MILIND SOMAN

MILIND SOMAN – Model/Film Actor

Milind Soman (born 4 November 1965) was born in Scotland and lived in England until the age of seven, then his family moved back to India. He was also a national-level swimmer for India and was then discovered as a model.

Soman was one of the earliest professional male models in India. His first significant work was to model in an advertising campaign for a clothing manufacturer. He quickly became one of the most successful models in the country. He rose to further fame while featuring in Alisha Chinai's superhit music video, Made in India (1995) which then made him a household name.

In the mid-1990s after his rapid modeling fame, he started out with the titular role in the Indian science fiction TV Series Captain Vyom. He then focused on films starting in 2000. Soman's films include 16 December, Pachaikili Muthucharam, Paiyaa, Agni Varsha and Asoka. In 2007 he appeared in Bhram, Say Salaam India and Bheja Fry. In 2009 he acted in Sachin Kundalkar’s Marathi film Gandha. He has also acted in a number of English language and other foreign films, including Valley of Flowers and The Flag. In the Swedish film Arn – The Knight Templar he portrayed Saladin, the revered 12th-century Kurdish leader of the Arabs and Muslims.

Soman was the producer of the Hindi film Rules: Pyaar Ka Superhit Formula (2003). He has also produced a children's television serial called Ghost Bana Dost. 

In 2010, he participated as a contestant in the hit reality TV show Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi (season 3). He came in fourth position.

Soman recently starred in Jodi Breakers in 2012 which did not do well at the box-office.

On May 20, 2012 he became a Limca Record holder for running 1,500 km in 30 days for Greenathon, NDTV to spread environmental awareness.

For many years, Milind had a relationship with co-model Madhu Sapre. In July 2006, Soman married Mylene Jampanoi, his French co-star in the film Valley of Flowers at a tourist resort in Goa. They had met on the set of the film. The two divorced in 2009. Soman is seeing another actress now, Shahana Goswami, and they are together for more than 3 years now.

Milind Soman and his ex-girlfriend, Madhu Sapre, an ex-Miss India and model, attracted controversy in India, when the pair posed nude in a print ad for Tuff Shoes. The social service branch of the Mumbai police had registered a case in August 1995 after Sapre and Soman posed in the nude, wearing only shoes and a python wrapped around them. Another case was filed under the Wildlife Protection Act against the advertising agency for illegal use of the python. The accused include the publishers and distributors of two magazines that featured the controversial ad, the advertising agency, the two models and the photographers. The case lasted for 14 years, after which the courts acquitted the accused.