Surekha Sikri is an Indian film, television and theater performer who has twice won the National Film Award for the Best Supporting Actress. She made her debut with the film, Kissa Kursi Ka (1978), which in spite of being banned from release, received a lot of acclaims. Her other standout performances came in films like Tamas (1986), Nazar (1991), Mammo (1994), Sardari Begum (1996), Sarfarosh (1999), Zubeidaa (2001), Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2003), Tumsa Nahin Dekha (2004), Humko Deewana Kar Gaye (2006), and I Love NY (2015)... Her 2017 release includes the Hindi action-adventure film Sniff!!!. Directed by Amole Gupte, the movie co-stars Baby Sunny Gill and Sushmita Mukherjee in important roles. In 2018, she played the role of Durga Devi Kaushik in the comedy-drama film Badhaai Ho. Surekha Sikri`s 2020 release includes Ghost Stories.
Sikri won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress thrice, for her roles in Tamas (1988), Mammo (1995) and Badhaai Ho (2018). She was awarded the Indian Telly Award for Best Actress in a Negative Role in 2008 for her work in the primetime soap opera Balika Vadhu and won the Indian Telly Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for the same show in 2011. In addition, she won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1989 for her contributions to Hindi theater.
On 16 July 2021, she passed away due to cardiac arrest at the age of 75.