Karishma Kohli

Some Lesser Known Facts About Karishma Kohli

• Karishma Kohli is an Indian filmmaker known for assistant directing the popular Bollywood films Ek Tha Tiger(2012) and Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015).

• Karishma was born and grew up in a Punjabi Sikh Khatri family.

• After completing her degree in filmmaking in New York, she moved back to India, where she started brushing up on her filmmaking skills under the guidance of renowned filmmaker Kabir Khan. In an interview, she revealed that she considered him her mentor. She also shared a close relationship with him and his family.

  

• From 2008, Karishma Kohli started getting project in the Bollywood Film Industry, where she worked as chief assistant director in the film Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic (2008), second assistant director in the films New York (2009) and Badmash Company (2010), and first assitant director in the films Mere Brother ki Dulhan (2009) and Ek Tha Tiger (2012).

• In 2008, she joined renowned film director Kunal Kohli‘s production house “Kunal Kohli Production” as an assistant director.

• In 2017, Karishma directed a TV series titled The Reunion. She also worked as a screenwriter in the series.

• Karishma Kohli has been suffering from the autoimmune skin disease vitiligo since 2013. In an interview, she revealed that she has tried every possible treatment for this condition, ranging from painful stem cell therapies to restrictive naturopathy diets. She was also on steroids for almost a decade. During the pandemic, when her mother was diagnosed with the 4th stage of cancer, one of the medications prescribed to her was the same one Kohli had been taking to stop the progression of vitiligo. She was shocked by this and decided to stop taking the medication.

  

• Karishma Kohli’s mother passed away in 2020.

• In 2020, after her mother’s death, Kohli was spending some time alone in Goa, where one of her friends insisted that she should meet Mikhail Yawalkar. Mikhail is an actor and has predominantly worked in Hindi, Punjabi and Marathi films. He is known for his roles in films such as Mardaani (2014) and Qaidi Band (2017).

• After meeting for two or three times, they started dating each other. In an interview, her boyfriend said

I’ve seen her body change, and I’ve had the closest perspective, if I may say that,” he said. “It was eye-opening for me but once you’re exposed to it, you realise it’s more common than you think. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would marry someone with vitiligo, but I would not have it any other way. For me, Karishma is Karishma because of her vitiligo. I think it adds to her beauty, and she pulls it off like no other. She owns it.”

• Karishma’s short film The Woman Under the Tree (2020) was selected to premiere at the World of Film International Festival Glasgow (WOFF) 2021.

  

• In 2024, Kohli directed an episode of Coke Studio Bharat Season 2 titled “Re Mann”.

• Mikhail proposed to Karishma for marriage in November 2024, during a concert of their favourite French band, AIR, in Bangkok. In 2025, they both got married. In an interview, Karishma revealed that they did not hire an wedding planner for their marriage. She and some of her friends make all the arrangements for the marriage.

  

• Karishma Kohli is a close friend of Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal. Kohli met with Katrina Kaif on the set of the film New York (2009).

  

• She is an avid cat lover.

• Karishma loves to do photography and explore new places.

• She drinks alcohol occasionally.