Shefali Shah was born in Mumbai, India, on May 22nd, 1973. Sudhakar Shetty, a banker with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and his Gujarati wife Shobha, a homeopathic doctor, have an only child. She was raised in the RBI quarters in Santa Cruz, Mumbai, where she attended Arya Vidya Mandir School. Tulu, Hindi, English, Marathi, and Gujarati are Shah’s native languages. She has received Bharatanatyam training.
From 1994 to 2000, Shah was married to Harsh Chhaya, a television actor. She married filmmaker Vipul Amrutlal Shah in December 2000, and they have two boys. Shah enjoys painting and cooking, in addition to acting. In 2021, she founded Jalsa, a restaurant in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. She painted several of the interiors.
Career in acting
Shefali began her acting career in Gujarati stage dramas such as Ant Vagarni Antakshari and Doctor Tame Pan, Before moving on to Bollywood. Shah has proven her ability to become one of Gujarati theatre’s stars, according to a 1995 feature by Rasa on Gujarati theatre.
She was brought to the attention of a crew member from the TV series Campus during one of the plays, who suggested she audition for a part in it. Following a screen test, she was accepted.
Several other serials followed, including the popular Zee TV dramas Tara and Banegi Apni Baat (both 1993-1997), as well as Doordarshan’s Naya Nukkad (1993-1994) and Zee TV’s Daraar (1994-1995).
Breakthrough
Shah took over Seema Kapoor’s role as Savi, a married lady who has an extramarital affair with another married man, in the TV series Hasratein (1996-1999) in 1997, after more than 120 episodes. The play, which was based on the Marathi novel Adhantari, was well-received by viewers and drew notice for its criticism of the institution of marriage.
“One of the major products that revolutionized the face of Indian television,” according to the description. Savi’s character, a mature woman with adult children, was substantially older than Shah. She persuaded director Ajay Sinha to cast her despite the age gap. The popularity of the program, according to Bhavya Sadhwani, is largely due to Shah’s “impeccable acting skills” in the role.
