Shilpa Shirodkar is an Indian actress born on 20 November 1973 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, to Nitin Shirodkar and Vanita Shirodkar. She is the granddaughter of legendary Marathi actress Meenakshi Shirodkar and younger sister of actress and Femina Miss India 1993 winner Namrata Shirodkar (who married Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu in 2005). She did not complete her 10th standard exams due to film commitments - a fact she shared candidly on Bigg Boss 18. She debuted in cinema with Ramesh Sippy's Bhrashtachar (1989) opposite Mithun Chakraborty and Rekha, becoming the first Indian actress to appear in a swimsuit on screen. She followed this with a succession of commercially successful films including Kishen Kanhaiya (1990, opposite Anil Kapoor), Trinetra (1991), Hum (1991, opposite Amitabh Bachchan), Khuda Gawah (1992, with Amitabh Bachchan) - for which she received a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress nomination - Aankhen (1993, opposite Govinda), Gopi Kishan (1994), Bewafa Sanam (1995), and Mrityudand (1997). She was originally considered for the iconic song 'Chaiyya Chaiyya' from Dil Se (1998, which ultimately went to Malaika Arora). Her final film was Gaja Gamini (2000) opposite Shah Rukh Khan. After marrying UK-based banker Aparesh Ranjit in 2000, she retired from acting and moved to London, where she raised their daughter Anoushka Ranjit. She returned to television in 2013 with Ek Mutthi Aasmaan on Zee TV. She entered Bigg Boss 18 in October 2024, generating nostalgia and discussing her experiences with body shaming during her film career. She was evicted in Week 15, finishing 7th.

90s Bollywood stardom in films including Kishen Kanhaiya (1990), Hum (1991), Khuda Gawah (1992), and Aankhen (1993) opposite Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, and Govinda; Filmfare Best Supporting Actress nomination for Khuda Gawah; television comeback in Ek Mutthi Aasmaan (Zee TV, 2013); sister-in-law of Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu; Bigg Boss 18 contestant (7th place).

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