Sonali was born in the Marathi-speaking Kulkarni family in Pune, Maharashtra, India during the year 1974. Her dad is an Engineer, and she has two brothers, Sandeep and Sandesh.
Even she was a child, her passion was acting, and got her chance to exhibit her talents during the Ganesh Mahotsav. She was enrolled in the Abhinav Vidhyalalya in Pune, and after completing schooling was enrolled in Ferguson College, where she majored in Political Science and got a scholarship in Marathi literature. She used to speak Hindi, Marathi and English fluently, but since then also picked-up Gujarati, Italian, and Tamil.
After attending a workshop by Satyadev Dubey she and Sandesh formed a theater group and called it 'Samanvay'.
She first made her appearance on the tinsel screen in a Tamil movie titled 'Cheluvi', and thereafter has appeared in a total of 32 movies, including one in Italian titled 'Fuoco Si Di Me' for which she won an award in the 2006 Milan International Film Festival.
An average day in her life begins with prays, followed by tea, a physical workout supervised by her personal trainer, Kunal; shopping, reading, writing, cooking, which she inherited from her mother, and listening to music. Before lunch she meditates for 10 minutes, and has followed her mother's habit of lighting the Diya every evening at sundown.
Apart from acting, she is also an Editor with 'Viva', a supplement of 'Loksatta', and pens a weekly column called 'So Kool'.
April 12, 2006: Actress Sonali Kulkarni has won the best actress award at the Milan Film Festival for her performance in Italian film Fuoco Su Di Me (My Heart Is On Fire).
Filmography
* I See You (2006) ....
* Darna Zaroori Hai (2006) ... Mrs. Pilgaonkar
* Taxi Number 9211 (2006) ... Mrs. Shastri
* White Rainbow (2005) .... Priya
* Fuoco Su Di Me {Italian} (My Heart Is On Fire) (2005) ....
* Bride & Prejudice (2004) .... Chandra Lamba
* Devrai (2004) .... Seena
* Hanan (2004) .... Bhagwati
* Silence Please... The Dressing Room (2004) .... Reporter Aparna Sen
* Danav (2003) .... Lakshmi
* Dil Vil Pyar Vyar (2002) .... Gauri
* Agni Varsha (2002) .... Nittilai
* Kitne Door Kitne Paas (2002) .... Jaya
* Junoon (2002)
* Dil Chahta Hai (2001) .... Pooja
* Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya (2001) .... Geeta
* Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (2000) .... Ramabai Ambedkar
* Mission Kashmir (2000) .... Neelima Khan
* Kairee (2000) .... The girl as grown up
* Jahan Tum Le Chalo (1999)
* Daayraa (1996) .... The Girl
* "Badalte Rishte" (1996) TV Series .... Ulka
* Vrindavan Film Studios (1996) .... Radha
* Doghi (1995) .... Krishna
* May Madham (1994)
* Mukta (1994) .... Mukta
* Cheluvi (1992) .... Cheluvi
* baja (1990)
* Born in 1974
