New Delhi: 'Anupamaa' star Rupali Ganguly, daughter of the renowned filmmaker Anil Ganguly, recently shared about facing societal judgment and financial pressures during her early days in television. She also recalled how she took whatever work came her way because she had to pay her father’s hospital bills and also take care of her home.
In an interview with CNBC, Rupali recounted the challenges she encountered, sharing, “Television was again, struggling days. I had to run the home, so whatever work came along, I took it. It was looked down upon, especially in the Bengali community. So, you’re kind of an outcast. People would feel sorry for me because I was doing television, and I didn’t care because at that time, we needed to run the house.”
The actor elaborated on her motivations, stating, “I’ve never had ambitions. I’ve never had dreams. My thing was I didn’t want my father to be in a municipal hospital. I wanted him to be in a good hospital like Leelavati. For that, it was imperative that I work. I think me, even my brother, there’s so much respect for whatever little we get that we want to make the maximum out of it. I would do anything for my Papa; he is my inspiration, he is my god, and he still is, of course.”
Expressing gratitude towards her father for not leveraging his contacts to ease her journey, Rupali emphasised the value of starting from scratch. She told CNBC, “And in that short time that you get in television, you perform an excellent scene where people call you up and where, you know, it’s like portals are writing about it, ‘What a performance! What a performance’. That is my achievement. That is my win. It is not an easy industry.”
Rupali is known for her work in television shows like ‘Anupamaa’, ‘Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai’, ‘Parvarrish’ among others.