I met RITU SHIVPURI (she looked like a bomb) of the old Aankhen fame, at a party some months ago and spent the better part of the evening calling her by some other name altogether, blame it on the copious amounts of wine sloshing around in my bloodstream (that rendered me bombed). She was too polite and didn’t bat an eyelid. Considering we’d known each other in her previous life, I thought it was mighty gracious of her to ignore my shenanigans. Some days later, she called and was surprised to realise that I had not been so far gone, but had actually saved her number. We met again over a couple of awesome lunches, and spent precious time shooting the breeze. Haute cuisine, hot chit-chat, happening cinema and hoots of laughter made for the funnest afternoons spent in a long while. It’s good to have Ritu back in filmdom. And she looks like a million bucks yet
How did your come-back opportunity come your way?
I started working at it in January this year, it’s been a good year packed with work. Currently I am doing 24, which is on air. Then I have just wrapped up He Man which is a Puneet Issar- directed film. I have got the meatiest role in it. I also have two songs in the film and one of the songs is definitely going to be a chartbuster. The producer is Abbas Rizvi who I’ve known since I was very young. When I got married, I also realised that he was like a brother to my husband. I have known him all my life. He has always seen the potential in me. Even though his primary occupation is being a builder, he has a crazy passion for films. He made Roar: Tigers of the Sundarbans. Lately, he has stepped into production, and luckily for me, this film happened. Having parents (the late Om Shivpuri and ‘Baa’ Sudha Shivpuri of TV fame) in the film industry, I known all these guys since childhood. Abbas suggested that I do this role in the film, and that’s how it happened. Actually the film came first to me, way before 24.
You had said that your contemporaries couldn’t have asked for such a comeback. Why?
Yes, even Raveena Tandon, Karisma Kapoor and the others have not got an opportunity to do this kind of work in their come-backs. I know a lot of other actresses of my time have been wanting to work, but haven’t got a chance. I am actually playing a 35-year-old actress, and wife to RJ Pritam Singh.
What prompted you to decide that now was the right time for a come-back?
This story is from the September 2016 edition of STARDUST INDIA.
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This story is from the September 2016 edition of STARDUST INDIA.
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