Renuka Shahane

For other uses, see Renuka (disambiguation).

Renuka Shahane (born 7 October 1966)^[1] is an Indian actress who is widely known for her work in the Hindi and Marathi films and several television productions. She is best known as the co-presenter of the Doordarshan TV show Surabhi (1993–2001).^[2] She has received several awards and nominations including a Filmfare Award Marathi.

Renuka Shahane
Shahane in 2010
Born	(1966-10-07) 7 October 1966 (age 58) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Alma mater	St. Xavier's College (B.A) University of Mumbai
Occupations	Actress film director screenwriter
Years active	1988–Present
Spouses	Vijay Kenkare ​ (divorced)​ Ashutosh Rana ​ (m. 2001)​
Children	2
Mother	Shanta Gokhale

Early life

Renuka Shahane was born into a Marathi family in Mumbai.^[3][4] Her father, Lt. Cdr. Vijay Kumar Shahane, was an officer in the Indian Navy.^[4] Her mother, Shanta Gokhale, is a theatre personality and film critic who works mainly on Marathi theatre. When Renuka was very young, her mother divorced her father and married Arun Khopkar, a film-maker.^[5] The second marriage also ended in divorce.

Renuka and her only sibling, Girish Shahane grew up with their mother in Mumbai. Renuka did her B.A. in Psychology from St. Xavier's College and her Post graduation in Clinical Psychology from Mumbai University.^[6]

Her brother Girish Shahane is a contemporary writer, art critic, and artist who has been associated with several art fairs and is a columnist with Scroll.in.^[7][8]

Personal life

Renuka has been married twice. Her first marriage was to Vijay Kenkare, a veteran Marathi theater writer and director, but the marriage did not last long and they were soon divorced.^[9] She then married Ashutosh Rana (original name Ashutosh Neekhra), who is also a Bollywood actor.^[10] They have two sons, namely Shauryaman Neekhra and Satyendra Neekhra.^[11][12]

Career

Renuka Shahane started her career with the Marathi film Hach Sunbaicha Bhau. She then worked as one of the two anchors of the vastly popular Hindi language TV show, Surabhi, and this is what made her a household name. Her broad smile became a byword for charm in the era when Doordarshan was the only TV channel in India, and Renuka was certainly one of the most popular TV personalities of the 1980s. ^[13][14]

In 1994, at the height of her fame while hosting Surabhi, Renuka got the opportunity to act in the movie Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, that soon became the highest grossing Indian movie.^[15][14] Her role in the film was much appreciated and added to her image of a storehouse of wholesome, traditional values.^[16] She starred in the Marathi film "Aboli" for which she was widely praised and lead her to win Filmfare Award Marathi Best Actress at Filmfare Awards Marathi in the year 1995.

Renuka Shahane has acted in many Marathi Films. She released her first Marathi film as a director, called Rita. Adapted from her mother Shanta Gokhale's novel, Rita Welingkar,^[17] Renuka plays the pivotal role of a friend, guide and philosopher of Rita, the protagonist. Rita had Jackie Shroff, Pallavi Joshi, Suhasini Mulay and Mohan Agashe in the cast. She also acted in a Telugu movie Money, produced by Ram Gopal Varma, which was a big hit.

Circus was one of the initial Indian television serials that she starred in. She portrayed the love interest of then relatively unknown Shah Rukh Khan's character. Her role as a strong-willed woman in another television serial, Imtihaan was widely appreciated. Tribhanga is Renuka Shahane's first Hindi directorial starring Kajol, Tanvi Azmi, Mithila Palkar, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Vaibhav Tatwawaadi, Manav Gohil, Kanwaljeet Singh, Shweta Mehendale, Nishank Verma.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Language	Ref.
1988	Tamacha	Rashmi	Hindi
1992	Aapli Mansa		Marathi
1992	Haach Sunbaicha Bhau	Nandita		[18]
	Hun Hunshi Hunshilal	Parveen	Gujarati
1993	Money	Renu	Telugu
1994	Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!	Pooja	Hindi	[19]
	Money Money	Renu	Telugu
1995	Aboli	Bappa's daughter	Marathi	Filmfare Award Marathi Best Actress
1996	Masoom	Yashoda	Hindi
1997	Tunnu Ki Tina	Tinnu's first girlfriend
2002	Tum Jiyo Hazaaron Saal	Hema
2003	Ek Alag Mausam	Rita		[20]
2004	Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa	Rishabh's sister		[citation needed]
2006	Sun Zarra	Gauri Shankar's wife		[21]
2009	Rita	Saraswati	Marathi	[citation needed]
2014	Bhakarkhadi 7 km	Dr. Sameer's mother		[citation needed]
	Dusari Goshta
	Akalpith	Dr. Mugdha		[citation needed]
2015	Highway
	Te Aath Diwas			[citation needed]
	Janiva	Lawyer Charitra Dharamadhikari
2018	3 Storeys	Flory Mendonca	Hindi	[22]
	Bucket List	Anjali Deshpande	Marathi	[23]
	Gulabjaam	Guest appearance		[24]
2019	Smile Please	Guest appearance		[25]
2021	Tribhanga	Writer & Director	Hindi	[26]
2022	Govinda Naam Mera	Asha Waghmare
2025	Devmanus	TBA	Marathi	[27]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Language	Ref.
1989–1990	Circus	Maria	Hindi	[28]
1990	Yeh Hui Naa Baat
1993–2001	Surabhi	Host		[29]
1994	Imtihaan			[30]
	Aasmaan Se Agay
	Junoon	Chandni
1995–1998	Sailaab	Shivani		[31][32]
1997	Mrs. Madhuri Dixit	Madhuri Dixit		[33]
1997-1998	Ghutan	Shamli		[34]
	9 Malabar Hill	Suman		[citation needed]
1998–1999	Kora Kagaz	Pooja		[35]
2001	Khamoshiyaan...Kab Tak
2007	Jeete Hain Jiske Liye	Anjali Dhanrajgir		[36]
2010–2011	Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 4	Contestant	[37]
	Hyala Jeevan Aise Naav	Host	Marathi	[38]
2011	Fu Bai Fu	Judge		[39]
	Aawaj Mahrashtracha	Host		[citation needed]
	Ladies First	Co-Host	Hindi	[40]
2014	Mere Rang Mein Rangne Waali	Renuka Deshmukh		[41]
2015	Comedychi Bullet Train	Judge	Marathi	[42]
2015	Kabhi Aise Geet Gaya Karo	Amrita	Hindi	[43]
2018	Khichdi	Bawaskar Madam		[44]
2018	Chala Hawa Yeu Dya	Guest		[45]
2019	Kaun Banega Crorepati 12	Guest		[46]
2020	The Kapil Sharma Show	Guest		[47]
2022	Band Baja Varat	Judge	Marathi	[48]

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Language	Ref.
2018-2019	What the Folks	Vandu Solanki	Hindi	[49]
2022	First Second Chance	Vaidehi	Hindi
2025	Dupahiya	Pushpalata Yadav	Hindi