Antara Biswas (Monalisa) Biography: Age, Career, Movies, TV Shows & Husband

Who Is Antara Biswas (Monalisa)?

Antara Biswas (Monalisa) Biography – Antara Biswas, known to millions of viewers simply as Monalisa, is one of the most recognizable faces to have crossed over from Bhojpuri cinema into mainstream Hindi television. Over a career spanning nearly three decades, she has built a reputation as one of Bhojpuri film industry’s most bankable actresses, while also carving out a second identity on national television through her role in the supernatural drama Nazar and her season-long stint on Bigg Boss 10.

She is often described in entertainment coverage as an Odia actress, a Bhojpuri star, and a Hindi TV personality all at once — a mix that reflects a genuinely unusual career path rather than any single, simple label. Her real biography, drawn from verified reporting rather than repeated online folklore, is somewhat different from the version that circulates on fan pages.

Antara Biswas (Monalisa) Biography / Quick Facts

Early Life and Education

Monalisa was born Antara Biswas on 21 November 1982 into a Bengali Hindu family in Kolkata, West Bengal. Her stage name was not her own idea — she has said in interviews that it was her uncle who suggested she adopt “Monalisa” as a screen name early in her career, and the name stuck, She is 44 years old in 2026.

She attended Julien Day School on Elgin Road in south Kolkata before going on to Ashutosh College, affiliated with the University of Calcutta, where she completed a Bachelor’s degree in Sanskrit. Before acting became a full-time career, she worked as a guest relations executive in restaurants and hotels in Kolkata — a period she has referred to in later interviews as a genuinely difficult phase before she found steady work in front of the camera.

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How Monalisa Started Her Career

Monalisa’s entry into the entertainment industry did not happen through Bollywood. She began as a small-time television actress and model, appearing in Odia (Oriya) music videos and albums — a common launching ground for young performers from eastern India at the time. This is also the root of the “Odia actress” tag that still follows her online, which is addressed in more detail below.

Her first credited film role came in the Hindi film Jayate (1997), playing a character named Aarti. Around the same period, she also began appearing in Odia films, including Hamam Phi Amsterdam (1998) and Jai Sriram (1999). Through the early 2000s, she took on small roles and special appearances in a string of low-budget Hindi films, including an item number in Daman (2001) and a special appearance in the song from Bunty Aur Babli (2005).

Her first real brush with mainstream Bollywood recognition came with the multi-starrer Blackmail (2005), featuring Ajay Devgn and Suniel Shetty, though her role there was a minor one. She found somewhat more attention playing opposite Amin Gazi in Tauba Tauba (2004), and also appeared in the Kannada film Jackpot (2006). None of these, however, would define her career the way her move into Bhojpuri cinema soon would.

Monalisa’s Film Career

Odia Films and Odisha Connection

This is one of the most misreported aspects of Monalisa’s biography, so it is worth stating plainly: Antara Biswas was born in Kolkata to a Bengali Hindu family, not in Odisha, and she has no documented Odia ethnic or family background. Several fan and biography sites label her an “Odia actress,” which overstates the connection.

What is accurate is that Odisha and the Odia entertainment industry gave her a genuine professional start. Before she had any footing in Bhojpuri or Hindi cinema, Monalisa worked as a model and small-time actress in Odia music videos and albums, and she went on to appear in a handful of Odia-language films, including Hamam Phi Amsterdam (1998), Jai Sriram (1999), and Wrong Number (2002). That early period built her visibility in eastern India and is why Odia entertainment portals continue to claim her, even decades later, as one of their own discoveries. Her connection to Odisha, in other words, is a career origin story rather than a birthplace or heritage claim.

Bhojpuri Cinema

Bhojpuri cinema is where Monalisa built her most substantial and lasting film career. She made her Bhojpuri debut with Bhole Shankar (2008), starring alongside veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty and Bhojpuri star-politician Manoj Tiwari. The film was a major commercial hit and reportedly broke the record for the biggest opening in Bhojpuri cinema at the time, instantly establishing Monalisa as a name to watch in the industry.

