Gayatri Joshi

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.

If you google ‘one film wonders of Bollywood’, you will find information about actors, who have given just one hit in their entire career but have appeared in more than one movie

We take the term ‘one film wonder’ in its true literal sense and have already covered a few in our forgotten gems series like Dina Rondo, who appeared in only one film titled Ahsaas (1979) and Vicky Arora, whose Bollywood presence was restricted to only Feroz Khan’s Yalgaar (1992)

There are other instances as well like Reem Kapadia in Haveli (1985), Ranvir Shorey’s brother Lokesh Shorey in Maha-Yuddh (1998), current politician Chirag Paswan in Miley Naa Miley Hum (2011), Raveena Tandon’s brother Rajiv in Ek Main Aur Ek Tu (1986) and of course, the gorgeous Janhavi playing a mermaid in Laal Paree (1991)

Our todays article also features a one film wonder like the aforementioned actors. She got the big opportunity to debut with the king of romance Shah Rukh Khan (SRK). However, her debut remained her last film. Some readers might have guessed her already; she is Gayatri Joshi, the Swades heroine

When actresses like Bipasha Basu, Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, Mallika Sherawat, Sameera Reddy etc were adding their glamour quotient to Bollywood, Gayatri made her debut in a non-glamorous avatar as a village teacher in Ashutosh Gowariker’s Swades (2004)

Gayatri was born on 20th March, 1977 in a Maharashtrian family in Nagpur. She studied at the Mount Carmel High School in Nagpur and after her family shifted to Mumbai, completed her matriculation from J.B Vachha Girls High School, Dadar. Later, she earned her Bachelor of Commerce degree from Sydenham college, Mumbai

After completing her education, Gayatri took up modelling and appeared in several television commercials. In 1999, she was amongst the top five finalists of Femina Miss India contest and was later, crowned Miss India International in 2000

During her modelling days, she endorsed top brands like Godrej, Sunsilk, Ponds, LG, Bombay Dyeing, Hyundai and Philips. Gayatri was a well-known face in the advertising industry. Not many may know that she was also a video jockey (VJ) on Channel V in 2000 and hosted a show called Junglee Jukebox

In this period, Gayatri was part of several music videos as well, particularly Jagjit Singh’s Kaagaz ki kashti and Hans Raj Hans’ Jhanjaria

After the Oscar nominated hit Lagaan (2001), director Ashutosh Gowariker had announced his next project. He was keen to repeat his close friend and Lagaan star Aamir Khan. Aamir was busy with Ketan Mehta’s Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005) that time and politely bowed out of the film as he had to maintain the continuity of his moustachioed look for Mangal Pandey

Gowariker then approached SRK for Swades and he promptly agreed to play the main lead. The search was now on for the heroine opposite SRK

Ashutosh Gowariker’s search ended at a party, where he saw Gayatri Joshi and felt she suited the character in his film. Later, he saw her Hyundai commercial with SRK and was sure about his choice. Thus, Gayatri was signed for the lead role in Swades opposite superstar SRK, a dream come true for any aspiring actress

Swades released in December 2004 and expectedly, the film including SRK’s and Gayatri’s performances, received tremendous appreciation. Though the film wasn’t a domestic box office success, it was well received in the overseas market. Gayatri Joshi received high critical acclaim

Naturally, it was expected that filmmakers would line up her door with new projects. Surprisingly, Gayatri chose to be selective in signing her next film. She turned down many plum offers after Swades

Next, Gayatri made a shocking announcement that she is quitting Bollywood to marry Vikas Oberoi, CEO of Oberoi Constructions. She broke many fans’ hearts in the bargain. Gayatri chose to quit Bollywood for a blissful married life. It is something very few budding actors would have opted for in those days

Gayatri and Vikas married on 27th August, 2005 in a quiet ceremony in Mumbai, with presence of her Swades actor and director, SRK and Gowariker. They have two sons Vihaan and Yuvaan

After quitting Bollywood, Gayatri lived a reclusive life away from the media. There was hardly any news about her for next two decades

It was only in 2023 that the couple was in news when they escaped a major car accident in Italy. It was a serious one as the couple driving the other car, passed away in the accident. Fortunately, both Gayatri and her husband survived this mishap

Still known for Swades, Gayatri Joshi is a unique one film wonder. In this new age, when most women are choosing career over marriage, she opted to settle down in life and bid goodbye to her budding Bollywood career