Biography
Mini Mathur is India's leading television presenter and reality TV host. She has hosted four seasons of the extremely popular Indian Idol (2004) on Sony Entertainment Television which went on to become one of the most popular TV shows in India.
Mini holds a degree in English literature from Lady Sriram College & in Business Management from Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad and started her career as an advertising professional at J Walter Thompson. A chance opportunity at being the face of Rayban sunglasses led her to many more coveted modelling contracts and her first game show on Indian television called Tol Mol Ke Bol (based on the international hit "The price is right"). Shows like Hit Thi Hit Hai on ZeeTV, Khoobsurat on Zee TV followed the next year, along with television soaps like Tanaav & Vakaalat on ZeeTV and Khwaish on Sony. Mini then began travelling extensively as host of the path breaking travel show Indian Holiday, which took her all over the country and international holiday destinations like South Africa, Ireland, Philippines, France, Ireland and Kenya.
Several more game & quiz shows led her to Mumbai where she joined MTV as a VJ, after a highly memorable VJ hunt where she impersonated Simi Grewal interviewing Mamta Kulkarni in a hilarious head to head.
Four years at MTV saw Mini host shows like The Big Picture - an interview based show with film stars such as Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Preity Zinta & Kareena Kapoor, MTV 123 - a countdown of the week's top 20 videos, MTV U pop - videos with a unique interactive SMS based format, MTV Made in India- an interview based show with pop stars, MTV Chillout - a fun interactive road show at youth campuses and the latest in music, MTV Gao Baby Gao - a spontaneous studio based game show with upcoming singing talent, MTV Gaana Masti - a spoof on film songs and international videos and MTV Classic- that played serious classic tracks to a generation of music lovers.
As an MC, Mini has hosted innumerable music summits, concerts for international acts like Deep Purple, Junoon and Bryan Adams, awards and pageants for MTV and over 400 corporate events for brands such as Pepsi, Airtel, Microsoft, Coke, Bacardi, Honda, Ralph Lauren as well as sports tournaments like the World Billiard Championship, Asia cup and many more. She has also completed a very successful tour across 21 cities in the U.S.A and Canada hosting stage shows on India's official entry to the Oscars - 'Lagaan' with extremely popular film stars like Aamir Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Anil Kapoor. She also hosts shows with celebrity acts like Shah Rukh Khan for ICICI. She hosted the prestigious Femina Miss India Pageant LIVE, the Filmfare awards red carpet as well as several film, business and economy award ceremonies in India and around the world.
Mini has also modelled for prestigious brand names such as Rayban, Hero Honda, Ultra Doux Shampoo, Freya skincare as well as big designers like Muzaffar Ali, Rina Dhaka, JJ Vallaya, etc. She has been on the cover of several top of the line fashion magazines and has worked with photographers like Atul Kasbekar, Jatin Kampani, Dabboo Ratnani, Gautam Rajadhyaksha in the fashion business as well. Her ad campaigns include L'oreal hair color and she is the brand ambassador for Big Bazaar. Her endorsements include Surf Excel Matic, Oriflame, Pantene, Tata Sky.
Mini Mathur resides in Mumbai with her husband, film director Kabir Khan (Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Phantom, Ek Tha Tiger, New York, Kabul Express) as well as her children Vivaan and Sairah.
