Priyanka Karki

Priyanka Karki is a well-known Nepali actress, model, director, writer, and the winner of Miss Teen Nepal 2005. She is amongst the most successful artists in Nepali cinema, excelling in numerous fields including acting, singing, and modeling.

Early Life:
Priyanka Karki was born in 1987 in Kathmandu, Nepal. She is the daughter of Bhupendra Karki and Raksha Malhotra. Priyanka studied at the University of North Alabama, majoring in Film and Digital Media Production with a minor in Theatre. She graduated in honors, earning the honor of summa cum laude.

Career:
Acting Career:
Priyanka began her adult acting career in the 2012 film 3 Lovers, where she played a double role. This was the beginning of her successful acting career. She featured in Sadanga in 2015, which was a gangster thriller with Sauram Raj Tuladhar and Saugat Malla. The film received positive critics from the viewers.

Her most successful film was Nai Nabannu La 2, earning over four million Nepalese Rupees during its weekend opening at the box office. Her performance in Jholay and Nai Na Bhannu La 2 earned her some award wins that included the 2017 Online Filmykhabar Award Best Actress Award, NEFTA Best Actor Supporting (Female) Role, INFA Best Actor Supporting (Female) Role, and INFA Most Popular Actress (Female) awards.

Although her follow-up release, Aawaran, did not perform as well on the box office, it was significant in that it was her debut as a singer. Priyanka Karki sang the original soundtrack of Aawaran with popular rapper Yama Buddha.

Karki’s Suntali premiered at the prestigious 19th Busan International Film Festival under ‘A Window on Asian Cinema’ section. Although it did not perform well commercially, Priyanka won Best Actress (Female) at the National Film Critics Award (NFCA) and NFDC National Film Awards in 2017.

In the horror/thriller film Mala (2015), Priyanka was a widow in a white sari with a single line in the entire film, a one-word line. The film featured the chart-topping hit song “Surke Thaili Khai,” which became the first Nepali song to reach 20 million views on YouTube.

Music Career:
Apart from being an actress, Priyanka Karki also tried her hand at music. She sang a cover of evergreen Bachchu Kailash’s “Timi Le Ta Hoina” and uploaded a video for the song. She also collaborated with YouTube singer Nattu Shah on singing a cover version of Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat’s “Lucky.”

Priyanka’s debut single, Swatantra, released in January 2016, was a freedom song based on independence and freedom. The single performed well and earned more than 300,000 views within two weeks and one million views within two months.

In addition to her film work and music endeavors, Priyanka was a judge for Nepal’s first-ever international dance reality show Boogie Woogie Nepal, as part of a team with choreographer Kabiraj Gahatraj and actor Dilip Rayamajhi.

Personal Life:
Priyanka Karki’s personal life has also attracted significant attention. She married Rochak Mainali, a man from Troy, New York, at the age of 22, but the couple divorced after two years. After several years of speculation, she married fellow Nepali film actor Ayushman DS Joshi in February 2020. The couple welcomed their first child, a daughter, in September 2021.