Ashwini Bhave is an Indian film, theatre and television actress and producer. She was born on May 7, 1972. She began her acting career in the late eighties with theatre productions and television serials, and was first recognized for her performance on the Doordarshan show Antariksh.

Following this, she entered the film industry with Marathi projects, including films like Sachin Pilgaonkar’s Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi (1988) and Mahesh Kothare’s Dhadakebaaz (1990). In 1991, Bhave had her first Bollywood release with Randhir Kapoor’s Henna (1991), despite it being the second one she had filmed – the first being Surendra Mohan’s Honeymoon (1992), which had a delayed release. Henna (1991), which was produced by Randhir Kapoor under the banner of R.K. Films, was conceptualized by Raj Kapoor himself decades earlier in the 50s, and Bhave considers being part of the project one of the biggest achievements of her career.

Bhave went on the appear in numerous Hindi, Marathi and Kannada projects, including Sainik (1993), Vishnu-Vijaya (1993), Rangenahalliyage Rangada Rangegowda (1997), Bandhan (1998), Yugpurush (1998). She also continued her work in television with projects like the Hindi series Yug (1996 – 1998), as well as in theatre.

After getting married to Kishore Bopardikar, a software engineer, Bhave relocated to San Francisco, USA, where she took some time off work. She finally ended a long break away from acting with Kadachit (2007), a Marathi mystery film which she starred in as well as co-produced after founding her own company, KASA Films. The film was extremely well-received by audiences both in India as well as in the US. However, Kadachit (2007) was not her first attempt at production, as Bhave had previously produced, written as well as directed a documentary film titled Warli Art and Culture (2002), which was not released commercially but was screened at the Mumbai International Film Festival.

Bhave’s most recent work was seen in 2013, in her capacity as an associate producer for the documentary film titled The Human Experiment (2013). The film, which exposed the reality of untested chemicals used in everyday products, was made in the US, where Bhave currently resides with her husband and two children.