Mrunal Thakur has once again been winning audiences over with her performance in Pooja Meri Jaan, with viewers appreciating the intensity and emotional depth she brings to the character. Her latest role adds another memorable performance to a filmography that has seen her move across languages, genres and very different characters.
Poster Image Of Pooja Meri Jaan, Love Sonia And Sita Ramam- Courtesy of ZEE5, JioHotstar and Prime Video
From emotionally demanding roles to lighter, more nuanced portrayals, Mrunal has consistently brought a grounded quality to her performances. Here are five roles that have stayed with audiences.
1. Pooja Meri Jaan [Hindi Zee 5]
In Pooja Meri Jaan, Mrunal Thakur takes on one of her most intense and layered roles yet. As Pooja, she finds herself caught in a series of unsettling circumstances that bring questions around rejection, consent, perception and accountability to the forefront.
Mrunal keeps her performance restrained, allowing Pooja’s emotional journey to unfold without giving audiences easy answers. Through her expressions, silences and moments of vulnerability, she captures a woman navigating circumstances that become increasingly difficult to make sense of. The role gives Mrunal an opportunity to explore a more intense emotional register and has once again placed her performance at the centre of conversations around the film.
2. Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai [Hindi Zee 5]
In Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, Mrunal Thakur plays Baani, an independent and ambitious woman whose relationship with Jass (Varun Dhawan) becomes complicated as they navigate questions around love, marriage, personal ambitions and parenthood. The role gives Mrunal the opportunity to explore a lighter side of her performance after a series of emotionally demanding characters.
She brings Baani a sense of confidence and relatability, while her chemistry with Varun adds to the film’s romantic dynamic. The character also showcases Mrunal’s ability to move comfortably between intense dramas and lighter commercial entertainers.
3. Hi Nanna [Netflix]
In Hi Nanna, Mrunal plays Yashna, a woman who enters the lives of Viraj (Nani) and his daughter Mahi (Kiara Khanna) after rescuing Mahi from an accident. As the story unfolds, Yashna’s connection to the family takes an emotional turn when it is revealed that she is actually Varsha, Viraj’s wife and Mahi’s mother, who survived a previous accident but lost her memory.
Mrunal brings a layered quality to both sides of the character, the warm, compassionate Yashna in the present and Varsha, whose past is gradually revealed. Her performance carries the film’s themes of love, motherhood, memory and rediscovering relationships. Her emotional scenes with Nani and Kiara form an important part of the film’s emotional core.
4. Love Sonia [JioHotstar]
In Love Sonia, Mrunal plays Sonia, a young woman from a rural background who sets out to find her missing sister and becomes trapped in the world of human trafficking. The film follows her harrowing journey as she confronts exploitation and danger while refusing to give up on her sister. The role demanded a raw and emotionally challenging performance, and Mrunal brings vulnerability and determination to Sonia’s journey. As her film debut, Love Sonia also introduced audiences to her ability to take on difficult, socially relevant material and anchor an emotionally demanding story through her performance.
5. Sita Ramam [Amazon Prime Video]
In Sita Ramam, Mrunal plays Sita Mahalakshmi, an enigmatic woman whose letters change the life of Lieutenant Ram (Dulquer Salmaan). What begins as a mysterious correspondence gradually develops into an emotional love story, with Sita becoming central to Ram’s life and his search for answers.
Mrunal brings warmth, elegance and emotional depth to Sita, balancing the character’s romantic charm with an underlying strength. Her chemistry with Dulquer became one of the film’s highlights, while the emotional turns in Sita’s journey allowed her to showcase a nuanced side of her performance.
Pooja Meri Jaan is streaming exclusively on Hindi Zee 5