Richa Gangopadhyay born Antara Gangopadhyay on 20 March 1986 is an Indian film actress, model and former beauty queen. After appearing in commercials, she made her film debut in the 2010 Telugu political drama Leader. Since then, she went on to win critical acclaim for her role in Nagavalli and commercial success with her role in Mirapakaay.Her first Tamil film is Mayakkam Enna in which she has received positive reviews from both the critics as well as the general movie going public.
Richa was signed on to portray the lead role in the 2010 Telugu film, Leader produced by AVM Productions and directed by Sekhar Kammula. She was recommended to an assistant director of Leader whilst at a gym, who in turn recommended her to Sekhar Kammula. Richa moved to Hyderabad and auditioned for the film on her birthday. She was selected instantly and shooting started 2 days later. In the film, she played the role of Archana, a CEO of a TV channel and a daughter of a politician who falls in love with the title character, played by debutant Rana Daggubati. The film opened to positive reviews and did well commercially, with Richa's performance described as "pretty and charming" and "good in a performance oriented role" by critics. After the success of the film, director P. Vasu signed her up to appear in Nagavalli, a sequel to his 2005 film Chandramukhi. The film featured an ensemble cast of Venkatesh, Anushka Shetty, Shraddha Das and Poonam Kaur. The film also opened to average reviews, with Richa's portrayal of a girl psychologically possessed by the ghost of Nagavalli, leading to critics dubbing her as "impressive" and "convincing".
Her first release in 2011 was the action film Mirapakaay also featuring Ravi Teja and Deeksha Seth in lead roles. She was signed after the director of the film, Harish Shankar, had noticed her at the success party of her previous film Leader. He initially offered her the role played by Deeksha as she was an NRI, but when they met to review the script, he was convinced that Richa would do justice to the character of Vinamra, a traditional Brahmin girl. The film opened to good reviews with Richa's performance being described as "just about okay" by critics. Richa will next be seen in two Tamil films; the first being Mayakkam Enna, a drama film based on marriage featuring Dhanush and directed by Selvaraghavan. Furthermore she has signed on to appear alongside Silambarasan in a leading role in Dharani's Osthe, the Tamil remake of the 2010 Hindi film Dabangg.
