Thukral was born into a Punjabi hindu family and was raised in Mumbai. She completed her M.A in Economics from Kishinchand Chellaram College. She was spotted by producer D. Ramanaidu while dining at a hotel in Juhu. He offered her a role in his upcoming filmHai.
Career
Thukral was the part of Aati Rahengi Baharein crew, which was a popular television drama series that aired on Zee TV channel on 9 September 2002. She then shifted to the Southfilm industry by debuting in the Telugu filmHai. After appearing in Hai, Thukral starred opposite Fahad Fazil in his film debut Kaiyethum Doorath. The Malayalam film was not a box office success, but she was able to find additional roles in Tamil and Telugu films like Kurumbu and Sambaram. In 2005, she entered Kannada cinema with S. S. Niwas's Maharaja. Thukral then returned to star in a Tamil film and featured in Venkat Prabhu's multistarrer Saroja as Kalyani, the muse of a gangster portrayed by Sampath Raj, and won critical acclaim for her performance. Her appearance in the song "Kodana Kodi" was appreciated as the song became popular, while her role in the film also led to her winning the ITFA Best Supporting Actress Award. The success led her to sign on to appear in a big film production, Gautham Menon's Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam in a role alongside Trisha Krishnan, but the film was shelved after two schedules. After 2008, she shifted her priority from Telugu to Kannada cinema, going on to co-star with leading actors Upendra, Puneeth Rajkumar, V. Ravichandran and Darshan. After Prince, she signed on to be part of several films including Cottonpet and Priyasakha, opposite Ramesh Aravind and a Telugu film named Apartment, but none of them saw a theatrical release. Her next releases were the Tamil thriller film Muran, that saw her playing Indhu, alongside actors Cheran and Prasanna and the historical film, Kranthiveera Sangolli Rayanna. Her only 2013 release was the Tamil masala filmAlex Pandian. In 2014, she was seen in three Kannada films, although two of them, Namaste Madam and Namo Bhootatma, featured in her cameo roles only. Her future films include the crime dramaRing Road Shubha, reportedly the first Kannada film to be made by an all-women crew, the horror flick Avunu 2 in Telugu as well as the anthological drama Traffic that would mark her Hindi debut. In addition to acting, Thukral has also done modelling work for designer Roopa Vohra. She also participated in the first season of the reality show Bigg Boss Kannada, the Kannada version of Bigg Boss. She completed 99 days in the Bigg Boss Home and was the second runner-up of the show.
Controversy
Nikita Thukral was reportedly banned from Kannada films for three years starting from 10 September 2011 by the Kannada Film Producers' Association for an alleged illicit relationship with actor Darshan. The ban was implemented after Darshan's wife accused him of assaulting her and in her complaint, she suggested that Thukral had been responsible for the violence. Consequently, Nikita denied the claims, calling them "ridiculous" and asked for proof, announcing a voluntary break from Kannada films for trying to ruin her image. Since the announcement of her ban, other film personalities have rallied in support of Thukral, who had been in hospital at the time due to low blood pressure and stress. Subsequently, the ban was revoked after five days of extensive protesting against the KFPA's original decision.
