Surekha Punekar


Surekha Punekar is an Indian folk artist known for her Lavani performances.
Punekar came from a financially poor family and used to work as maid to make ends meet. In her initial days as an artist, she performed in the various Tamasha troupes on the lavanis written by the well-known poet Bashir Momin Kavathekar. She mentions once having performed for an audience of just three people. Later, she started her own Tamasha troupe with her sister Lata Punekar. However, this venture wasn't profitable so the troupe closed. She then tried performing stage shows under the banner Natarangi Nar. This show became very famous and eventually she got the opportunity to perform this show in the USA. In 2011, she debuted as a director of the stage show Nashikchi Naar.
During the 2019 Indian general election, there was speculation that she would be a candidate of the Indian National Congress in the Pune Lok Sabha constituency. She fuelled this speculation in an interview given to Loksatta. However, the seat was contested by Mohan Joshi for the INC.
Since 26 May 2019, she has been a contestant in the reality TV show, Bigg Boss Marathi 2.

Television