Nargis Fakhri

Fakhri promoting Rockstar in 2011

Fakhri made her acting debut with a female lead role in Imtiaz Ali's musical romantic drama Rockstar in 2011. The film follows the journey of an aspiring musician from a humble background to international stardom after the death of his passionate lover.[13] Rockstar was the first film in India to show a Kashmiri Pandit wedding, and saw Fakhri as a free-spirited rich brat, hailing from the Kashmiri Pandit background.[14][15] Due to her poor command in Hindi, Fakhri's voice was dubbed over by the voice artist Mona Ghosh Shetty.[16] The film received overwhelming responses from critics, but their opinions toward her were mixed, though she was praised for her looks.[17][18] Film critic Taran Adarsh wrote: "Nargis is a stunner as far as looks are concerned, but isn't persuasive in poignant moments", however, he praised her on-screen chemistry with co-star Ranbir Kapoor.[19] Raja Sen of Rediff noted that she is an "exotically ravishing heroine, one so pretty we forgive her occasionally stilted diction",[20] while Nikhat Kazmi praised her performance and said that Fakhri "stands tall as the delectable Heer who sizzles on screen with her unconventional ways".[21] With a gross revenue of ₹1.07 billion (US$13 million), Rockstar was one of the top-grossing Hindi films of the year.[22] Fakhri's performance in the film earned her several Best Female Debut nominations at various award ceremonies, including a Filmfare nomination.

Her next release was opposite John Abraham in the Shoojit Sircar's political thriller Madras Cafe (2013), a drama set during the time of the Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan civil war and the assassination of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.[23] Her portrayal was of a British war correspondent in Sri Lanka, and was inspired by many war correspondents, including Anita Pratap.[24] Unlike her debut film, Fakhri dubbed her own dialogues and was approached for the film because Sircar wanted "a girl who looked Indian but had an [English] accent".[25] Upon release, Madras Cafe received acclaim from the critics, and the performances of the lead actors were praised.[26] Saibal Chatterjee said Fakhri "strikes the right notes",[27] whereas Rajeev Masand called her "pleasantly competent".[28] Anuj Kumar of The Hindu was particularly impressed with the film and thought that Fakhri has proved that she has more to her than just a "prominent pout".[29][30] Later that year, she made a special appearance in the action comedy Phata Poster Nikhla Hero to perform in the item number "Dhating Naach" with the film's lead actor Shahid Kapoor.[31]

The following year, Fakhri collaborated with Varun Dhawan and Ileana D'Cruz for the romantic comedy Main Tera Hero, a remake of the 2011 Telugu film Kandireega, produced by Balaji Motion Pictures and directed by David Dhawan.[32] Set in Bangkok, she played Ayesha, a Don's daughter, who falls for an impetuous brat.[4] The film was a financial success, but received mixed reviews from critics.[33][34] For her performance in the film, Rohit Khilnani said that Fakhri "is not bad" and that "she fits well in this masala comedy and doesn't disappoint".[35][36] Taran Adarsh however, disagreed, and said though she "looks great", she needs to "polish her acting skills".[37] She next appeared in a popular item number titled "Yaar Naa Miley" with Salman Khan for Sajid Nadiadwala's action thriller Kick.[38] The song was well received by critics and was immensely popular among the audience.[39][40] Later that year, she starred in Paul Feig's action comedy Spy, her first project in Hollywood.[5] The film follows the transformation of desk-bound CIA analyst Susan Cooper (McCarthy) into a field agent who attempts to foil the black market sale of a suitcase nuke.[41] Featuring alongside Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham and Jude Law, Fakhri was cast in her first antagonist role, portraying Lia, a secret agent. The film and her performance received praise from critics.[42] John Boone of Entertainment Tonight noted how much she stood out in the "fewer quieter scenes" of the film.[43][44] Fakhri's performance earned her an MTV Movie Award for Best Fight nomination.[45] Spy emerged as one of top-grossing productions of the year, earning $235.7 million worldwide.[46][47]

