Bigg Boss 18: Shilpa Shirodkar Joins as Contestant

The highly anticipated 18th season of the reality television show Bigg Boss is set to premiere on October 6, 2024. Actor Salman Khan will reprise his role as the host of the popular series. Among the confirmed contestants for this season is actress Shilpa Shirodkar, a name that has already begun to generate interest among viewers eager to learn more about her life and career.

Born on November 20, 1973, Shilpa Shirodkar comes from a family with strong connections to the Indian film industry. She is the younger sister of Namrata Shirodkar, herself a former actress and the wife of well-known Telugu actor Mahesh Babu.

Shirodkar made her Bollywood debut in 1989 with Ramesh Sippy‘s film Bhrashtachar, starring alongside Mithun Chakraborty and Rekha. Her portrayal of a blind girl at just 18 years of age marked the start of her career in the film industry.

Shilpa Shirodkar quickly gained recognition for her performances in a number of successful movies during the early 1990s. She co-starred with Anil Kapoor in the 1990 film Kishen Kanhaiya and appeared in other notable films such as Trinetra (1991), Hum (1991), Khuda Gawah (1992), Aankhen (1993), Pehchaan (1993), Gopi Kishan (1994), Bewafa Sanam (1995), and Mrityudand (1997). Her frequent collaborations and on-screen chemistry with Mithun Chakraborty, with whom she featured in nine films, were particularly admired.

After achieving success in Bollywood, Shilpa Shirodkar took a 13-year break from acting. She shifted her focus to her personal life, marrying UK-based banker Aparesh Ranjit in 2000. The couple has one daughter, named Anoushka.

Making a return to the entertainment industry, Shilpa appeared in the television series Ek Mutthi Aasmaan in 2013 on Zee TV. She continued her television career with roles in Silsila Pyar Ka and Savitri Devi College & Hospital, and made a brief return to cinema with the 2020 film Guns of Banaras.

Outside her professional engagements, Shilpa Shirodkar is known to maintain a close bond with her family, often expressing her affection for her sister Namrata and brother-in-law Mahesh Babu on social media. She boasts a following of over 140,000 on Instagram, where she gives her fans a glimpse of her personal and professional life.

Shilpa Shirodkar’s choice of bold roles in the early 1990s sparked notable controversy at the time. Her willingness to portray provocative characters was seen as groundbreaking, yet it drew criticism from more conservative sections of the audience and industry. In addition to criticism over her roles, Shirodkar also faced body shaming, recalling in a recent interview how she was labeled “fat” during the 1990s, a period when the industry held very rigid beauty and fitness standards for actresses.