Rupali Ganguly (born 5 April 1977) is an Indian actress who primarily works in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

television. One of the highest-paid

television actresses Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

in India, Ganguly is best known for portraying Monisha Singh Sarabhai in the sitcom ''

Sarabhai vs Sarabhai ''Sarabhai vs Sarabhai'' is an Indian Hindi-language television sitcom that aired on STAR One from 1 November 2004 to 16 April 2006 and on Disney+ Hotstar from 15 May to 17 July 2017 for two seasons in 80 episodes altogether. The show was direc ...

'' (2004–2006) and Anupamaa Joshi in the drama ''

Anupamaa ''Anupamaa'' is an Indian Hindi-language television drama series that premiered on 13 July 2020 on StarPlus and streams digitally on Disney+ Hotstar. Produced by Rajan Shahi and Deepa Shahi under the banner of Director's Kut Productions, it i ...

'' (2020–present). She is a recipient of several accolades including two

Indian Telly Awards The Indian Telly Awards is an annual award for excellence both on-screen and behind-the-scenes of Hindi-language television. Conceptualised and created by Anil Wanvari, the founder, CEO of media and services group, indiantelevision.com, they a ...

and two

ITA Awards The Indian Television Academy Awards, also known as the ITA Awards, is an annual award ceremony organised by the Indian Television Academy to honour excellence in Hindi-language television, films and web content. The Indian Television Academ ...

. Born to

Anil Ganguly Anil Ganguly (26 January 1933 – 15 January 2016) was an Indian film director and screenwriter, who worked in Hindi cinema from 1970s to 2001. He is best known for Jaya Bhaduri starrer, '' Kora Kagaz'' (1974) and the Raakhee starrer '' Ta ...

, Ganguly made her acting debut at age seven, in her father's directorial venture ''

Saaheb ''Saaheb'' () is a 1985 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Anil Ganguly. It is a remake of the 1981 Bengali film '' Saheb'' directed by Bijoy Bose, Starring Tapas Paul and Utpal Dutt. The film stars Anil Kapoor, Amrita Singh, Raakhee ...

'' (1985). She featured opposite

Tapas Paul Tapas Paul (29 September 1958 – 18 February 2020) was an Indian actor and politician. One of the most celebrated actors of Bengali cinema, Paul is best known for his on-screen roles opposite Mahua Roy Choudhury and Debashree Roy. He recei ...

in her father's Bengali film ''Balidan'' (1990) which was a massive commercial success. Despite the success of the film, she no longer had any further feat in Bengali cinema. Ganguly, later had her breakthrough with her portrayal of Dr. Simran Chopra in the medical drama series '' Sanjivani: A Medical Boon'' (2003–2005). In 2006, she participated in ''

Bigg Boss 1 ''Bigg Boss 1'' is the first season of various versions of ''Bigg Boss'' (an Indian adaptation of the reality game show ''Big Brother''): * Bigg Boss (Bangla season 1), ''Bigg Boss'' (Bangla season 1) * Bigg Boss (Hindi season 1), ''Bigg Boss'' (Hi ...

''. Ganguly continued to appear in numerous successful television series, portraying Sujata in ''

Ek Packet Umeed Ek Packet Umeed () is a weekly show that aired on NDTV Imagine. Plot The story focuses on Ambika Dharamraj and 15 other members who have all chosen to make a change. Despite having undergone such misery they now live a happy life in a home the ...

'' (2008) and Pinky Khanna Ahuja in ''

Parvarrish – Kuchh Khattee Kuchh Meethi ''Parvarrish – Kuchh Khattee Kuchh Meethi / Nayi Umar Nayi Chunauti - Parvarrish Agla Padav'' (), is an Indian soap opera that aired on Sony TV. The show premiered on 21 November 2011 and ended on 14 August 2013. The serial is about two fam ...

'' (2011–2013), following which she took a sabbatical from acting for seven years, and returned with

Early life and family

Ganguly was born on 5 April 1977 in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

, (present-day Mumbai),

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

into a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

family. Ganguly's father,

, was a director and screenwriter and her brother Vijay Ganguly is a choreographer. She studied

hotel management A hotel manager, hotelier, or lodging manager is a person who manages the operation of a hotel, motel, resort, or other lodging-related establishment. Management of a hotel operation includes, but is not limited to: management of hotel staff, ...

and theatre.

Career

Ganguly made her acting debut at age seven with her father's film ''

'' in 1985 in her childhood. She appeared opposite

in ''Balidan'' (1990) a Bengali Film, directed by her father. The film became a massive commercial success. Despite the success of the film, Ganguly failed to build a career in Bengali cinema. She made her television debut in ''Sukanya'' in 2000, and has also appeared in '' Sanjivani'' and ''

Bhabhi Bhabhi may refer to: * ''Bhabhi'' (1938 film), a 1938 Hindi film * ''Bhabhi'' (1957 film), a 1957 Hindi film * ''Bhabhi'' (1991 film), a 1991 Hindi film * ''Bhabhi'' (TV series), a 2002 Hindi TV series aired on StarPlus * '' Savita Bhabhi'', a ...

