Archana Puran Singh was born in a Punjabi family in Dehradun, where she completed her schooling. At the age of eighteen, Archana moved to Mumbai to pursue a career in modeling. In Mumbai, she began doing Ad films and was successful after her most famous advertisement for Band-Aid.
The advertisement was produced by Jalal Agha, and seeing her talent, he cast him in the lead role in his serial ‘Mr. Ya Mrs.’ Her next big break came with Pankaj Parashar’s ‘Karamchand.’ She started her film career in the year 1987 with the film ‘Jalwa’ opposite Naseeruddin Shah.
Though the film was a huge hit, Archana failed to catch the eye of the leading producers and directors; She mainly received offers from B-grade films, most of which were low on content, with not very appreciable scripts. Later, Archana starred in Agneepath (1990), Saudagar (1991), Shola Aur Shabnam (1992), and Aashiq Awara. (1993). She did minor roles in big banner blockbusters. She also did item songs in films like the Govinda-starrer and Thriller, ‘Baaz’ and Suniel Shetty-starrer, ‘Judge Mujrim.’
She has starred in movies, mostly supporting roles, which were mostly funny. These include ‘Love Story 2050,’ ‘Mohabbatein,’ ‘Krish,’ ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,’ and ‘Masti.’ She became a television anchor in 1993 with her popular TV show ‘Wah, Kya Seen Hai’ on Zee TV, which was followed by the highly successful, ‘Uncensored,’ in which she made her High Society (HS) and Low Society (LS) debuts.
Concepts and sitcoms like ‘Jaane Bhi Do Paron,’ ‘Shriman Shrimati’ (1989), and ‘Archana Talkies’ on Sony TV India gave her career a real boost.
Later in her career, she got offers from television producers, and most of her serials like ‘Junoon’ and ‘Shriman Shrimati’ were big hits, and she became a popular television star. She also began hosting chat shows featuring celebrity guests.
In television, she first supplied Bollywood gossip in the 1990s with her tongue-in-cheek show, ‘Kya Seen Hai,’ and later entered as a contestant in the dance reality show – ‘Nach Baliye (Season 1)’ in 2005. She participated together with her husband, Parmeet Sethi; They got removed in episode 6.
Thereafter, she appeared as a judge on comedy shows, including Sony TV India’s ‘Comedy Circus,’ where she appeared as a judge in ‘Comedy Circus (Season 1; 2007)’ and ‘Comedy Circus (Season 2; 2008).’ In January 2008, she hosted ‘Kaho Na Yaar Hai’ on Star Plus with her husband, Parmeet Sethi. This was followed by another show, ‘Comedy Circus Kante Ki Takkar,’ with the end of ‘Comedy Circus (Season 2)’ in September 2008. Archana Puran Singh and television actor Parmeet Sethi and have two sons.