Renuka Shahane Talks About Her Divorce & Marrying Actor Ashutosh Rana

Most of us shed a tear when Nisha’s elder sister Pooja fell off the stairs and died a tragic death in the 1994 Indian Hindi-language musical romantic drama film ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun’.

Since then, whenever we see Indian actor Renuka Shahane, we remember her as Pooja from the film as that was the role with which she rose to fame.

 

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But behind that broad smile is a sad story that only a handful of her fans know about. From dealing with the shame and judgment that comes with the separation of parents to making eye contact with this unfair world after a divorce, she dealt with all this and more with calm and dignity.

In a recent interview, the actor, who was also a well-known co-presenter of the Doordarshan TV show Surabhi, spoke about her childhood that later impacted her life decisions.

“In the beginning, I was such a people pleaser because of that. People would judge me because my parents were separated. They used to say ‘Inke sath mat khelo because they come from a broken home’. Even teachers, they were so nasty.”

The trauma was so deep that she even added a scene in her directorial Hindi movie ‘Tribhanga’ influenced by it.

“The scene that you see in Tribhanga where that girl is asked, particularly pointed questions about her mother and surname, it happened to me. People feel it’s something of an exaggeration but it’s not.”

 

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Having said that, Shahane did get married, first time to a Marathi theater writer and director  Vijay Kenkare, but unfortunately didn’t last long and they got divorced. She then married Bollywood actor Ashutosh Rana.

Talking about her second marriage, the actor shared, “I think that I have gained immensely from [my first marriage] because after a very long gap when I fell in love with Ashutosh Rana, my picture of marriage was definitely not rosy. So it was much more realistic.”

Shahane added that her first divorce helped her understand and handle relationships better as she was much older and more mature.

“I was able to handle a lot of ups and downs much more easily and also because I was mature by then. By the time I got married, I was 34 or 35, so that’s quite an age to get married in India.”

Now, they have a happy family with two sons Shauryaman and Satyendra.

 

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Childhood traumas can haunt us for life and these are some things not everyone is comfortable speaking about to anyone, leave about giving an in-depth interview about it.

It’s great to see people like her talking about how toxic and cruel society can be even to kids who don’t have anything to deal with their parent’s separation. Moreover, the fact that she spoke about divorce and remarriage with no regret is laudable.

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