''. Ganguly received widespread recognition and critical acclaim for her portrayal of

Monisha Sarabhai ''Sarabhai vs Sarabhai'' is an Indian sitcom that ran on STAR One from 1 November 2004 to 16 April 2006 and on Hotstar from 15 May 2017 to 17 July 2017 for two seasons. The show was produced by Jamnadas Majethia and Aatish Kapadia under the ban ...

, a middle-class young woman married in a high society,

Cuffe Parade Cuffe Parade is a historic and significant business district of the city of Mumbai, India. It is home to a collection of commercial and office high-rises. It is bordered to the north by Nariman Point which, along with Cuffe Parade, forms the gr ...

-living socialite family in the cult sitcom ''

'' from 2004 to 2006. Later in November 2006, Ganguly participated in the reality show ''

''. She got evicted in its tenth week. She is also a part of many Hindi theatre plays in her career, Some of her plays are ''Oye Ki Girl Hain'', ''Selfie'', and ''Patte Khul Gaye''. In 2009, she participated in

Colors TV Colors TV is an Indian general entertainment pay television channel owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. Its programming consists of Soap opera, family dramas, Comedy, comedies, fantasy shows, youth-oriented Rea ...

's stunt based reality show, '' Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 2''. She also gave voice over in an animation film ''

Dashavatar The Dashavatara (, ) are the ten primary avatars of Vishnu, a principal Hindu god. Vishnu is said to descend in the form of an avatar to restore cosmic order. The word ''Dashavatara'' derives from , meaning "ten", and , roughly equivalent t ...

'' in 2008. In 2000, she established an advertising agency in Mumbai. Since 2020, she is portraying the titular character in

StarPlus StarPlus is an Indian Hindi-language general entertainment pay television channel owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. Its programming consists of family dramas, romantic comedies, youth-oriented realit ...

's ''

''. Ganguly made her digital debut in 2022 with her ongoing show ''

's'' prequel web series named '' Anupama: Namaste America'' which premiered on

Disney+ Hotstar Disney+ Hotstar, also known as JioHotstar or simply Hotstar, is an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Disney Star. The brand was introduced as Hotstar for a streaming service carrying content from Di ...

in 2022.

Political career

Ganguly started her political career in 2024, by joining

Bharatiya Janta Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Since 2014, ...

at the party headquarters in Delhi, on 1 May 2024. On joining BJP, she said, "The one personality that attracts everyone towards BJP is PM

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

. When I see this 'Mahayagya' of development, I feel that I should also take part in this."

In the media

A report from ''

Times Of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' marked her as the highest earning Indian television actor in 2023. Ganguly is known for portraying powerful roles on-screen. In the ''

Eastern Eye The ''Eastern Eye'' is a British weekly newspaper, published every Friday. It was created in 1989 and was first published by ''The Guardian'', before becoming a standalone newspaper. History Sarwar Ahmed founded the ''Eastern Eye'' from hi ...

''s "Top 50 Asian Stars" list, she was placed 29th in 2022. In 2023, Ganguly featured in an ad for the Vocal for Local campaign, along with her '

co-actor

Gaurav Khanna Gaurav Khanna (born 11 December 1981) is an Indian television actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Anuj Kapadia in Star Plus's ''Anupamaa'', for which he won the Indian Telly Award for Best Actor (Editorial). In 2025, he won the first s ...

. In 2023, she ranked 5th in ''

Times Now Times Now is an English-language news channel in India owned and operated by The Times Group. The channel launched on 23 January 2006 in partnership with Reuters. It is a pay television throughout India. Until 2016, it was India's most popula ...

'' "Popular Television Actresses" list.

Controversy

In November 2024, Rupali filed a defamation lawsuit for Rs 50 Crore against her stepdaughter Esha Verma on purported allegations. Esha Verma posted a video on her social media account, alleging that her father, Ashwin K Verma, harassed her mother. After defamation suit Esha deleted the post from her social media handles.

Personal life

Ganguly married businessman Ashwin K. Verma on 6 February 2013. The couple has a son born 25 August 2013.

Filmography

Films

*''All films are in Hindi unless otherwise noted.''

Television

Web series

Awards and nominations

For ''Anupamaa'', Ganguly has won two

ITA Award The Indian Television Academy Awards, also known as the ITA Awards, is an annual award ceremony organised by the Indian Television Academy to honour excellence in Hindi-language television, films and web content. The Indian Television Academ ...

, among ten nominations.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ganguly, Rupali Indian television actresses Bengali television actresses Indian stage actresses Indian film actresses Living people Actresses from Kolkata Participants in Indian reality television series Indian women television presenters Indian television presenters Indian soap opera actresses 1977 births 21st-century Indian actresses Contestants on Indian game shows Actresses from Mumbai