Aarti Mann

Aarti Majumdar (born March 3, 1978), better known by her stage name Aarti Mann, is an actress of Indian ancestry. She has starred in several television programs, including a part in the sci-fi drama Heroes. She is best known for playing the role of Priya Koothrappali in The Big Bang Theory.

Mann, which is an abbreviation of her married name, was born in Connecticut on March 3, 1978, and is a second-generation Indian American of Bengali Hindu ancestry.

When Mann was still a toddler her family, which consisted of her immigrant parents, an older sister, Kruti, and younger brother, Nishad, moved to several places around Pennsylvania. When she was a young child she lived in Pittsburgh, Mt. Lebanon, Wexford before settling in Fox Chapel. Her mother, Vasanti Majmudar, a graduate out of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Passavant, still lives in Fox Chapel and is a physician specializing in Obstetrics and gynaecology. Mann's father, who was also a physician, died while she was in high school.

Despite Mann having never acted in plays during high school at Shady Side Academy in Fox Chapel, she graduated with a degree in film writing and directing from New York University where she practiced acting.

Mann began acting in the mid-2000s, initially playing minor roles. She uses both Aarti Majmudar and Aarti Mann as her professional names.

I'm the daughter of two Indian, immigrant doctors and I have an older sister and younger brother and none of us has pursued medicine as a career. We're all over the artistic side of things.

Mann's brother Nishad is a journalist and her sister Kruti helped influence her decision to switch to acting. Kruti, who also lives in Los Angeles, is a filmmaker and cast Ms. Mann in her 2006 film The Memsahib. While filming her scenes, Ms. Mann said she "got bit by the bug" to act and enrolled in acting classes in Los Angeles.

Mann booked a national commercial for Volvo and other roles followed, including a part in the web/TV series "quarterlife," which aired briefly on NBC in 2008. She was also a guest star on Heroes in 2009. Mann appeared in the season two winter premiere of Suits on the USA Network. Mann was originally cast in the role of Stephanie for the USA pilot "Paging Dr. Freed", but was let go after the table read, because the network envisioned a different type for the character.

Mann currently lives in Los Angeles with her daughter Nikita and her husband Purvesh, who works in finance.