Poorna Jagannathan ( POR-nə JAH-gə-NAH-thən; born December 22, 1972) is an Indian-American producer and actress. She is known for her portrayal of Safar Khan in the HBO drama miniseries The Night Of, as well as for her role as Nalini… Poorna Jagannathan ( POR-nə JAH-gə-NAH-thən; born December 22, 1972) is an Indian-American producer and actress. She is known for her portrayal of Safar Khan in the HBO drama miniseries The Night Of, as well as for her role as Nalini Vishwakumar in the Netflix teen comedy series Never Have I Ever. She currently portrays Lucky in the Hulu crime comedy series Deli Boys.
Poorna also co-conceived, produced, and acted in the play Nirbhaya, which was considered "one of the most powerful and urgent pieces of human rights theatre ever made," and is regarded as a critical moment in India's history of women's empowerment.
Poorna was named among the "Top 100 Most Impactful Asians" in America in 2021, 2022 and 2025 by Goldhouse. People magazine featured her in their 2024 “The Beautiful Issue” while Verve magazine named her among the top 50 most powerful women in India in 2014.
We believe privacy is a right, not a trade-off. Choose exactly what you're comfortable with. You can change these any time. Full privacy policy.
Essential
Always on
Required for the site to function
Session management, security tokens, login state, and your cookie preference itself. These cannot be turned off. No personal data is shared with third parties.
Analytics
Optional
Helps us understand what content you enjoy
We use anonymised analytics (e.g. Google Analytics) to see which articles perform well, how long people spend reading, and where traffic comes from. This helps us write better content. Your IP address is anonymised and no data is sold.
Personalisation
Optional
Remembers your preferences across visits
Remembers your reading preferences and recently read articles so we can surface relevant content. All data stays in your browser — nothing is sent to our servers.
Advertising
Optional
Used to show relevant ads that support the site
Allows advertising partners to show you ads based on your interests. If you decline, you'll still see ads but they won't be tailored to you. We work with Google AdSense and similar networks. You can opt out globally at youronlinechoices.eu.
Continue reading
You're clearly a fan
Get the best stories in your inbox
Join thousands of readers who get XOTLIST delivered daily. No spam, ever. Unsubscribe anytime.