Fakhri began 2016 with a special appearance in the Tamil film Saagasam, to perform in the item number "Desi Girl" with the film's lead actor Prashanth.[48][49][50] The song, described as a peppy "bar number", was choreographed by Raju Sundaram, and featured hundred extras.[51][52] Fakhri next appeared alongside Emraan Hashmi and Prachi Desai in the biographical sports drama Azhar.[53] She portrayed Sangeeta Bijlani, an actress and the second wife of cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin.[54] In an interview with Mid-Day, Azharuddin said that the film is about his God, marriage and match-fixing.[55] Azhar generated controversy when a CBI officer, who investigated his case during match-fixing, claimed that he has a video tape in which Azharuddin had confessed his involvement in the match-fixing, however, he failed to prove it.[56] Critics praised the film's narration, but were divided in their opinion as to her performance.[57] Namrata Joshi of Outlook noted that she was "likeable" in her part, however, Devesh Sharma of Filmfare wrote that she brought "plasticky expressions".[58] Commercially, the film was moderately successful at the box office.[59] She then took on a supporting role for the third installment of the Housefull film series.[60] The ensemble comedy film saw her playing a rich brat who convinces who falls in love with a con-man (Abhishek Bachchan).[61] Reviews of the film and her performance were largely negative.[62] Writing for Firstpost, Subhash K. Jha criticized Fakhri for her inclination toward a film where she was "treated as [a] visual attraction [...] and nothing else".[63] Nevertheless, the film was a major commercial success, grossing ₹1.88 billion (US$24 million) billion worldwide.[64][65] Fakhri then played a minor role in the adventure comedy Dishoom.[66] Her portrayal was of star Saqib Saleem's friend, which she described as a "cameo".[67]

Fakhri's final role in 2016 was as Christina, an American citizen in search of an instrumentalist capable of playing the banjo, in Ravi Jadhav's musical Banjo.[68][69] Co-starring Riteish Deshmukh, the film was described as a tribute to rappers living in Mumbai's ghettos.[70] Upon release, the film received mixed reviews and under performed at the Box Office India.[71][72] Writing for the Times of India, Renuka Vyavahare thought that she "overdoes the American accent but grows on you eventually."[73] Koimoi wrote that "Why would you waste your money to watch Nargis' acting and Riteish juggling between his Lai Bhaari and Rockstar character."[74] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV noted that her part in the drama is the film's "biggest undoing."[75] In October 2017 Fakhri was selected as a One Young World counselor, alongside Kofi Annan, Doutzen Kroes, and Cher to speak at their summit in Bogota.[76][77] Fakhri next starred in her second Hollywood production, the romantic comedy 5 Weddings (2018), opposite Rajkumar Rao.[78] Reza Noorani of The Times of India disliked the chemistry between Fakhri and Rao, and said that she "doesn't bring much to the table".[79] Fakhri begun 2019 with Bhushan Patel-directed horror thriller Amavas. As her previous release, the film received mixed reviews and performed poorly at the box-office.[80][81]

As of March 2019, Fakhri has completed work on the action thriller Torbaaz, alongside Sanjay Dutt.[82][83]

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

• All films are in Hindi unless otherwise noted

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2011	Rockstar	Heer Kaul
2013	Madras Cafe	Jaya Sahni
	Phata Poster Nikhla Hero	–	In special song "Dhating Naach"
2014	Main Tera Hero	Ayesha Shingal
	Kick	Angel	Special appearance in song "Yaar Na Miley"
2015	Spy	Lia	Hollywood film
2016	Saagasam	–	Tamil film Special appearance in song "Desi Girl"
	Azhar	Sangeeta Bijlani
	Housefull 3	Saraswati "Sarah" Patel
	Dishoom	Samaira Dalal	Cameo appearance	[89]
	Banjo	Christina "Chris"
2018	5 Weddings	Shania Dhaliwal	English-language film	[78]
2019	Amavas	Ahaana
2020	Torbaaz	Ayesha	Released on Netflix	[82][83]
2023	Shiv Shastri Balboa	Siya
	Hari Hara Veera Mallu	Roshanara	Telugu film; filming	[90]