Melanie Chandra

Some Lesser Known Facts About Melanie Chandra

• Does Melanie Chandra smoke?: Not known

• Does Melanie Chandra drink alcohol?: Yes 

• She was born to Malayali Indian parents in Buffalo Grove, Illinois.

• She is a 2nd-degree black belt in Shotokan Karate and a two-time bronze medalist in the Pan American games, where she represented the United States in São Paulo in 2000, Caracas in 2001, and Orlando in 2002 as part of the United States Junior National Karate Team.

• In 2006, she completed her graduation in Mechanical Engineering while studying improvisational comedy on the side. She was a member of the university’s cheerleading squad and served as the Student Body President in her last year of college.

• She was also a recipient of the prestigious Mayfield Fellows Program, which is given to tech entrepreneurs, and the Book Award, for her service and contribution to the university.

• After completing her graduation, she initially started working at consulting firm McKinsey & Company, which she left to concentrate on her interest in modelling and acting.

• She even worked for Sahara One, an Indian Hindi general entertainment channel. She was the lead anchor for the channel’s show, “Bollywood Hollywood,” which was dedicated to the latest film news from the East and the West.

• In 2007, she won Miss India America contest.

• She has worked as a model and commercial actress in national and international campaigns for Nescafe, Verizon, Glamour Magazine, P& G, Crocs, Acura, Herbal Essences, LG, and Clinique.

• She was nominated as Best Actress at World Music and Independent Film Festival for her work in Love Lies and Seeta (2012).

• Despite the language barrier, she worked in a Tollywood movie “D for Dopidi.”

• She has done large recurring roles on Netflix’s “Brown Nation” as “Roli” and HBO’s “The Brink” as “Fareeda Khan” starring bigwigs like Asif Mandvi, Jack Black and Tim Robbins.

• In 2015-2017, she played the role of Indian lesbian doctor “Malaya Pineda” on the CBS medical drama “Code Black”.

• She got married to her lifelong friend “Neeraj Chandra” in 2015 and the couple was blessed with a baby girl in 2018. 

• She was seen flaunting her baby bump on social media in numerous pics on her Instagram account. 

• At Stanford, Chandra participated in social entrepreneurship initiatives. In her freshman year, she volunteered at Jagriti Vihara, a non-government organization in Jharkhand, India. She is also the co-founder of the not-for-profit Hospital “Hope India”, which provides health care services to under-served villagers in rural India.

• She is a proponent of the status of women and as a producer, she concentrates on elevating the profile of women, and especially the women of colour.