Koel Mallick is the daughter of Bengali actor Ranjit Mallick. Her real name is Rukmini, but she prefers to use her nick-name in films too. She studied psychology in Gokhale College in Kolkata.She debuted with ‘Nater Guru’ (2003), directed by Haranath Chakraborty. She was noticed with her first film. In 2004, she was also considered to play opposite Aryaman in Rajkumar Santoshi's Hindi film, 'Family'. But the character was removed at a scripting level when the film was getting too lengthy.Expressive, beautiful and blessed with a natural star appeal, Koel is an Odissi dancer as well. With in a short span of time she became one of the most happening stars in the Bengali film industry. She also acted in supporting roles in popular films like 'Yuddho', 'M. L. A. Fatakeshto', 'Minister Fatakeshto', 'Chander Bari' etc.In 2008 she had five releases, all romantic films, most of which became hits. In mid 2008, she commented on the casting couch in Bengali cinema and received strong criticism from other actresses, especially arch rival Swastika Mukherjee and Rachana Banerjee.
