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RJ Malishka is an eminent Indian radio personality and actress. She is popularly known as ‘Mumbai Ki Rani.’
Wiki/Biography
RJ Malishka was born as ‘Malishka Mendonsa’ on Sunday, 11 October 1981 (age 38 years; as in 2019) in Mumbai. She grew up in Santacruz East, Mumbai. Her zodiac sign is Libra. She did her Bachelor of Arts from the St Xavier’s College, Mumbai and did her MA in Political Science from the University of Mumbai, after taking a break of a year. She then pursued Post Graduation in Mass Communication from Sophia College, Mumbai.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5’ 2”
Eye Colour: Black
Hair Colour: Black
Family & Caste
She belongs to a Catholic Family. Her father passed away when she was very young. Her mother’s name is Lily Mendonsa. She has a younger sister.
RJ Malishka with her Mother and Sister
She is in a relationship with Kirthi Shetty.
RJ Malishka with her Boyfriend
Career
RJ Malishka began her career in the advertising industry. She interned under Indian ad film director Prahlad Kakkar but did not find the field so intriguing. She then did voice-overs for Discovery Channel in Hindi. She started her career as a radio jockey with “Win 94.6 FM” and worked with them for two years. Later, she joined Rediff Radio for seven months and then started working with Red FM.
RJ Malishka-Red FM
She has hosted popular radio shows like Morning No 1, Best Breakfast Programme and M Bole Toh. In 2013, she contested the popular dance reality show, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa as a wild card entrant, but got eliminated in the 9th week.
RJ Malishka in Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa
She turned actress with the 2017 Bollywood film “Tumhari Sulu” starring Vidya Balan, where she played the role of a radio jockey.
RJ Malishka During the Promotions of Tumhari Sulu
She has also frequented in the reality TV show Bigg Boss in many of its seasons. She has also dubbed for the Hindi version of the Hollywood films; The Incredibles (2004) as ‘Mirage(Mona)’ and Thor: Ragnarok (2017) as ‘Valkyrie / Scrapper 14.’ In 2020, she contested the TV reality show “Khatron Ke Khiladi 10” which aired on Colors TV.
RJ Malishka with the team of Khatron Ke Khiladi
Awards & Achievements
- Digital Influencer of the Year at 2020 OTT & Digital Marketing Innovation Awards
RJ Malishka with Her Award
- Dadasaheb Phalke Award for RJ of the Year in 2019
RJ Malishka with Dadasaheb Phalke Award
- Indian Excellence in Radio Awards for RJ of the Year in 2019
RJ Malishka with Indian Excellence in Radio Award
Controversy
In 2017, she posted a video, addressing the issue of potholes in Mumbai and criticising Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The video went viral but left her to face the wrath of Shiv Sena, the ruling party in the BMC. Following this, a Shiv Sena corporator released his video; countering Malishka’s song. In early 2019s, BMC invited Malishka to monitor their pre-monsoon work and also briefed about the working of the civic body. However, this did not stop Malishka, and she posted another video criticizing BMC.
Favourite Things
- TV Hosts: Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres
- Travel Destination: Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Facts/Trivia
- She likes travelling, reading, watching movies in theatres, going for drives, adventure sports, singing, and white water rafting.
- As a child, Malishka was a confident girl and was always eager to go on stage. She used to wait for the teacher’s day or children’s day, just to be on stage.
- During her school days, she used to be a part of all forms of activities, be it plays, Bharatanatyam dance training or singing.
- During her college days, she was a part of a PR team and also a singer in her college band.
- Her show “Morning No 1 with Malishka” won the Indian Excellence in Radio Awards for Best Breakfast Programme/Show (Hindi) for four consecutive years, i.e., from 2006 to 2010.
- RJ Malishka trained Vidya Balan for the film “Lage Raho Munnabhai” in which, Vidya was playing the role of an RJ. Talking about it, she said,
I guess it was Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s idea. You know, Raju Hirani (Munnabhai director) called me once and said that Chopra is a huge fan of mine, and wanted to mould a character in their next film on my personality. After that, Vidya would come over to the studios to learn the ropes and the mannerisms that go to make an RJ. I wouldn’t say she copied me, because I stretch the ‘gooooood’ in my greeting, and she did the ‘mooorning’!