She followed this with a long run of commercially successful Bhojpuri films through the late 2000s and early 2010s, including Hum Bahubali, Saat Saheliyan, Devra Bada Satawela, and Devra Bhail Deewana, working alongside prominent Bhojpuri leading men such as Pawan Singh, Dinesh Lal Yadav “Nirahua,” Khesari Lal Yadav, and Ravi Kishan. By 2010, The Hindu newspaper named her — alongside actress Rinku Ghosh — as one of the two most in-demand actresses working in the Bhojpuri film industry at the time.

Across her Bhojpuri filmography, which runs into dozens of titles, she has frequently been described in entertainment coverage as one of the industry’s highest-paid and most popular actresses, a reputation reinforced by her consistent presence in commercially successful films through the 2010s.

Hindi and Other Indian Films

Outside Bhojpuri cinema, Monalisa’s film work has been more scattered across languages and mostly smaller in scale. In Hindi, beyond Jayate, Blackmail and Tauba Tauba, she appeared in films such as Money Hai Toh Honey Hai (2008) and took on a special appearance in the hit song from Bunty Aur Babli (2005). She has also featured in a number of South Indian productions across Kannada, Tamil and Telugu cinema, generally in supporting, item-number, or cameo roles rather than lead parts, including Jackpot (Kannada, 2006) and cameo appearances in Tamil films such as Vathiyar and Silambattam.

Monalisa’s Television Career

Television is where Monalisa transformed from a regional film star into a household name across India. Her national breakthrough came in 2016, when she joined the reality show Bigg Boss 10 as a contestant, finishing the season in sixth place. Her stint on the show became especially notable when she married her long-time boyfriend, fellow Bhojpuri actor Vikrant Singh Rajpoot, inside the Bigg Boss house on 17 January 2017 — a wedding broadcast live to the show’s national audience.

The momentum from Bigg Boss 10 carried into Nach Baliye 8 later in 2017, where she and Vikrant competed together as a couple.

Her most significant scripted television role came with Nazar (2018–2020), the supernatural drama in which she played Mohana Mehta Rathod, a role that became her signature performance and earned her a nomination for Best Actress in a Negative Role at the 2019 Indian Telly Awards. She reprised a version of the character in the spin-off Nazar 2 (2020) as Madhulika Chaudhary, and returned to the role once more in the 2021 telefilm Ankahee Dastaan: Nazar.

Following Nazar, she took on the role of Iravati Verma in Namak Issk Ka (2020–2021), then joined her husband for the couple-based reality format Smart Jodi (2022). She subsequently played Rama in the comedy Favvara Chowk (2022–2023) and Yamini Raichand in Ekta Kapoor’s Bekaboo (2023), a show built around a 1990s-set aesthetic.

Her television work has continued steadily since. In 2024, she appeared in Laal Banarasi as Nayantara Sinha, Mata Ki Mahima as Indrayani, and Shamshaan Champa as Mohini, before taking on the role of Rudrakshi in Prem Leela (2024–2025). In 2025, she played Mohana in Jaadu Teri Nazar – Daayan Ka Mausam.

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Bigg Boss and Other Reality Television

Beyond her career-defining stint on Bigg Boss 10, Monalisa has made repeat appearances in the reality-television space. She previously appeared as a guest on Bigg Boss 6 (2012) and returned as a guest to Bigg Boss 14 (2020). She has also appeared on Comedy Nights Bachao (2016), Comedy Dangal (2017), and Kitchen Champion (2019) as a celebrity contestant.

Most recently, in early 2026, Monalisa and Vikrant Singh Rajpoot joined the Farah Khan-hosted reality show The 50 on Colors TV and JioHotstar, marking the couple’s first joint reality appearance since Smart Jodi. The pair received their invitation to the show as a surprise gift on their ninth wedding anniversary. Monalisa’s run on the show ended after an elimination roughly two weeks in, and in subsequent interviews she and Vikrant spoke about feeling they had faced unfair treatment during the competition.

Monalisa’s Personal Life

Monalisa has generally kept her personal life relatively public, particularly through her social media, where she shares updates about her marriage and family. Her father passed away on 3 September 2025 following a prolonged illness; she shared the news and an emotional tribute to him on social media at the time, and has continued to publicly remember him on his death anniversary.

