Tarina Patel

Tarina Patel
Born	Cape Town, South Africa
Education	Durban Girls' College University of the Free State
Occupation(s)	Actress, model, film producer
Years active	2006 – present
Notable work	Bhool Bhulaiyaa
Spouse	Iqbal Sharma (m. 2009)

Tarina Patel is a South African actress, film producer, model and television host, born in Cape Town and raised in Durban. She appeared in Akshay Kumar's, Horror-comedy - Bhool Bhulaiyaa. She has been on the South African version of The Real Housewives of Johannesburg but allegedly has been fired for season 3.

Early Life and Education

Patel was born in Cape Town, South Africa and raised in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal province. She is the only daughter of Raman Patel, a doctor specialising in family and emergency medicine, and Veena Patel a teacher of English and History. She has two brothers Hitesh Patel, a business law and tax expert and Dinesh Patel who studied actuarial science and business science and founded his own business called Order-In. Patel is an ancestral Gujarati and was raised in the Hindu faith.

Patel was educated at Durban Girls' College where her studies included English, Afrikaans, French, Latin, Biology, Science, mathematics, advanced mathematics and computer science. After completing high school, she moved to Mumbai to study medicine (pre-med) at Jai Hand College and then at Grant Medical College, where her father had studied medicine.

Returning to South Africa, Tarina converted her medical credits and joined the honours program in psychology at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, one of the country’s best medical faculties. She graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Clinical Psychology, however, she has never formally practiced as a psychologist.

Career

Acting and film

Patel returned to India after competing her degree in psychology and learned Hindi - a prerequisite for an actor in the Bollywood film industry. She made her film debut in 2006 with the film One Night With The King alongside Omar Sharif and Peter O'Toole. She followed with the Bollywood film Just Married, released on March 16, 2007. She had a special appearance in Dhol. She also performed a small role in the movie Bhagam Bhag and in Bhool Bhulaiyaa, which was the year's highest grossing motion picture in India, playing the supporting role of Nandini Upadhyay.

In 2015, Patel joined the cast of the hit South African soap Generations: The Legacy.She also presented on the South African flagship magazine programs, Top Billing, Afternoon Express, and Eastern Mosaic.

Most recently, Patel has been on the South African version of The Real Housewives of Johannesburg season 2 but allegedly was fired for season 3.

Producer

Patel’s role in engaging Ethiopia in the production of the film, heralded a new chapter in South Africa’s cross-cultural relations with Ethiopia. Mandela's Gun was supported by the South African Department of Arts and Culture and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition. The film screened at Cannes where it received a standing ovation.

In 2022, she served as associate producer on the South African socio-political thriller Collision, which premiered on Netflix on 16 June 2022 in 97 countries and was in the Top 10 for close on two months.

Yellow Effect will, through a system of skills sharing and empowering of young women, develop new talent for the local film industry as a way of giving back. Projects currently in pre-production are the bio-pic Papwa S, Moni (limited series), and a reality show to be shot in India.

Other Work

Humanitarian Work

When Patel’s father fell ill with the auto-immune lung disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), she accompanied him to India where they spent 18 months seeking out the best medical care for his condition. She cared for him, singlehandedly.

It was during this time that Patel and her father identified some of the everyday problems faced by the hospitals in which he was being treated, including the rapid spread of infection. To protect her father, Patel immediately put in place protocols to combat infection, and these were so successful that her methods were adopted by the hospital, and Patel was given free range to introduce further measures as she saw fit. The impact of her work continues to save lives at those facilities.

When her father was pushed to the bottom of the list of transplant recipients, because he was a foreigner, Patel petitioned to change the law regarding organ transplants, so that patients of the Indiaspora, in dire need of an organ would be evaluated, not in terms of their nationality, but rather in terms of the seriousness of their condition.

While in India, Patel also worked alongside local organisations in Chennai to highlight organ donation. There is no tradition of organ donation in northern India and Patel led the drive to inform and encourage donation in that part of the country. As her initiative continued to gain momentum, the state of Chennai recognised her efforts.

To honour her father and his legacy, Patel founded the Dr Ramanbhai Patel Foundation which considers health care to be a basic human right and focuses on health care in Africa and India. Her passion for both her African heritage and Indian culture, forms the basis for her humanitarian work and social activism on both continents.

The Foundation’s first programme was to take highly skilled doctors from India to Africa where they would offer their time and expertise to assist local populations with primary health care. This initiative was very successful and eventually spread to Ghana, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Nigeria.

Another initiative driven by the foundation was the introduction of MediATM kiosks to Africa. These are a game-changer in rural communities, allowing for quick and efficient health screening and face to face consultation with doctors via video screen. This innovative telemedicine model delivers telemedicine through unique, scalable ATMs that deliver affordable, quality health care. It is envisaged that MediATMs will bridge the existing gaps in rural health care and, eventually, create quality health care services for all.

Patel is the founder of the Gandhi-Mandela Peace Initiative which was launched in July 2019. The Initiative aims at reviving the message of inclusive and sustainable living inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.

Awards and Recognition

In 2022, during a ceremony held at the Members’ Room, UK Parliament, The Global Gandhi Awards honoured Tarina Patel in recognition of her charitable and humanitarian services.

The Global Gandhi Awards promote the lessons of truth, nonviolence, peace, and equality while honouring Mahatma Gandhi’s beliefs, teachings, and principles.

Gujrati Pravasi Award (2022) was presented to Patel by Amit Shah and the Chief Minister of Gujrat for her contribution to the arts

Filmography

Film

• Hotel Rwanda (2004)
• One Night with the King (2006) as princess Tamina
• Just Married (2007 film) as Sarah
• Dhol (film) (2007) as Kannika
• Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) as Nandini Upadhyay
• Dus Kahaniyaan (2007)
• Karzzzz (2008) as Julie
• Chase (2010 film) as Surbhee Patel
• Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal (2012) as Lily
• Trap City (2021)

Television

• The Res (2004) as Keshini
• Idols South Africa (2011)
• The Wild (TV series) as Jiah (2011)
• Eastern Mosaic
• Top Billing (TV programme) (2009 - 2013)
• Afternoon Express (2015)
• MTV VJ
• Charlie's Angels
• Egoli: Place of Gold
• Generations:The Legacy (2015) as Karishma Sharma
• Kings of Jo'Burg as Ms Salem (2020)
• The Real Housewives of Johannesburg (2018 - 2020)
• Rockville as Sexy Cougar (2021)
• African Dreams as Priyanka (2021)
• Ayeye(Season 2) as Bitchy Mom (2022)
• Blood Legacy (TV series) as Meera Rapmersadh 2024)

Producer

• Mandela's Gun (Executive Producer)
• Collision (Associate Producer)

External links

• Tarina Patel at IMDb