Mrunmayee Lagoo

Mrunmayee Lagoo was born in Opera House at Dr Shah Maternity Home in Mumbai to actors Vivek Lagoo and Reema Lagoo. Her mother, a famous film, television and theatre actress who worked in numerous Hindi and Marathi films, was known for playing the character of the hero or heroine’s mother in many blockbuster films. Her father is a renowned Marathi stage actor, and both her parents were also colleagues in a bank. Her mother, whose birth name was Nayan Bhadbhade, adopted the name ‘Reema Lagoo’ after her marriage to Vivek Lagoo in 1978, two years after they met in 1976. Her parents separated and got divorced a few years later, but came back together for a Hindi play called ‘Doorsa Silsila’ in 2014.

Reema Lagoo died of cardiac arrest on May 18, 2017. Mrunmayee, who performed the funeral in Oshiwara crematorium, in the city's Jogeshwari suburb, later stated during a heartfelt interview that she was not prepared for it, and she doesn’t think she could ever be. Being separated from her father as a child, Mrunmayee was extremely close to her mother and they were like friends.

Sanu, the nickname by which Mrunmayee was known when she was a child, trained in three different dance forms: Bharatnatyam, Jazz and Salsa. She attended a boarding school, where she was a brilliant student. She later earned a degree in Advertising and Mass Communication. She loves to read books, watch films, and travel to different places. She is a fan of English theatre and has also acted in many English plays. While she is enjoying working with famous actors and directors, she hopes to write and direct a film on her own someday. On December 1st, 2014, she got married to Vinay Vaaykool, who works as an assistant director.

A multitalented artist, Mrunmayee Lagoo followed her parents into the entertainment industry after completing her education. She initially acted in Marathi films, and bagged a ‘Zee Gaurav Puraskar’ for her role in ‘Bayo’ as early as 2007. She continued to work in more Marathi films, including the 2007 comedy ‘Mukkam Post London’, the 2008 comedy ‘Doghat Tisra Aata Sagala Visara’ and the movie ‘Saatchya Aat Gharat’.

In 2010, she made her Bollywood debut with the Hindi family drama ‘Hello Zindagi’, in which her character goes through a journey of self-discovery. While the media termed it as a new chapter in her career, according to her, the hype was only because the film was in Hindi. She explained that she did the film because she liked the script, and that she would have done the film even if it was in Bengali, Marathi or some South Indian language. However, even before her acting debut in Bollywood, she went behind the camera, working as the third assistant director in the Amir Khan starrer Bollywood blockbuster, ‘3 Idiots’, in 2009. She always wanted to work behind the camera, and that acting happened to her by chance. In the following years, she has worked behind-the-scene in many more Bollywood films — working with Amir Khan again in ‘Talaash’, ‘PK’, ‘Dangal’, and the documentary TV series ‘Satyamev Jayate’, and in other hit movies like ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ and ‘Gulaab Gang’.