Actress Ameesha Patel attended Ganesh Utsav 2026 in New York as the chief guest, joining the Indian community in the US in celebrating the festival and offering prayers to Lord Ganesha.
Patel shared a video from the celebrations on Instagram, showing her visiting a temple and taking part in the festivities. Calling it a “pleasure and honour” to be part of the event, she expressed her happiness at witnessing the celebrations in New York and New Jersey.
“It’s a pleasure and honour to be here, in beautiful USA, New York, New Jersey,” Patel said in the video.
In her Instagram caption, the actress praised members of the Indian community for celebrating festivals on a grand scale and preserving their cultural traditions while living far from India.
“NEW YORK – Was happy to attend the GANESH UTSAV 2026 as the chief guest! Proud to see our Indian Community in America celebrating all our festivals in such a grand way n keeping our traditions n culture alive living so far from India! JAI GANESH,” she wrote.
Patel made her acting debut in 2000 with the romantic thriller Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai, which emerged as a major commercial success.
She subsequently featured in films including Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, Humraaz, Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., Bhool Bhulaiyaa and Race 2.
The actress returned to the Gadar franchise with Gadar 2 in 2023, reprising her role from the original film. The sequel became her highest-grossing release. Set against the backdrop of the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War, the film follows Sunny Deol’s character Tara Singh as he travels to Pakistan to rescue his imprisoned son, Jeete.
Patel was last seen in Tauba Tera Jalwa, a 2024 film directed by Akashaditya Lama. The film centres on Romi Tyagi, a powerful and self-obsessed real estate tycoon in Uttar Pradesh who fears no one except God.
