Maninder Chawla Life & Acting Coach

Maninder Chawla, also known as Nikki Chawla, is an American actor, professor, model, and standup comic. She was nominated best supporting actress for the award-winning short film, Fresh Blood. She also received the Laurel Wreath Award at the 2019 Sik...

Maninder Chawla, also known as Nikki Chawla, is an American actor, professor, model, and standup comic. She was nominated best supporting actress for the award-winning short film, Fresh Blood. She also received the Laurel Wreath Award at the 2019 Sikh International Film Festival for her short film. 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 a former elementary school teacher. It was while she was teaching kindergarten that she started doing standup comedy. Nikki is no stranger to putting on a show, though, she has been performing to make others laugh since she was merely a young girl. She would often entertain her family members by doing impressions and crazy stunts just to get a reaction. Nikki has always had the ability to make herself laugh and find humor without reservation. Nikki’s exciting career in stand-up comedy, performing with many well-known headliners, producing her own shows, and being a featured comic, led her to find her true calling: acting. Her teachers, Gene Lasko and Elizabeth Kemp, played a significant part of 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. Nikki also recently finished shooting her role as Nisha in a series called Hiraeth. Hiraeth airs exclusively on Amazon. The six-part mini-series follows the stories of a diverse group of individuals who are figuring out where they fit in. Their stories include critical discussions of issues including immigration, discrimination, and racism, while the viewers are taken on an engrossing journey ranging from the