Farzana Palathingal

Farzana Palathingal, born on May 11, 1994 in Kerala, is an Indian actress and a spoken word artist. She finished her schooling in Our Own Indian School, Dubai, and graduated in Bachelor of Occupational Therapy from Manipal University, Manipal. While in university, she was an avid performer in Manipal's theatre company, "Dramanon Manipal", and was also part of the college editorial team as well the fashion team. She was scouted for Femina Miss India's baby pageant, "Campus Princess" in 2015. In the same year, she was also featured in the music video, "Chulein Aasman" in Farhan Akhtar's YouTube page, "Mard Official" along with Untied Laces. In 2016, she won first place in Poetry in IIT Bombay, and was co-head of the fashion team that won 2nd place in the fashion competition. After moving to Dubai post graduation, she worked as a Pediatric Occupational Therapist with children with autism, ADHD, and developmental needs. While working, she also juggled doing theatre at The Junction, and also participated in various advertisements for brands such as Nivea, Home Centre, McDonald's, Expo 2020, etc. Farzana has performed in various plays such as David Ives' Venus In Fur, Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, Reginald Rose's 12 Angry Jurors, Kim Rosenstock's Tigers Be Still, Mahesh Dattani's A Muggy Night in Mumbai & Tara. In 2017, she won Best Poet in Short & Sweet Dubai's Poetry Edition. In 2018, she won "Best Actress" at The Junction for her role as Vanda in Venus in Fur. In 2019, she participated in "Glam Queen", a pageant organized by Kerala's most prestigious magazine, "Vanitha". She won the pageant and was featured in the magazine's cover in the December edition of the same year. In 2021, Farzana won the Best Actress award for her performances in Short & Sweet Dubai Theatre Festival, and also bagged the award for Best Play (Runner up) for her play, "Schmuel" that she directed herself. Farzana is now based in Mumbai.