Sultanat.^[26]

Tiwari participated in Bigg Boss 4 and emerged as the winner of the show, thus becoming the first female winner of the reality show.^[27][28] Following this, Tiwari portrayed Sweety Kaur Khanna Ahluwalia in Parvarrish – Kuchh Khattee Kuchh Meethi opposite Vivek Mushran, Bindiya "Maa Thakurain" Thakur in Begusarai opposite Sarrtaj Gill, Guneet Sikka Sharma in Mere Dad Ki Dulhan opposite Varun Badola and Aparajita Singh in Main Hoon Aparajita opposite Manav Gohil.^{[29][30][31][32]} Her performance in Kasautii Zindagii Kay, Parvarrish – Kuchh Khattee Kuchh Meethi, Begusarai and Mere Dad Ki Dulhan earned her five ITA Award for Best Actress – Jury.^[33]

Tiwari made her web debut in 2019 with Hum Tum And Them. In 2024, she appeared in the series Indian Police Force as a police officer's wife opposite Vivek Oberoi.^[34] Trisha Bhattacharya of India Today stated, "Despite her brief presence, Tiwari unquestionably made a lasting impression."^[35] In the same year, she played a police officer in the film Singham Again.^[36] A box office success, it emerged as the seventh highest-grossing Indian film of the year.^[37] A critic of Bollywood Hungama found her "memorable" in her role.^[38]

Tiwari is considered among the highest–paid television actresses.^[2][39] She has been termed as one of the hottest television actress by Rediff.com.^[40] Her character Prerna Sharma is recognised among the strongest female characters on television.^[41] In 2023, she ranked 1st in Times Now "Popular Television Actresses" list.^[42]