Shilpa Shirodkar says she battled depression, husband quit highest-paid job to be with her: ‘Wanted to hit…'

India.com

19-07-2025

Actress Shilpa Shirodkar has delivered hits like Kishen Kanhaiya, Trinetra, Hum, Aankhen, Gopi Kishan , and Gaja Gamini. Her most popular on-screen pairing was with Mithun Chakraborty, with whom she worked in nine films. She took a 13-year hiatus from showbiz to focus on raising a family in London. Who is Shilpa Shirodkar?
Shilpa Shirodkar is the younger sister of actress and former Miss India Namrata Shirodkar and granddaughter of Meenakshi Shirodkar. She married UK-based banker Aparesh Ranjit in 2000. After the break, Shilpa Shirodkar joined Indian Television to be a part of popular sitcoms like Silsila Pyar Ka, Savitri Devi College & Hospital and reality TV show Bigg Boss 18 .
Shilpa with Namrata Shirodhkar and Mahesh Babu Why was Shilpa Shirodkar in depression?
Even in the Bigg Boss house, Shilpa revealed to her fellow contestant Gunaratna about the difficult times in her life. She said that she went into depression after her parents died. At that time, her husband did not care about his career and supported her.
Recently, Shilpa Shirodkar had a candid conversation with Pinkvilla where she talked about the time when she was not in a right state of mind. She revealed moving to India was a decision she took not because of work, but to be with her sister Namrata, who married Mahesh Babu.
Shilpa recalled the time when she was suffering from depression. She revealed, 'I didn't get films and I didn't try also. I didn't even try for television also. In fact, when I came back to India, I wasn't in a great mental state. I had lost my parents and I was in really bad depression. And I actually came back to India to be next to my sister (Namrata Shirodkar). I had nothing on my mind about work. I came back in 2010, and I didn't even ask anyone to give me work or express the desire to work. But when Diya ji and Tony ji called… I didn't even know anything about PR at all, neither did I do some photoshoot or anything. My idea was only that I don't want to go back and want to stay close to my sister.'
She further added, 'So my daughter Anushka started her schooling and everything slowly started settling in. Soon we decided that we will set up a production house, and I'll produce content for television as it was still an upcoming industry back then. It was obviously big but there was still space in regional, so we wanted to do something there. So when I got Ek Mutthi Aasmaan, I don't know how I got it. I was only told this is a good production house and I had already seen Banegi Apni Baat, so I knew these were good producers and I loved what they narrated to me. Zee was also happy to take me onboard, and I got it like that. I didn't go looking for it.' Shilpa Shirodhkar's husband left his job to be with her
Shilpa also opened up about the difficult time following the loss of her parents, which led to a deep depression. 'It happened after my parents passed. It was very tough. I was in London, alone, with my husband and my Anushka. And Aparesh was very, very, very successful. He was doing so well in his space of work. Anushka was settled in her school. She had her own friends. Everything, everything was in place. But when my parents passed so immediately, one after the other… I don't know, I just couldn't handle it. And I was getting treated there, but I just wanted to come back. You know, there's a saying that behind every successful man, there's a woman. I think, and I say this from my own experience, behind every successful woman is a very, very understanding husband. And a very, very tolerant man. And I wouldn't have been doing this today, I wouldn't be sitting in front of you, if my husband hadn't been there.'