Monalisa’s Husband and Marriage

Monalisa is married to Vikrant Singh Rajpoot, a Bhojpuri film actor born on 29 September 1986 in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh. The two met and began dating before their relationship became public during Monalisa’s season of Bigg Boss, and they married inside the Bigg Boss house on 17 January 2017, in a wedding that was broadcast to viewers. Since then, the couple has frequently appeared together on television, including Nach Baliye 8 (2017), Smart Jodi (2022), and The 50 (2026), and both regularly feature each other on their respective social media accounts.

Monalisa Movies and Filmography

The table below lists a selection of her most notable and verifiable film work across languages; it is not a complete catalogue of her many Bhojpuri screen credits.

Monalisa TV Shows

She has also worked in web series, including Dupur Thakurpo 2 (2018, Bengali) as Jhuma Boudi, MX Player’s anthology Ratri Ke Yatri (2020–2022), Dhappa (2022) as Meera, Hasratein (2022) — for which she has said she read around 30 novels to prepare for her role as an erotic poetess — Bajao (2023) as Tanvi Choudhary, the Hungama OTT thriller Judwaa Jaal (2025), in which she played dual roles as twin sisters Anamika and Shuchi, and the microdrama Zindagi Ka U-Turn (2025).

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Awards and Achievements

Monalisa has been nominated for acting honours on more than one occasion, including Best Actress (Female) at the 2015 Bhojpuri Film Awards for Adalat, and Best Actress in a Negative Role at the 2019 Indian Telly Awards for her performance in Nazar. She has not won a major competitive acting award to date, based on currently verifiable records. Her larger reputation instead rests on commercial and popularity metrics — she is widely described in entertainment media as one of Bhojpuri cinema’s highest-paid and most in-demand actresses, and is regularly listed among the most-followed Bhojpuri actresses on social media.

Monalisa on Social Media

Monalisa is active on social media under consistent handles across platforms:

• Instagram: @aslimonalisa — her largest platform, with an audience in the millions
• X (Twitter): @AsliMonalisa
• Facebook: Asli Mona Lisa
• YouTube: Monalisa Antara Biswas Singh
• Email: contact.aslimonalisa[@]gmail.com

She regularly uses these accounts to share updates on her television projects, her marriage to Vikrant Singh Rajpoot, and moments from her personal life.

Frequently Asked Questions about Antara Biswas (Monalisa) Biography

What is Monalisa’s real name?

Her real name is Antara Biswas. “Monalisa” is a stage name suggested to her by her uncle early in her career.

Who is Monalisa?

Monalisa is an Indian actress best known for her work in Bhojpuri cinema and for playing Mohana Mehta Rathod in the Hindi television show Nazar. She rose to national prominence after appearing on Bigg Boss 10 in 2016.

How old is Monalisa?

She was born on 21 November 1982, in Kolkata, West Bengal.

Where is Monalisa from?

She was born and raised in Kolkata, West Bengal, to a Bengali Hindu family.

Is Monalisa an Odia actress?

Not by birth or heritage — she was born in Kolkata to a Bengali family. However, she began her career doing Odia music videos and appeared in a few Odia films early on, which is why she is sometimes described as an Odia actress in regional media.

Who is Monalisa’s husband?

She is married to Vikrant Singh Rajpoot, a Bhojpuri film actor. The couple married inside the Bigg Boss house on 17 January 2017.

Which movies has Monalisa acted in?

Her filmography spans Hindi, Bhojpuri, Odia, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Bengali productions. Her most notable Bhojpuri work includes Bhole Shankar, Hum Bahubali and Saat Saheliyan, while in Hindi she appeared in films such as Blackmail and Tauba Tauba.

Which TV shows is Monalisa known for?

She is best known for Nazar and its spin-off Nazar 2, along with reality-show appearances on Bigg Boss 10, Nach Baliye 8, Smart Jodi, and, most recently, The 50 in 2026.

Conclusion

Antara Biswas’s journey from Odia music videos and B-grade Bhojpuri films to becoming one of that industry’s most bankable actresses, and eventually a familiar face on national Hindi television, is a genuinely unusual one for the Indian entertainment landscape. Nearly three decades after her first screen appearance, Monalisa continues to work steadily across television and streaming, remaining one of the more enduring crossover stars to emerge from regional Indian cinema.