Born on May 17, 1985, Mumbai girl Nushrratt Bharuccha belongs to Dawoodi Bohra community. At age 16, Nushrat, as a student of Jai Hind College, hoping to get an opportunity to volunteer as a scout, walked into a talent management firm. However, the talent management company offered her to act in Zee TV's serial, Kitty Party (2002), instead. But within a year, Nushrat quit the show. (All photos/Nushrat Bharucha's official Instagram account and AFP)

Four years later, Nushrratt Bharuccha made her Bollywood debut with Jai Santoshi Maa (2006), opposite Rakesh Bapat, now known as Raqesh Vashisth.

In picture: Nushrratt posted this childhood photo of hers on World Theatre Day and wrote alongside, "My first theatre experience turned to stage fright! I walked on stage dressed as Ms. Hawaii and froze. There was an awkward silence, after which I walked out without saying a word. To this day, I feel performing for a live audience is challenging and I’m in awe of all artists who do it effortlessly. #Respect #WorldTheatreDay"

After Jai Santoshi Maa, Nushrratt Bharuccha was seen in 2009's Jackky Bhagnani-starrer Kal Kissne Dekha, which bombed at the Box Office. Moreover, Nushrat had quite a tiny role in the film, which almost went unnoticed.

In picture: Nushrratt Bharuccha with her mother Tasneem. The actress had shared this picture on Mother's Day and wrote alongside, "She dances with me, dresses me up and gives me the best adventures of my life! Every day of my life is Your day Mother!"

2010 proved to be quite a fruitful year for Nushrratt. She was seen in Love Sex Aur Dhokha, a film which had three sub-plots - honour killing, MMS scandal and a sting operation; and she was a part of the honour killing sub-plot. In the same year, she also was also part of 2010's TV show Seven.

However, that was her last TV outing as Nushrratt Bharuccha went on records saying she finds the TV medium very restrictive and doesn't derive job satisfaction by doing serials and soaps. "In a TV setup, my body feels restricted as I have to emote only from my face. I find it restricting. Now that I have done it once, I can safely say I don't want to do it again," Nushrat told IANS, adding, "I can shoot even for 24 hours, but I cannot do too many scenes in these 24 hours. In TV, this happens because it is a daily medium, but I cannot work like that as I need time for my scenes. I need to prepare and I cannot do it in a rush. That medium doesn't give me that satisfaction of doing a character creatively."

In 2011, tables turned for Nushrratt Bharuccha! She got noticed in director Luv Ranjan's 2011 romantic comedy Pyaar Ka Punchnama, where she played a nagging girlfriend Neha. She was paired with Kartik Tiwari (now Kartik Aaryan).

Nushrratt's performance in Pyaar Ka Punchnama became her calling card, so much so that people started recognising her by her character in that film rather than her real name. "Initially, I was taking the tag of 'Panchnama girl' sportingly but then I realised that people called me by that name more than my real name," she told mid-day.

Did you know that Nushrratt Bharuccha had dreamt of debuting in films with Karan Johar's 2012 movie, Student Of The Year? Bharuccha had said in 2018, "I remember auditioning for Student Of The Year in front of Karan Johar. It was back then that I performed in front of him."

Nushrratt Bharuccha was one of the shortlisted actresses for the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire along with Freida Pinto. But she was not finalised because of her looks. Director Danny Boyle's team cited reasons that Nushrratt does not fit the character.

Nushrratt Bharuccha has a simple yet magical mantra to get a mental and physical boost. She believes a good game of badminton is all it takes to keep her energised and in good physical shape. She has been playing the sport since her early childhood days with her parents and till date, no matter how hectic her schedule is, she ensures to devote at least an hour every day for her favourite sport.

Did you know Nushrratt Bharuccha considers Kajol as her idol? Kajol has been Nushrrat's motivation with her stellar performances ever since she decided to be an actor. In an interview with mid-day, back in 2013, Nushrat Bharucha had said, "Kajol is the one who always inspired me and I eventually made up my mind to be in the Hindi film industry someday."

Very few know that Nushrratt Bharuccha enrolled herself in a week-long course for a Diploma in Acting at the New York Film Academy in 2018. The actress was in Los Angeles due to some work commitments when she had applied for it. "I always wanted to do a course from NY college since I have heard so much about it and one of my really good friends has done a two-year course whose doing good for herself in theatre," said Nushrratt.

Coming back to Nushrratt Bharuccha's films, after Pyaar Ka Punchnama in 2011, she starred in Akaash Vani (2013), alongside Kartik Aaryan. In 2014, she starred in Darr @ The Mall. She was again featured in the second instalment of the Pyaar Ka Punchnama, which released in 2015. In the same year, she was also seen in Meeruthiya Gangster. In 2018, Nushrratt reunited with Kartik Aaryan with Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, that went on to become a super-hit film!

However, Nushrratt Bharuccha felt somewhere she was being typecast. The image the Pyaar Ka Punchnama franchise created for her was the reason she was getting similar roles and films further. In an interview, Nushrat had said that the only thing which is hurting is she not getting a different kind of roles.

In picture: Ayushmann Khurrana and Nushrratt Bharuccha, during the trailer launch of their film Dream Girl.

"The image 'Pyaar Ka Punchnama' 1 and 2 had created for me. I was getting offered a similar kind of roles and similar films. And I felt that I don't want to do this. I want to do something I have not done before... I feel like why cant an actor be seen like an actor who can act in any sort of part and role," Nushrratt said.

In picture: Nushrratt Bharuccha will also be seen alongside Rajkummar Rao in Chhalaang (earlier titled Turram Khan), directed by award-winning director Hansal Mehta.

She added: "Why does it have to be that you have done this well you would only be able to do that. When you offer an actor a film he's equally responsible to bring something more to the film than you have imagined right. And you should let him do that. That is part of an actor's job too to kind of bring your character the way you see it and to give it a little more from their understanding, talent and craft."

Well, certainly, the craft-building takes time. "But you only build it if you are constantly going to be doing it. If you don't give it to me then how will I build my craft? It is a two-way street. You got to have that faith to take those initial steps towards your actor and trust your actor," Nushrratt said.

But Nushrratt has nothing to complain anymore. "I don't have that complain anymore. 'Turram Khan', 'Hurdang' and 'Dream Girl (her last release) for me are very different from what I have done and different from each other as well. So I am glad that people are giving me that opportunity and hope I stand true to it," she said.

Here's wishing a very happy birthday to Nushrratt!