Rakhi Sawant (also known as Fatima Durrani;[1] born Neeru Bheda; 25 November 1978[2][3]) is an Indian dancer, model, actress and television talk show host, who has appeared in many Hindi and a few Kannada, Marathi, Odia, Telugu and Tamil films.

She auditioned about four times before being selected for her breakthrough item number, "Mohabbat Hai Mirchi", composed by Himesh Reshammiya.

[17] Sawant acted in small roles in films including Masti and Main Hoon Na.

[18] In June 2006, Mika Singh attempted to kiss her at his birthday party, which caused a media controversy.

[20] In 2007, Rakhi made her singing debut in the album Super Girl launched by Venus Records & Tapes Pvt.

Ltd. She later participated in the dance reality show Nach Baliye with Abhishek Avasthi and emerged as the first runner up.

In 2009, Sawant launched the reality show Rakhi Ka Swayamwar in which she planned to select her future husband by the ancient ritual of Swayamvar.

Often appearing in reality shows as a host, judge or participant, Sawant is a regular stage performer.

[citation needed] In 2013, she participated in Welcome – Baazi Mehmaan Nawazi Ki along with Anchal Sabharwal, Sangram Singh, Chetan Hansraj and Madhura Naik.

On 26 March 2014, she announced her plans to contest 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai North-West as an Independent Candidate.

[41][42] On 4 April 2017, she appeared in the Ludhiana court wearing a burqa for making objectionable remarks against Sage Valmiki, at which time she was accompanied by Indian National Congress, National co-ordinator Rahul Jogi (born on 21 August 1990), due to which she was severely criticized.