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Shefali Shah is an Indian actress who is known for her work in films like ‘Waqt: The Race Against Time’ (2005), ‘Gandhi, My Father’ (2007), ‘Happy Birthday Mummyji’ (2021), and ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’ (2015). Shefali Shah is also known for her performance in the Netflix series ‘Delhi Crime’ (2019).
Wiki/Biography
Shefali Shah was born as ‘Shefali Shetty’ on Tuesday, 22 May 1973 (age 50 years as of 2023) in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. Her zodiac sign is Gemini. She completed her schooling at the Arya Vidya Mandir Institute in Santacruz, Mumbai. Shefali pursued her graduation in science at Chauhan Institute of Science (Mithibai College), Vile Parle. She is settled in Mumbai.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 6″
Weight (approx.): 60 kg
Hair Colour: Natural Black
Eye Colour: Dark Brown
Figure Measurements (approx.): 36-32-34
Family
Parents & Siblings
Shefali Shah’s father, Sudhakar Shetty, is a Mangalorean and a former Reserve Bank of India employee. Her mother, Shobha Shetty, is a Gujarati and a homoeopathy doctor. Shefali Shah is the only child of her parents.
Husband & Children
Shefali Shah got married to Indian actor, Harsh Chhaya, in 1994; however, the couple got divorced in 2000. Shefali then got married to filmmaker Vipul Amrutlal Shah on 11 December 2000.
The couple later got blessed with two sons, Aryaman, and Maurya.
Religion
Shefali Shah follows Hinduism.
Career
Television Serials
Shefali Shah made her television debut in 1993 with Zee TV’s ‘Campus.’ The serial revolved around the life of college students and their experiences in love, relationships, and politics.
1993 :: TV Serial ‘Campus’ Begins On ZEE TV.
It Was Based On Student Politics In College Campus pic.twitter.com/pKec9BrzvB
— indianhistorypics (@IndiaHistorypic) June 9, 2021
In 1993, Shefali Shah was cast in Zee TV’s ‘Tara,’ which was the first Indian TV serial based on contemporary urban women. Shefali Shah played the role of Mala. This serial was the first Hindi-language TV serial that was broadcast on television for five years. In the same year, Shefali Shah starred in Zee TV’s ‘Banegi Apni Baat.’ It was a drama series based on college students and their campus life experiences in which Shefali Shah played the role of Richa.
In 1993, Shefali Shah was cast in Doordarshan’s ‘Naya Nukkad,’ which was the second season of Doordarshan’s ‘Nukkad.’ The show showcased financially poor and economically backward people struggling to make a living in the metropolitan cities. In 1996, Shefali starred in DD National’s ‘Aarohan.’ The story revolves around women joining the Indian Navy. Shefali Shah played the character of Cadet Nivedita Sen in this 13-episode TV series.
In 1995, she starred in Balaji Telefilms’ ‘Mano Ya Na Mano,’ a horror drama series aired on Zee TV. Shefali was featured in the episode titled ‘Kabzaa’ with Durga Jasraj. The episode was then converted into a full-fledged TV series named ‘Kavach’ which was aired on Colors TV. In 1997, Shefali Shah was cast in Zee TV’s ‘Hasratein.’ She replaced Seema Kapoor after 126 episodes and played the role of Savi. The serial was based on the Marathi novel ‘Adhantari’ written by Jayvant Dalvi.
Bollywood
In 1995, Shefali Shah made her debut with Ram Gopal Varma’s romantic-comedy film ‘Rangeela.’ Shefali Shah made a special appearance in the film as Mala Malhotra. In 1998, Shefali Shah starred in Ram Gopal Varma’s crime film ‘Satya.’ Shefali Shah played the character of Pyari Mhatre, the wife of a gangster.
In 2001, Shefali Shah starred in a comedy-drama film ‘Monsoon Wedding.’ She played the role of a child sexual abuse survivor, Rhea Verma.
In 2005, Shefali Shah starred in ‘Waqt: The Race Against Time,’ which was produced and directed by Shefali’s husband, Vipul Amrutlal Shah. Shefali played the role of Amitabh Bachchan‘s wife, Sumitra Thakur.
In 2007, Shefali Shah was cast in the biographical drama film ‘Gandhi, My Father.’ Shefali Shah played the character of Kasturba Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi’s wife).
In 2015, Shefali Shah was seen in Zoya Akhtar‘s comedy-drama film ‘Dil Dhadakne Do.’ Shefali played the character of Anil Kapoor’s wife, Neelam Kamal Mehra. Shefali Shah won many awards for her acting in the film.
Web Series
In 2018, Shefali Shah appeared in the romantic drama film ‘Once Again’ on Netflix. The film was a love story of a famous actor and a restaurateur in which Shefali Shah played the role of Tara Shetty.
In 2019, Shefali Shah was cast in the Netflix series ‘Delhi Crime.’ The series was based on the aftermath of the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder case, also known as the ‘Nirbhaya Case.’ Shefali Shah played the role of DCP Vartika Chaturvedi and won many awards for her acting in this Netflix series.
In 2022, Shefali Shah starred in Netflix’s dark comedy film ‘Darlings,’ which was produced by Alia Bhat. The film was based on domestic abuse in which Shefali Shah played the role of Shamshunissa.
