Rati Agnihotri

Agnihotri was born in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, in "a conservative Punjabi family."[1] She began modelling at age ten.[2]

Bharathiraja directed her in the film, Niram Maaratha Pookkal (1979).[3] Even though she was Punjabi, South Indian audiences embraced her as one of their own. She reciprocated by calling herself "Tamilian at heart" and calling Madras her home.[4] She also starred in Telugu and Kannada films and made 32 films in just three years.

She worked with big banners and top stars in South Indian cinema. She had worked with director K. Balachander once before and had been Kamal Haasan's leading lady in many South Indian films, so she wasn't surprised when they approached her for the Hindi remake of their Telugu fim Maro Charitra (1979). Now re-titled Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981), the film was about passionate lovers who are torn apart by their parents in the storytelling tradition of Romeo and Juliet. It became one of the top grossing hits of 1981 and marked the debut into Hindi films of five stars of the South Indian film industry: director K. Balachander, hero Kamal Haasan, heroine Rati Agnihotri, singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and supporting actress Madhavi. She then starred in over 43 Hindi films. Her biggest hits were Farz Aur Kanoon (1982), Coolie (1983) opposite megastar Amitabh Bachchan, Tawaif (1985) for which she received her second Filmfare nomination as Best Actress, Aap Ke Saath (1986) And Hukumat (1987) opposite the Bollywood icon Dharmendra.

Later on, new film offers came in, and she took them, such as Yaadein (2001) and Dev (2004). After a 20-year absence from South Indian films, she returned in the Tamil film Majunu (2001). She made her Malayalam debut in Anyar (2003), English debut in An Ode to Lost Love (2003), and Bengali debut in Aaina-te (2008).[5] She has acted on stage in plays such as Please Divorce Me Darling (2005) and television serials, such as Sixer (2005). Besides acting, she devotes time to social causes like cancer and AIDS.[6] Her son Tanuj Virwani is an actor.[7]

Agnihotri married businessman and architect Anil Virwani on 9 February 1985,[8] This, coupled with her father's death, convinced her to leave Hindi films.[9] On 28 November 1986, she gave birth to her only son, Tanuj Virwani, and she concentrated on raising him and focusing on other creative interests. The couple divorced in 2015.[10][11][12][13]

• Rati Agnihotri on IMDb
• Rati Agnihotri's Profile