Anupamaa Star Rupali Ganguly Reveals Family Lost All Money After Her Father Did Film With Dharmendra

Rupali Ganguly is best known for playing the lead in Anupamaa and has recently opened up about her family's financial struggles. The daughter of renowned filmmaker Anil Ganguly and sister of Bollywood choreographer Vijay Ganguly, Rupali shared the hardships they faced when her father's films faced consecutive box office failures.

Rupali talked about her family’s struggles

In an interview with Mashable India, Rupali disclosed, “I used to walk from Worli to Prithvi Theatre (almost 15 km) because my father’s films flopped, and we were wiped out. Everything that he had was sold. He made one film called Dushman Devta (1991) with Dharmendra and it flopped. My father got diabetes because of stress, and we lost all the money.”

During those times, filmmakers like Anil Ganguly invested personal assets in their projects as there was no corporate system. Rupali addressed, “It was the time when films were made from a filmmaker’s money, by selling the home, jewellery, and mortgaging the home. That was fashion, that was passion.”

Rupali reveals her first pay cheque amount 

Sharing her journey in theatre, Rupali recalled her first play and said, “My first play was Atmakatha at Prithvi Theatre and it was produced by Dinesh Thakur. I started my theatre journey with him. I was paid Rs 50 for my first play, and sometimes I also used to get samosa. It was a lot of money.”

In the early 2000s, Rupali ventured into television with a negative role in Star Plus' medical drama Sanjivani. Since 2020, she has been the face of Star Plus’ Anupamaa, becoming one of the most successful shows on television today. Other than Anupamaa, Rupali has been a household name ever since she starred in Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai.