Renuka Shahane, known for her performances in Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Masoom, and Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha, recently shared how she was warned against taking up the role of Pooja Chaudhary in Sooraj Barjatya’s 1994 blockbuster.
In an interview with Fever FM, Renuka recalled that Rajkumar Barjatya, Sooraj Barjatya’s father, had advised her against playing a ‘bhabhi’ (sister-in-law) on screen if she aspired to become a heroine. “Babuji (Rajkumar Barjatya) told me quite frankly, ‘You will get a lot of sister-in-law roles. If you don’t get the main lead, think 10 times before taking up this role. You don’t know the industry, but this is how it works. If you want to become a heroine, don’t do this film,’” she revealed.
However, Renuka was unfazed by the warning. “I told him, ‘I want to do this film. I didn’t come here to become a heroine; I came as an actor from theatre. For me, every character is important. Whether as an actor, writer, or director, characters drive stories.’ I never had those illusions or ambitions,” she said, adding that she never felt competitive in the industry.
Hum Aapke Hain Koun, directed by Sooraj Barjatya, featured an ensemble cast led by Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit in the iconic roles of Prem and Nisha. The film also starred Renuka Shahane, Mohnish Bahl, Anupam Kher, Alok Nath, Reema Lagoo, and Bindu in pivotal roles. The film became one of the highest-grossing Bollywood movies of all time in the 1990s.

Renuka made her directorial debut in 2009 with the Marathi film Rita, based on her mother Shanta Gokhale’s novel Rita Welingkar. She later directed Tribhanga (2021), a multi-generational story featuring Kajol, Tanvi Azmi, and Mithila Palkar.

She will next be seen in Dupahiya, a comedy series directed by Masaba Masaba filmmaker Sonam Nair. The nine-episode show stars Gajraj Rao, Bhuvan Arora, Sparsh Shrivastav, Shivani Raghuvanshi, and Yashpal Sharma.