From Zaira Wasim to Sana Khan, there have been multiple bollywood actors who have left the world of showbiz to embrace spirituality. One such name is Barkha Madan, who was a popular model, beauty queen, and actress who quit her acting career to become a Buddhist monk and is now known as Gyalten Samten.
Popularly known in the modelling industry, Barkha was also a participant in the beauty pageant Miss India in 1994 and competed with Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai, who were crowned the winner and the first runner-up respectively. The Model was named Miss Tourism India and ended up coming as the third runner-up in Miss Tourism International in Malaysia.
In 1996, she made her Bollywood debut in the action-packed movie Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi, which starred Akshay Kumar, Ravina Tandon, and Rekha in the pivotal roles. The film proved to be a blockbuster, but it took Barkha 7 more years to earn her next notable role in Ram Gopal Varma’s Bhoot in 2003. She terrified the critics and audiences when she played the ghost Manjeet Khosla in the supernatural horror movie Bhoot. Barkha made her presence felt in the hugely talented ensemble that included Nana Patekar, Ajay Devgn, Rekha, Urmila Matondkar, Fardeen Khan, and Tanuja.
Between Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi and Bhoot, Barkha had starred in various TV serials including the social drama Nyaay and the historical drama 1857 Kranti, in which she portrayed the role of Rani Laxmibai. After Bhoot, when Barkha didn’t get the roles she wanted, she moved back to TV programs. From 2005 to 2009, she was seen in the popular Zee TV show Saat Phere – Saloni Ka Safar, which starred Rajshree Thakur and Sharad Kelkar in the pivotal roles.
The actress planned to turn producer in the year 2010 and established Golden Gate LLC, to provide platform to talented independent filmmakers. She produced and starred in two movies namely Soch Lo and Surkhaab. The actress has been an avid follower of Dalai Lama throughout her life, decided to embrace Buddhism in 2012. She transferred herself into a nun and gave herself a name Gyalten Samten. Today, she lives in the monasteries in the mountains and keeps on posting photos from her spiritual life on her Instagram account.