In 2022, Shefali Shah was cast in Disney+ Hotstar’s medical thriller series ‘Human,’ which was directed by Vipul Amrutlal Shah. The series was based on the medical scams happening across the world in which Shefali played the role of Dr. Gauri Nath.
In 2022, Shefali was cast in Amazon Prime Video’s thriller film ‘Jalsa’ in which she played the role of Rukhsana Mohammad. Shefali was praised by the critics for her performance in the film along with actress Vidya Balan.
Awards
- In 1997, Shefali Shah won the Zee Woman of the Year Award for her performance in Zee TV’s drama series ‘Hasratein.’
- In 1998, Shefali Shah was nominated for the People’s Choice Awards for the film ‘Satya.’
- In 1999, Shefali Shah won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the 44th Filmfare Awards for the film ‘Satya’ (1998).
- In 1999, Shefali Shah was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Female at the Zee Cine Award (ZCA) for the film ‘Satya.’
- In 2005, she was nominated for the People’s Choice Awards in the category of Best Supporting Actress for the film ‘Waqt: The Race Against Time.’
- In 2006, Shefali Shah was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Filmfare Awards for the film ‘Waqt: The Race Against Time.’
- In 2006, she won the Best Supporting Actress for the film ‘Waqt: The Race Against Time’ at the Stardust Awards.
- In 2006, Shefali Shah was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Female at the Zee Cine Award (ZCA) for the film ‘Waqt: The Race Against Time.’
- In 2007, she won the Best Actress Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival for the film ‘Gandhi, My Father.’
- In 2007, Shefali Shah was nominated for the Best Actress in a Supporting Role Award at the Producers Guild Film Awards.
- In 2008, Shefali Shah won the Best Actress (Critics) at the Zee Cine Award for the film ‘Gandhi, My Father.’
- In 2009, Shefali Shah won the Best Supporting Actress for the film ‘The Last Lear’ at the 55th National Film Awards.
- In 2015, she won the Stardust Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film ‘Dil Dhadakne Do.’
- In 2016, she was nominated for the Filmfare Awards- Best Supporting Actress for the film ‘Dil Dhadakne Do.’
- In 2018, she won the Best Actress in a Short Film for her film ‘Juice,’ at the 63rd Filmfare Awards.
- In 2019, she won Best Actress in a Leading Role for the Netflix series ‘Delhi Crime’ at the Asian Academy Creative Awards.
- In 2021, Shefali Shah received the Vogue Women of the Year 2021 Award.
- In 2022, Shefali Shah won the Best Actress for the film ‘Jalsa’ at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM).
- In 2022, Shefali Shah won the Alberto Sordi Family Awards in the category of International cultural figure.
- In 2023, she won the Most Stylish OTT Entertainer at the Bollywood Hungama Style Icons.
- In 2023, Shefali Shah won the Best Actress award at the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) for the film ‘Three of Us.’
- On 26 November 2023, Shefali won the Best Supporting Actor (Female) in Web Originals award for the film ‘Darlings’ at the Filmfare OTT Awards.
Net Worth
Shefali Shah’s net worth is estimated to be Rs. 375 million; as of 2022.
Favourites
- Painter(s): Mark Rothko and Paul Jackson Pollock
- Book: ‘Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep’ by Michael Schulman
Facts/Trivia
- Shefali Shah loves dogs and often shares photos and videos of her playing with her pets on social media.
- Shefali Shah is also a painter, and a few of her art pieces have been exhibited at the Art for Concern at Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai. In 2016, she took up a six-month course at Metàfora, an art school in Barcelona, Spain. Shefali Shah has gifted one of her paintings to Amitabh Bachchan.
- In 2017, she set up her solo painting exhibition in Pune to exhibit her art pieces; however, the exhibition was not a success.
- In 2021, she started a restaurant named ‘Jalsa’ in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Shefali Shah herself painted the walls of her restaurant. The restaurant serves authentic Indian and international cuisines.
- In 2022, Shefali opened the second branch of her restaurant in Bangalore, which was rated well by Lifestyle Asia.
- Shefali is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer.
- Shefali Shah is often spotted drinking alcoholic beverages with friends at parties and outings.
- She loves to travel and often shares pictures of different travel destinations on social media.
- Shefali Shah loves cooking and often cooks new recipes whenever she is free from her shoot.
- In 1995, after shooting for 4 days, Shefali Shah walked out of the set of Ram Gopal Varma’s romantic-comedy film ‘Rangeela’ as she was asked to do something completely opposite of what the role demanded. The actor felt that her decision to do ‘Rangeela’ was a mistake.
- In the early 1990s, Shefali Shah did Gujarati theatre before joining the Bollywood industry. She was 10 years old when she made her first theatre appearance.
- Shefali is fluent in many languages like Tulu, Hindi, English, Marathi, and Gujarati.
- Shefali Shah was just 21 years old when she started playing the role of a mother.
- In 2015, Shefali became the host of the Hindi language crime show ‘Savdhaan India: India Fights Back.’
- In 2020, she made her writing and directorial debut with two short films, ‘Someday,’ and ‘Happy Birthday Mummyji.’ Shefali Shah also acted in both short films. ‘Someday’ was premiered at the 51st USA Film Festival and was also screened at the 18th Indian Film Festival Stuttgart in Germany.