This actress who debuted with Salman Khan, was paid 5 times more than him for the film.
Salman Khan gave a break to a number of actresses in Bollywood today. From Sonakshi Sinha, and Zareen Khan to Bhoomika Chawla, a number of actresses made debut with him, however, there is one actress who was paid 5 times more than the actor for her debut film and left him ‘unemployed’ for six months after the film.
The actress who made her debut with Salman Khan belongs to a royal family and she quit films to build her family. She is none other than Bhagyashree.
hails from the royal family of Sangli in Maharashtra. She is the daughter of Shrimant Akhand Soubhagyavati Rani Rajyalakshmi Patwardhan, the wife of the fourth and last King of Sangli, Maharaja Vijaysinghraje Patwardhan. Her sisters are Purnima and Madhuvanti. She once revealed in an interview with Pinkvilla, “My first pet was an elephant, while others had dogs. I was born and raised in Bombay, so life in Bombay was very different from when we went to our hometown regularly during the year. Still, we didn’t stay there, so when we returned, a lot of respect and decorum was maintained — how people spoke to us, how we spoke to people, and how we dressed. I only wore sarees to Sangli after 13.”
Bhagyashree made her debut in Bollywood in 1989 with Salman Khan’s Maine Pyaar Kiya and if reports are to be believed, Salman was paid Rs 31000 for the movie, however, Bhagyashree charged Rs 1.5 lakh for the movie, which is 5 times more than the actor’s fees.
At the IIFA Awards, once Salman Khan recalled the time when he had no work and said that after Maine Pyaar Kiya, Bhagyashree took all the credit for the movie and quit films because she wanted to be married, however, he was left with no work for 6 months. The actor said, “After Maine Pyar Kiya was released, Bhagyashree decided she didn’t want to work anymore, because she wanted to get married. Aur wo pura credit leke chali gayi. For six months, I had no movie. And that’s when a ‘devta saman aadmi’ , Ramesh Taurani, entered my life. My father at that point of time paid 2000 rupees and coaxed producer GP Sippy to make a fake announcement in a film industry magazine that he had signed me for a film. GP did that but there was no picture. But Ramesh Taurani went to Sippy’s office and paid Rs. 5 lakh for the music of the film. It was because of those Rs. 5 lakhs that I finally got a film called Patthar Ke Phool (1991). Thank you!”
Bhagyashree who belonged to a royal family, left her family to marry the love of her life Himalaya Dasani. She went against her parent’s will and ran from her house to marry him as her parents were against their marriage. Even after the success of Maine Pyaar Kiya, the actress quit Bollywood to build a family with her husband, and talking about the same she said in an interview, “I have absolutely no regrets though, I look at my life, my family now and I feel so proud. Yash Ji always said, ‘You’re a foolish girl’ and oh yes, I loved being foolish!”
Bhagyashree now has two children one girl Avantika Dasani and a son Abhimanyu Dasani who is also an actor. The actress made her comeback to the industry in the 2000s and starred in films like Maa Santoshi Maa (2003), Humko Deewana Kar Gaye (2006), and Red Alert: The War Within (2010).
The actress will be next seen in the movie Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video. Helmed by Mikhil Musale and co-written by him and Parinda Joshi., the film also stars Radhika Madan, Nimrat Kaur, Sumeet Vyas, Subodh Bhave, Soham Majumdar, Chinmay Mandekar, Shruti Vyas, Ashutosh Gaikwad, and Rashmi Agdekar. The film is scheduled to hit the theatres on October 27 and will clash with Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s directorial 12th Fail, starring Vikrant Massey.
Read Bhagyashree-Himalaya Dassani’s love story: From classmates to soul mates
