Dolly Ahluwalia

Some Lesser Known Facts About Dolly Ahluwalia

• Dolly Ahluwalia was born in a traditional Punjabi family and liked dancing and acting since her school days.

  

• When her father took her to the National School of Drama (NSD) for the first time, she saw 3 girls smoking. She told her father that she didn’t want to learn there.

• However, her father took her to Director Ebrahim Alkazi, who selected her and allowed her to be a day scholar.

  

• After finishing her acting course at NSD, she wanted to become an air hostess. She took admission in an air hostess training academy in Mumbai, where she stayed for only 3 days.

• When she told her father that she was confused about her career, her father told her to lock herself in a Pooja room and then make the decision. She later placed 3 chits in front of Guru Granth Sahib and chose one which read acting.

• She joined a theatre group and acted in theatre for 9 years and 9 months, but started feeling bored and left it.

  

• Elkazi’s wife taught costume design at NSD. Ahluwalia learnt from her and theatre artist and director MK Raina gave her first chance as a costume designer in his play, Andha Yug.

• She later became the 15th assistant for Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi. She also designed for national TV serials and Jalandhar Doordarshan to support herself financially.

• She is a gold medalist from the National School of Drama, but her mentor, Ebrahim Alkazi, noticed her passion for costume designing and told her to focus on it.

• She got this passion from her aunt also, who paid attention to her clothes. She also takes inspiration from nature for different colours, fabrics, and textures.

• She once got a call from Bobby Bedi that Shekhar Kapur was looking for a costume designer. When she went to meet him, she first asked to hug him as she had a crush on him, which he did.

  

• She also learnt on the sites of her first film as a costume designer, Bandit Queen. Cinematographer Ashok Mehta took her up on the crane and showed actors from the height, helping her understand colours.

• In 2016, she returned to TV after 2 decades, playing the role of her real-life husband Kamal Tewari’s sister on screen in the show ‘Agar Tum Saath Ho,’ which aired on Zindagi channel.

  

• When she was 39 years old, she moved from Delhi to Chandigarh after her love marriage to actor Kamal Tewari.

• She once said in an interview that neither she regretted not having a child, nor did she think of adopting one. Since her mother-in-law died before she got married, she never had any pressure to become a mother.

• In June 2018, she was sent an invitation by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars Academy) to become a member.

• In July 2024, she praised Amitabh Bachchan for taking care of the tents and accommodation of the crew during the shoot of the film Shoebite in Manali.

  

• In an interview in August 2024, she revealed an incident from the shoot of Omkara when Ajay Devgn and Vivek Oberoi pranked by everyone by bringing ladoos made of bhaang.

• She was diagnosed with cancer but survived it.

• In a 2014 interview, she recalled that her eldest sister, Sunir, was ill, and Dolly wanted to come back from Mumbai on 23 February 2007. While Sunir first told Dolly to stop as she was about to win an award for Omkara, she later told Dolly to come. On 25 February 2007, Sunir breathed her last in a hospital.

  

• In the same interview, she revealed that she did not like material possessions and was happy with her one-bedroom house and Maruti 800 car.

• She has designed for popular films like Love Aaj Kal (2009), Kaminey (2009), Rockstar (2011), and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013).

• She also acted in Vicky Donor (2012) as Dolly Arora, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) as Simran Talwar, Bell Bottom (2021) as Raavie Malhotra, and Sitaare Zameen Par (2025) as Golu.

  

• She has also worked in Punjabi films like Saadi Love Story (2013).

• She is a supporter of women’s empowerment and has often helped several charities for women and children.

• She has also undergone cosmetic surgery.

• She has never drunk alcohol or smoked a cigarette.