Maninder Chawla

Maninder Chawla, also known as Nikki Chawla, is an American actor, professor, model, and standup comic. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her award-winning short film Fresh Blood. She also received the Laurel Wreath Award for her short film at the Sikh International Film Festival 2019. She graduated from the Actors Studio Drama school based at Pace University with a Master of Fine Arts in Acting, has a master’s degree in education and a bachelor's degree in communications, arts and media.

Nikki is sociable and has a personality perfectly suited to her life choices. As a former teacher, she is adept at teaching others while maintaining her vivacious and contagiously positive personality. Nikki has had a passion for the stage since she was a little girl. She often entertained her family members with impressions and crazy stunts just to get a reaction. Nikki has always had the ability to make herself laugh and find humor without reservations. Nikki went from corporate America to being a kindergarten teacher. She had an epiphany one day in the classroom that she needed to follow her dreams to being a performer, it was then she took the steps to being an artist, from standup comedy to acting. She does it all.

Nikki's exciting career in stand-up comedy, in which she appeared with many well-known headliners, produced her own shows and worked as a comedian, led her to her true calling: acting. Her teachers, Gene Lasko and Elizabeth Kemp, played an important role in her journey to find her true self.

Nikki appears in Alone Together, which focuses on the emotional impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on people belonging to different walks of life. Participants self-taped their routines and shared experiences during the shelter-in-place in several cities in the U.S. Nikki also stars as Trish in the short film I Don’t Like Me with You. She appeared on the crime series REDRUM on Investigation Discovery and has even appeared on SNL skits.

Nikki has played various roles, both classical and contemporary. To name a few: Hastings in The Tragedy of Richard the Third at Stratford Upon Avon, England for The Oxford Shakespeare Company, Janki in The Color of Vengeance at The New Perspectives Theatre Company, Zarina in Where Children play (Berkshire Fringe Festival), Lady Capulet in Romeo & Juliet, and Shoba in A View from Versova.