Deepti Naval (born 3 February 1952) is an Indian-American actress, director, and writer, predominantly active in Hindi cinema.
[1] Her major contribution has been in the area of art cinema, winning critical acclaim for her sensitive and 'close to life' characters that emphasized the changing roles of women in India.
[4] Alongside Smita Patil and Shabana Azmi, she became an actress in 1980s Parallel cinema, playing roles in films like Kamla (1984) or Ankahee (1985).
[5] She came back in the 2000s with social dramas like Bawandar and Firaaq, and won Best Actress awards in several international film festivals for her roles in Leela (2002), Memories in March (2010) and Listen... Amaya (2013).
[11] She was to make her debut in a Bengali movie under director Sanjoy Nag but the film - Memories in March - was eventually shot in English.
[13] She made her theater debut in 2015 with the poetic stage show Ek Mulaqaat in which she played the celebrated Punjabi writer Amrita Pritam.