---
name: "Ritu Arya"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/ritu-arya"
fi1m_id: "ritu-arya"
imdb_id: "nm5709125"
tmdb_id: 1742596
wikidata_id: "Q98042831"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "17 September 1988"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 78
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-10-05T15:15:30.184294+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Ritu Arya

## Identity

Ritu Arya

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/ritu-arya
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** ritu-arya
- **IMDb ID:** nm5709125
- **TMDB ID:** 1742596
- **Wikidata ID:** Q98042831
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritu_Arya, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98042831, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5709125/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1742596

Actor. Born 17 September 1988 in Guildford, Surrey, England, UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 17 September 1988, Guildford, Surrey, England, UK
- **Active:** 2019–present
- **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as actor, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 78 to 83 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 1 of 3 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Comedy 3, Drama 2, Action 1, Adventure 1, Fantasy 1, Sci-Fi & Fantasy 1
- **Screen time:** 4 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $1,447m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritu_Arya, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98042831, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5709125/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1742596

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Bait*](https://film.one/tv/bait-2026.md) (81)
- **Peacock:** [*Polite Society*](https://film.one/film/polite-society.md) (77)
- **HBO Max:** [*Barbie*](https://film.one/film/barbie.md) (76)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Ritu Arya

> Ritu Arya can make a supporting character’s unhappiness matter without stopping the comedy. *Polite Society* gives us the clearest reason to seek her out: she makes the quieter sister worth watching even when the script has other priorities.

In *Polite Society* (2023), Lena has given up art school and gone to bed. Her younger sister Ria wants to be a stuntwoman and responds to Lena’s engagement by preparing for a fight. Beside Priya Kansara’s quick, indignant Ria, Arya has the quieter task of showing why Lena has stopped trying. We felt for Lena because Arya keeps her misery present beneath the jokes. Even when the comedy is rushing ahead, there is someone on screen whose unhappiness cannot be cleared up by joining in.

Her television work moved from Dr Megan Sharma in *Doctors* (2017) to the breakthrough as Lila Pitts in *The Umbrella Academy* (2020–2024). Lila is a superpowered assassin, a part that fits the recurring demand for physical assurance and unpredictability in Arya’s work. She is often cast where action, comedy and drama meet, rather than asked to stay within one genre. Her work with writer-director Nida Manzoor on *Polite Society* makes the quieter acting worth equal attention.

Manzoor gives the sisters different levels of energy, and Arya does not try to make Lena as immediately entertaining as Ria. That restraint matters because Lena’s unhappiness needs to be taken seriously, even when her sister is behaving absurdly. Arya gets more from the part than the writing provides, though we would not mistake that for a fully satisfying film. Kansara remains its chief attraction, and the last half hour lets an unconvincing plot take attention away from the sisters.

She plays Journalist Barbie in Greta Gerwig’s *Barbie* (2023) and Yasmin in the Riz Ahmed-led series *Bait* (2026). We recommend both, with different reservations: *Barbie* talks too much in its second half, while *Bait* leaves some supporting characters short of attention. Neither supplies as clear a reason to seek out Arya as her work with Manzoor. Her smaller part in *Red Notice* (2021) is another reason to want more substantial work for her. For Arya, start with *Polite Society*, and do not expect its plot to be as convincing as its sisters.

## Biography

Ritu Arya is a British actress. She was born on 17 September 1988 in Guildford, Surrey, England. She obtained a BSc in astrophysics from the University of Southampton and trained at the Oxford School of Drama.

Arya first gained recognition for her role as Megan Sharma in the soap opera *Doctors* (2017). She is known for playing Flash in *Humans* (2015–2018), Lila Pitts in *The Umbrella Academy* (2019–2024), and roles in *Last Christmas* (2019), *Red Notice* (2021) and *The Stranger* (2020). In film she appeared as Lena in *Polite Society* (2023) and as Journalist Barbie in *Barbie* (2023). She is set to star as Yasmin in the series *Bait* (2026).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, tvmaze.com, screenrant.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *Bait* (2026), Fi1m 81, as Yasmin — [page](https://film.one/tv/bait-2026.md)
- *Barbie* (2023), Fi1m 76, as Barbie — [page](https://film.one/film/barbie.md)
- *Polite Society* (2023), Fi1m 77, as Lena — [page](https://film.one/film/polite-society.md)

## Complete filmography (17)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Split Up* (2026), series, as Aria Kishan
- *Bait* (2026), series, as Yasmin — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/bait-2026.md)
- *Has Fallen* (2024), series, as Zara Taylor
- *Barbie* (2023), as Barbie — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/barbie.md)
- *Polite Society* (2023), as Lena — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/polite-society.md)
- *Red Notice* (2021), as Inspector Urvashi Das
- *The Stranger* (2020), series, as Michaela Siegel
- *Sticks and Stones* (2019), series, as Becky Mills
- *Last Christmas* (2019), as Jenna
- *The Umbrella Academy* (2019), series, as Lila Pitts
- *Lady Parts* (2018), as Saira
- *The Super Recogniser* (2017), as Agent Williams
- *Daphne* (2017), as Rachida
- *My Beautiful White Skin* (2015), as Parita
- *Humans* (2015), series, as Flash — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/humans.md)
- *Sherlock* (2010), series, as Gail — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/sherlock.md)
- *Doctor Who* (2005), series, as Gat — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/doctor-who-2005.md)

## Gallery

- ![Ritu Arya](https://film.one/media/person/456/gallery-6c2a57d1b93a.jpg) Ritu Arya — Image via TMDB
- ![Ritu Arya](https://film.one/media/person/456/gallery-bfdfdc0bd454.jpg) Ritu Arya — Image via TMDB
- ![Ritu Arya](https://film.one/media/person/456/gallery-abd8ada999ad.jpg) Ritu Arya — Image via TMDB
- ![Ritu Arya](https://film.one/media/person/456/gallery-07d90d8a662d.jpg) Ritu Arya — Image via TMDB
- ![Ritu Arya](https://film.one/media/person/456/gallery-033a2860ca19.jpg) Ritu Arya — Image via TMDB

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/ritu-arya