ACTOR
Rati Agnihotri
- Known for
- Hum Tum (2004), Singh Is Bliing (2015), Socha Na Tha (2005), Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981)
22 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
Rati Agnihotri is an actor best known for Hum Tum, Singh Is Bliing and Socha Na Tha.
All facts (22)
- #001
When Rati Agnihotri married businessman and architect Anil Virwani in February 1985, she took a 16-year break from cinema and returned after her teenage son Tanuj encouraged her to do so.
- #002
She is from Pencap, but she settled in Madras, Tamil Nadu, when she was young because her father's work took the family there.
- #003
When Rati was only 16, director Bharati Raja saw her in a school play and cast her as the heroine of the Tamil film "Pudhiya Varpukkal" (1979), which made her an overnight star in South Indian films.
- #004
She did not know Tamil, so the lead actor in her first film, Bhagyaraj, wrote the dialogues in Hindi for her and explained them to her in English, and she delivered the lines in Tamil. She learned the language quickly and now speaks near-perfect Tamil, and later Telugu and Kannada as well.
- #005
After making South Indian films (Tamil, Telugu and Kannada), she ironically became a star in Hindi films with her first Hindi film "Ek Duje Ke Liye" (1981), a remake of the blockbuster Telugu film "Maro Charitra" (1979), in which a different heroine (Saritha) but the same director (K. Balachander), hero (Kamal Hassan) and supporting actress (Madhavi) appeared.
- #006
She has acted in six languages (Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam) and has appeared in more than 150 feature films, stage plays and television series.
- #007
Between 1979 and 1981, at the height of her career as a South Indian heroine, she acted in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films but had no time to appear in Malayalam films. She finally made her Malayalam debut with a mature, supporting role in Anyar (2003).
- #008
Her cousin is actor and film producer Atul Agnihotri, and she played a supporting role as a heart surgeon in his film "Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa" (2004).
- #009
In 2005 she appeared in her first music video, playing the doting mother of a young man who falls in love with a young man at a co-educational school, in Kumar Sanu's non-film album "Aisa Na Dekho Mujhe." She does not sing in the video, however, and has no desire to pursue a career as a recording artist.
- #010
In 2011 she admitted that during the shooting of the hit love story Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981), she and its lead actor Kamal Haasan did not get along. She did not remember why there was a breakdown in communication, but she remembered him as a very talented, great actor.
- #011
She and her husband Anil Virwani have a son named Tanuj Virwani (b. 1987).
- #012
Her sister Anita Agnihotri was a former Miss India who designed costumes for films. She has now settled in Poland and runs an Indian restaurant called Bombay. She is married to Peter Luszczenska.
- #013
She is the niece of actor Rohit Agnihotri. Rohit was Atul's father. None of Rohit's films succeeded at the box office, which led to his early retirement.
- #014
She became related to Salman Khan when her sister Alvira Khan married her cousin Atul Agnihotri.
- #015
She was upset by rumours that some of her scenes in Sahhas (1981) were removed because they were not good and her voice was shaky. She denied that her scenes had been cut, but agreed that her role was short even though she was the film's heroine. She said she asked the director to expand her role, but when the director told her he could not do so at that stage, she stayed silent and completed her work on the film.
- #016
In the first year of her successful Hindi film debut with Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981), she was paid 3 to 5 lakh per film, which allowed her to buy 3 cars. Her income also allowed her mother to retire from her work as a successful dress designer and garment exporter and to accompany her.
- #017
Her father's name is Roopkishen Agnihotri. He was said to have received acting offers from producers but turned them down. Her mother's name is Radhika.
- #018
She appeared in Sujata's shelved film "Sajni Sajan Ko Le Bhagi" (1984); Sujata was choreographer Kamal's assistant.
- #019
She has a brother named Rakesh.
- #020
Her sister Anita was offered the lead role opposite Rishi Kapoor in Laila Majnu. The family turned it down because she was not interested.
- #021
In 1983, Manmohan Desai planned to make a film titled "Construction Rani" with Rati Agnihothri in the lead role. The film was to be shot in 5 different languages. The project never came to fruition.
- #022
Rati Agnihotri changed her name from "Rathan" to "Rati" because of her acting career.
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