Renuka Shahane talks about divorce from 1st husband, falling for Ashutosh Rana in her 30s

Renuka Shahane shared how her parents’ separation at a young age and eventually her divorce led to have a less than favourable view on marriage.

The actor revealed that when she got married for a second time, she was much older and able to handle the challenges of a relationship better.

The actor, who was last seen as Vicky Kaushal’s mother in Govinda Naam Mera (2022), spoke about how her parents’ divorce affected her and even influenced a scene in her Hindi movie Tribhanga (2021).

She made her first Hindi film as director with the Netflix film starring Kajol, Tanvi Azmi and Mithila Palkar. The family drama is said to be based on her relationship with her mother, writer Shanta Gokhale. Renuka’s father Vijay Shahane was an officer in the Indian Navy.

In an interview with Pinkvilla, Renuka spoke about her childhood. She explained, “In the beginning, I was such a people pleaser because of that. People would judge me because my parents were separated. They used to say ‘Inke sath mat khelo because they come from a broken home’. Even teachers, they were so nasty.

The scene that you see in Tribhanga where that girl is asked, particularly pointed questions about her mother and surname, it happened to me. People feel it’s something of an exaggeration but it’s not.”

She also spoke about her second marriage to actor Ashutosh Rana. Renuka was earlier married to Marathi theater writer Vijay Kenkare. She added, “I think that I have gained immensely from [my first marriage] because after a very long gap when I fell in love with Ashutosh Rana, my picture of marriage was definitely not rosy. So it was much more realistic.

I was able to handle a lot of ups and downs much more easily and also because I was mature by then. By the time I got married, I was 34 or 35, so that’s quite an age to get married in India (laughs).”

Renuka and Ashutosh have two sons Shauryaman and Satyendra. She is best known for the Rajshri Productions film Hum Aapke Hain Koun (1994) and made her directorial debut with the Marathi film Rita in 2006.