Sarita Choudhury
Sarita Catherine Louise Choudhury (born 18 August 1966) is a British actress, known for her role as Mina in the Mira Nair-directed feature film Mississippi Masala (1991).[2][3] Choudhury has played roles in American and international films and television shows such as in Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996), A Perfect Murder (1998), 3 A.M. (2001), and the John Cassavetes remake Gloria (1999). In 2002, she starred in Just a Kiss. She played a lesbian virgin in Spike Lee's She Hate Me (2004) and acted as Anna Ran in Lady in the Water, a 2006 thriller by M. Night Shyamalan.[4][5] She also played Egeria in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015) and co-starred with Tom Hanks in the 2016 film A Hologram for the King.[6] In 2021, Choudhury joined the cast of HBO Max's Sex and the City revival television series And Just Like That....[7]
Sarita Choudhury | |
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![]() Choudhury at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival | |
Born | Sarita Catherine Louise Choudhury 18 August 1966 Blackheath, London, England |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1990–present |
Children | 1[1] |
Early life
Choudhury was born in Blackheath, London, England, and is of half Indian and half English descent. Her mother, Julia Patricia (née Spring), is English, and her father, Prabhas Chandra Choudhury, a scientist, is Indian. They married in 1964 in Lucea, Jamaica. Choudhury studied economics and film at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. She has one younger brother, Kumar Michael Choudhury, and one older brother, Chandra Paul Choudhury.[8][9]
Career
Choudhury starred opposite Denzel Washington in the 1991 film Mississippi Masala, for which she received her Screen Actors Guild (SAG) card.[10] She was still working as a waitress in Manhattan's East Village to make ends meet while the film was in theatres.[10] After her debut film Mississippi Masala became an art house hit, Choudhury acted as a Pakistani country-western singer in Wild West (1992), a Chilean maid who is raped in Bille August's adaptation of The House of the Spirits, and a lesbian mother in Fresh Kill.
Choudhury appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street for five episodes during the 1998–99 season as Dr. Kalyani, a medical examiner. Choudhury played the role of the King's mistress, Helen Pardis, in the NBC drama Kings. The series was based upon the Biblical story of King David but set in modern times. Her character's Biblical counterpart was Rizpah, a concubine of King Saul.
She worked with independent film director Sona Jain in For Real. In an interview with The Statesman she said, "After Mississippi Masala and Kama Sutra I started getting offers in New York... doing theatres... I just went with the flow. One fine day, I thought that I haven't been back to India, haven't shot there and that's something I wanted to. There were Bollywood offers but it was not until Sona's script that made me look at India."[11] The film had a commercial release in September 2010.
She appears as character Saul Berenson's wife, Mira in the TV series Homeland. In 2011, she appeared in the joint British/French TV series Death in Paradise. Choudhury also had a brief cameo the 2013 comedy Admission. She appeared in the films The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015), as President Snow's assistant, Egeria. In 2015-2016, she appeared as the Deputy White House Political Director Sophia Varma in the American crime drama Blindspot. In 2016 she starred with Tom Hanks in the film A Hologram for the King, and in 2021 she appeared in the film The Green Knight with Dev Patel.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1991 | Mississippi Masala | Meena | |
1992 | Wild West | Rifat | |
1993 | The House of the Spirits | Pancha Garcia | |
1994 | Fresh Kill | Shareen Lightfoot | |
1995 | The Perez Family | Josette | |
1996 | Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love | Tara, the Queen | |
1998 | High Art | Joan | Uncredited |
A Perfect Murder | Raquel Martinez | ||
Restless | Jane Talwani | ||
1999 | Gloria | Angela | |
2000 | Come On | Sarita | |
2001 | 3 A.M. | Box | |
Trigger Happy | Alison | ||
2002 | Just a Kiss | Colleen | |
Refuge | Girl | ||
2003 | Rhythm of the Saints | Mariela | |
It Runs in the Family | Suzie | ||
2004 | Marmalade | Angela | |
She Hate Me | Song | ||
The Breakup Artist | Mona | ||
Indocumentados | Mrs. Guerrero | ||
2005 | The War Within | Farida S. Choudhury | |
L'est de la brúixola | Dabashree | ||
2006 | Lady in the Water | Anna Ran | |
2008 | The Accidental Husband | Sunny | |
