In the mid-80s, a number of young actresses tried to fill the gap left by the decline of the careers of Hema Malini and Rekha, as well as the departure of Jayalalithaa and Jaya Bachchan. Across industries, many young actresses such as Sridevi, Jaya Prada, and Madhuri Dixit arrived to fill that gap. A rival to them was this young Marathi star, who graduated from child artiste to heroine, and then ruled the screen.
The actress who rivalled Sridevi, Rekha, Madhuri
Komal Mahuvakar, better known by her stage name Rupini, was born in Mumbai in the late-60s. She began her career as a child artiste in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Mili. The director cast her again in two more films. By 1980, when Komal was still a pre-teen, she graduated to lead roles with Payal Ki Jhankaar. In the first half of the decade, she appeared in hits like Meri Adalat and worked with top heroes like Rishi Kapoor. In 1987, she made her Tamil and Telugu debut and also adopted the name Rupini. Over the next eight years, she appeared in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, and Kannada films frequently, working opposite most top stars of the time. By the 90s, Komal aka Rupini had started doing supporting roles in films such as Namma Annachi.
When Rupini quit at the peak of her career
In 1995, Komal married Mohan Kumara and put her career on a halt to focus on her family. The actress wrapped her pending films and then withdrew to a quieter life, settling down in Chembur in Mumbai. The couple have a daughter named Anisha. A couple of years later, the former actress opened a hospital in Chembur for ailing patients and named it Universal Heart Hospital.
Rupini’s later career
In 2005, Rupini made a brief comeback to acting after almost 10 years when she played Sheetal in the Sahara One TV show Woh Rehne Waali Melhon Ki. However, films remained elusive to her. Rupini returned to films in 2020 after a 26-year gap as she starred in Chithi 2. Sadly, the film had a direct-to-TV release so the actress was not seen on the big screen. Rupini continues to live in Mumbai and has not worked in any film since.
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