Ritu Shivpuri

QAMYAB – THE FORGOTTEN GEMS OF BOLLYWOOD

Qamyab is our humble tribute to all those lesser-known actors, one hit wonders and junior artists who we see umpteen times but don’t know about; beyond their faces. These actors have been an integral part of Bollywood but didn’t get their due. This series is our sincere attempt to put a name to these faces, familiarize them to our readers and celebrate their achievements in life – however big or small. We believe that every artist contributes in his/her own way to the cinema’s success. Qamyab will explore the unknown lives of such actors and artists as we believe even these forgotten gems of Bollywood deserve their due recognition today.

Making a movie debut, which becomes the highest grosser of that year is every actor’s dream come true. Not many, including superstars like Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit, got that!! But success is never guaranteed in Bollywood even after a fantastic debut. Our forgotten gem for today has experienced this. She is Ritu Shivpuri.

Ritu was born on 22nd January, 1975 in Mumbai to Om and Sudha Shivpuri – both well-known actors and veterans in their field. While Om Shivpuri has acted in numerous Hindi films of ’70s and ’80s, Sudha is best known as Baa from the popular tv series Kyun Ki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (2000). Ritu has a brother named Vineet, who is a businessman by profession.

Ritu had the features and looks of an actress and aspired to be one, right since her school days. She started modelling in her teens. Famous Bollywood producer Pahlaj Nihalani saw some of her photos and decided to cast her in his next film. Initially, he wanted to launch her in a love story co-starring Jugal Hansraj. Ritu and Jugal did a photo session for the same but the movie didn’t materialize.

Sometime around 1992, Pahlaj Nihalani was producing an action comedy titled Aankhen with Govinda and Chunky Pandey in the lead. Juhi Chawla and Divya Bharti were being considered for the female leads but Nihalani surprised everyone by casting Ritu Shivpuri as the main lead opposite Govinda.

Aankhen got made in record time and released in the first week of April 1993. The movie went on to become an all-time blockbuster and highest grossing film of that year. Surprisingly, Ritu Shivpuri didn’t benefit much from her super successful debut as the major credit went to the hero Govinda and director David Dhawan. Nevertheless, Ritu got noticed in the chartbuster song ‘O lal dupatte wali’.

Ritu signed a few more films after Aankhen but they were not with A list filmmakers. In 1995, she had two releases with Kamal Sadanah as her co-actor: Rock Dancer and Hum Sab Chor Hain. While both the movies flopped at the box office, Ritu Shivpuri’s dance to the melodious number ‘Saavli Saloni’ was appreciated. She was rumoured to be dating Kamal Sadanah during that time.

Her next movie Aar Ya Paar, was directed by the celebrated maker Ketan Mehta but unfortunately, Ritu’s role was said to be mercilessly chopped in the final cut. The movie sank without a trace. Producer- mentor Pahlaj Nihalani repeated her in Bhai Bhai (1997) but even that film couldn’t replicate the Aankhen success. In fact, Bhai Bhai was planned by Nihalani with Govinda and Chunky in mind but later, made with rank newcomers. Ritu’s item number in the long-delayed Kaala Samrajya (1999) was best forgotten!!

In 2000’s, Ritu Shivpuri appeared in small insignificant roles in movies like Hadh Kar Di Aapne (2000), Lajja (2001), Shakti: The Power (2002) and Elaan (2005). Her Bollywood career was going nowhere and Aankhen remained the only hit to her credit.

Understanding her precarious situation, Ritu Shivpuri decided to call it quits and settle down in marital bliss. She married Hari Venkat, a businessman who likes to keep a low profile away from the glamour world. Ritu followed suit and virtually disappeared from Bollywood. They are blessed with two children Samara and Rohail.

After leaving the film industry, Ritu started her jewellery design business and achieved reasonable success in it. A few years after marriage, Hari encountered prolonged sickness and Ritu took good care of him in this testing time. This was another reason why she remained out of limelight for almost a decade.

It was only in 2016 after her husband recovered that Ritu made her acting comeback on television with 24: India. She appeared in serials like Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon (2016), Nazar and Vish (both 2019) as well. Her fans were elated to find that she had maintained her slim figure and looked as beautiful as before.

Ritu Shivpuri made her digital debut with Karenjit Kaur – The Untold Story of Sunny Leone (2018). The web-series became quite popular. She was also seen in the Netflix series Class (2023). In 2023, Ritu was in the news for participating in the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ and extended her support to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. She is currently working towards her Bollywood reintroduction and her movie might release sometime next year. Fingers crossed!!

Ritu Shivpuri can be called a one hit wonder. The long-legged lady with a beautiful smile won our hearts with her debut movie itself. Here’s wishing all the more success in her second innings!!