Rupali Ganguly Shares How Her Negative Role In Sanjivani Impacted Her Father: “Isse Shadi Kaun Karega”

Rupali Ganguly has become a household name in the television industry and the credit goes to the beloved soap opera Anupamaa. Before that, she played the negative role of Dr Simran in the 2002 medical drama Sanjivani. While Rupali Ganguly received harsh comments from fans for the grey-shade character,  her father was also concerned by the negative role. She said, “Forget them (fans). My father being a filmmaker. Papa was like this typical Bengali dad. He said, ‘Meri beti toh vamp bann gayi, isse shadi kaun karega? (My father was like this typical Bengali dad. He said, ‘My daughter has become a vamp, now who will marry her?”). 

Often viewers fail to distinguish between the character shown in the serial and the person in real life. Rupali Ganguly faced a similar situation. Recounting an unpleasant fan experience, she said, “The hate is real. The hate is very real. Mai aur Gurdeep (Gurdeep Kohli, Rupali Ganguly’s co-star in Sanjivani) ekbar we were just going to Lokhandwala market and an elderly woman comes and she takes Gurdeep aside and says ‘Tu iske sath maat ghumna. [Gurdeep and I went to the Lokhandwala market. Suddenly an elderly woman approached us and told Gurdeep, ‘Don’t hang out with her].’” 

Rupali Ganguly made the revelation during TV Actresses Round Table 2024, organised by Directors Kut Production for their YouTube channel.  The actress added that the elderly woman called her “kamini (mean)”. “I cried that day. I felt so bad,” she admitted. 

Shivangi Joshi, Reem Shaikh, Anita Raj and Samridhii Shukla were also part of the roundtable discussion.

On the personal front, Rupali Ganguly’s stepdaughter Esha Verma has made some serious allegations against her father Ashwin Verma and the actress. The 26-year-old has accused Rupali of physically assaulting her mother in Mumbai. Esha said, “Rupali physically hit my mother in person in Mumbai,” in an interaction with Bollywood Bubble. Esha added that Ashwin Verma was a “very abusive man physically and emotionally.” Soon after the allegations, Rupali filed a Rs 50 Crore Defamation Suit against Esha. Read all about it here.