Rati Agnihotri

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Rati Agnihotri was born in Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh in a Punjabi family. She did her first modelling assignment at the age of 10. When she was a teenager, her father relocated to Chennai in Tamil Nadu . Rati attended the Good Shepherd’s Convent school and was active on stage and participated in school plays.

Rati married the businessman and architect Anil Virwani in 1985 . Around the same time her father passed away and coupled with both turning point in her life she quit the film industry at the peak of her career. The couple Anil and Rati have one son Tanuj Virwani therefore continued to concentrate on raising her child and focusing on the family . Though after 30 years of marriage the couple separated and seek divorce in 2015. Her son Tanuj Virwani has followed her footsteps and is aiming to be an actor and made his debut in the film Luv U Soniyo released in July 2013. Her sister Anita Agnihotri is an ex Miss India and lives in Poland and owns an Indian restaurant called’ Bombay’.

Rati Agnihotri did her debut in the film Puthiya Vaarpugal with a role in the Tamil Film by Bharathiraja who was a prominent director and was on look out for a new face for his new film . He met Rati’s father who was not in favour of her joining films but Bharatiraja convinced him to let his daughter act in the film with a promise that the film shooting would be wrapped within a month and her father reluctantly let her act in the film and had decided she would act in this film for the first and last time and concentrate on her studies as Rati was only sixteen years old then. For this film she also learnt a little of Tamil and the film went on to become a blockbuster and Rati was a sensation. Bharatiraja soon directed her 2nd film Niram Maaratha Pookkai in 1979. Even though a Punjabi born actress, Rati Agnihotri comfortably slipped into the Tamil films and the South Indian public reciprocated by applaud and appreciating her efforts and role in the Tamil filmline. Rati moved her base for a few years to Chennai those days called Madras. From then on she starred in more regional languages and did her debut in Telugu and Kannada films as well and in just a period of three years Rati had acted in almost 33 films. Her most popular film was with Vishnuvardhan due to her hot rain scene with the actor . From then on she started acting with big banners and top actors in South Indian Cinema and was a big name in the Tollywood. Her film with the director K. Balachander with the leading actor Kamal Hassan for the film Maro Charithra in 1979, was one of the Telugu Block buster so much so that the same pair together that had created on screen chemistry, the film was about two lovers from different in a set up of North Indian Girl in love with South Indian Boy torn by the orthodox beliefs of the parents. The film was made in Hindi and re-titled as ‘ Ek Duuje Ke Liye’ in 1981 and it became one of the top grossing films of the year and marked her debut in the Hindi films .Songs were by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and supporting actress Madhavi. With ‘Ek Duuje Ke Liye’ film doing a super hit success rounds that yeear, Rati Agnihotri was flooded with roles and she starred in over 43 Hindi films. She acted in mega films as well as mega stars and gave some of the biggest hits like Farz Aur Kanoon in 1982 and Coolie in 1983 with Amitabh Bachchan. Tawaif in 1985 for which she received her second Film fare nomination as Best Actress. She then acted in the film Hukumat in 1987 opposite the Icon Dharmendra. In the short span of her acting career, Rati Agnihotri had acted not just in Hindi films but also in the regional language films like Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Punjabi, Bhojpuri and English. She did a cameo role for her cousin Atul Agnihotri’s film Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa in 2004. After 16 years of being away from films Rati Agnihotri decided to do a comeback in the films again and her family supported her decision . She played the role of Kajol’s glamorous mom in the film Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi in 2001 . She started getting offers again such as Yaadein in the same year, Dev in 2004 . After being away from the Tamil film industry for more than 20 years, she returned in her favourite Tollywood to act in the film Majunu in 2001, she made her debut in Malayalam film in Anvar in 2003 and also an English debut for the film An Ode to Lost Love in 2003. By now she had re-established herself as the star and had acted in a Bengali film Aaina-te in 2008.. After which she started also in stage plays and was a part of the team for Please Divorce Me Darling in 2005 and started taking up television serials too. Her first television appearance was for the serial Sixer in 2005 .