2009 | Entre nos | Preet | |
For Real | Priya | ||
2011 | Aazaan | Menon | |
2012 | Gayby | Ushma | |
Generation Um... | Lily | ||
Midnight's Children | Prime Minister | ||
BMW: Bombay's Most Wanted | |||
2013 | Admission | Rachel | |
Innocence | Dr. Vera Kent | ||
2014 | The Disinherited | Anna | |
Learning To Drive | Jasleen | ||
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 | Egeria | ||
Roman Buildings | Sarita | ||
2015 | The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 | Egeria | |
Sweets | Sweets | ||
2016 | A Hologram for the King | Zahra | |
2017 | The Last Photograph | Hannah | |
After Louie | Maggie | ||
2020 | Evil Eye | Usha Kharti | |
It Snows in Benidorm | Alex | ||
2021 | After Yang | Cleo | |
The Green Knight | Morgan le Fey | ||
Short Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | Dinner Party | Rosie | |
Story of the Red Rose | Infanta | ||
2004 | Exactly | Lily | |
2006 | Lady in a Box | Ms. Pullman | |
2008 | Woman in Burka | Sarita | |
2009 | Coup de Grâce | ||
2012 | Monarchs and Men | Nadzia | |
2013 | Give Into the Night | Veena | |
2015 | Love Comes Later | ||
2016 | Wake O Wake | Lila | |
2019 | Human Terrain | Adelah Nasser | |
2020 | Here Comes Frieda | Yvonne | |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1995 | Down Came a Blackbird | Myrna | Television film |
1997 | Subway Stories | Humera | Television film; segment: "Honey-Getter" |
1998–1999 | Homicide: Life on the Street | Dr. Kalyani | Recurring |
2000–2001 | Deadline | Sahira Ondaatje | 3 episodes |
2001–2002 | 100 Centre Street | Julia Brooks | Recurring |
2004 | Law & Order | Nadira Harrington | Episode: "Paradigm" |
2004 | PBS Hollywood Presents | Charmaine | Episode: "Cop Shop" |
2007 | Damages | Sleep Therapist | Episode: "She Spat at Me" |
2009 | Kings | Helen Pardis | Recurring |
2009 | The Philanthropist | Rhada Shivpuri | Episode: "Kashmir" |
2009 | Possible Side Effects | Callie | Television film |
2010 | Mercy | Dr. Carrozzi | Episode: "Wake Up, Bill" |
2010 | The Good Wife | Simran Verma | Episode: "Mock" |
2010 | Bored to Death | Lakshmi | Episode: "Forty-Two Down!" |
2011 | Bar Karma | Sarita | Episode: "Man Walks Out of a Bar" |
2011 | Death in Paradise | Avita | Episode: "Music of Murder" |
2011–2017 | Homeland | Mira Berenson | Main role (season 3); recurring (seasons 1, 4); guest (seasons 2, 6) |
2015–2016 | Blindspot | Sofia Varma | Recurring |
2016 | Elementary | Gira Pal | Episode: "A Study in Charlotte" |
2016 | Divorce | Courtney | Episode: "Church" |
2016–2017 | Madam Secretary | Prime Minister Jaya Verma | 2 episodes |
2018 | The Path | Lilith | Main role (season 3) |
2018 | Instinct | Mayor Myers | 2 episodes |
2018 | Strangers | 3 episodes | |
2019 | Jessica Jones | Kith Lyonne | Main role (season 3) |
2019 | Modern Love | Therapist | Episode: "Rallying to Keep the Game Alive" |
2020 | Mira, Royal Detective | Great-Aunt Rupa (voice) | |
2020 | Little Fires Everywhere | Anita Rees | 3 episodes |
2021 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Vanessa Blake | Episode: "In the Year We All Fell Down"[12] |
2021–present | And Just Like That... | Seema Patel | Main role; 7 Episodes |
2022 | Ramy | Olivia | Guest; 3 Episodes |
References
- "Sarita Choudhury to shift her base to India". Gulf News. IANS. 13 September 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
- "I only do nudity when I trust the director". Rediff.
- "Sarita Choudhury: 'My career has never been up and up'". Mintlounge. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
- Willmore, Alison (19 November 2013). "Sarita Choudhury on Getting Involved in the Spy Side of 'Homeland'". IndieWire.
- "Sarita Choudhury Talks Working with Tom Hanks in A Hologram for the King: It Made My Parents 'Proud'". People.
- "Sarita Choudhury: I feel like if I don't go to India once a year, I lose my sense of roots - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
- "Sarita Choudhury joins Sex and the City revival drama series, will play Manhattan real estate broker". Hindustan Times. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
- "From Queen's to Homeland". Queen's University. 2013. Archived from the original on 2 January 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
- "Sarita Choudhury". IMDb.
- "How Did You Get Your SAG-AFTRA Card?" TV Guide. 13 January 2014. p. 10.
- "People want escapism by Mathures Paul". The Statesman. 16 September 2010. Archived from the original on 30 November 2010.
- "Listings - LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT on NBC | TheFutonCritic.com".
External links

- Sarita Choudhury at IMDb
- Rediff nterview
- Heyoka Magazine nterview with John LeKay
- Eastern Eye Interview