This outsider, who belongs to a small town in Shimla, became a star with her debut film.
Many outsiders, who came from small towns, became stars with their hard work. A new addition to this list is an actress, who debuted with Aamir Khan’s film and is now stealing the spotlight in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s OTT debut.
The actress we are talking about also has a special connection to Preity Zinta and was seen distributing her debut film poster in Mumbai. She is none other than Pratibha Ranta, who is playing Shama in Heeramandi.
Pratibha Ranta used to live in in a village 100 km away from Shimla called Rodo. She and her sister moved to Shimla to her grandparents for her further education and it was then that she realized she wanted to be an actress. She revealed in an interview with Indian Express, “My dadi was a working woman at a time when being one was a rarity. I imbibed that strength from her, where she not only took care of the responsibilities of her children, and got them educated, but also took the responsibility of me and my sister. She invested her time, gave wings to our dreams, and encouraged us. But when I told her that I want to turn my acting hobby as my profession, she was skeptical”
Her grandmother told her that if she becomes an actress, no one would marry her. However, this didn’t stop her from pursuing her dreams and the actress came to Mumbai all alone to become an actress. She recalled struggling alone in the big city. Soon she bagged her debut show, Qurbaan Hua, and became a sensation in Shimla at 18. TV also made her financially independent and thus her family stopped questioning her.
In fact, it was because of TV that she got her first feature film, Aamir Khan Productions’ Kiran Rao directorial Laapataa Ladies. The film opened to positive response from the audience and Pratibha became a star with just her debut film. She is now seen in Heeramandi as Sanjeeda Sheikh’s daughter Shama and is winning hearts with her intense performance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s OTT debut.
Not only this, the actress also has a special connection to Preity Zinta. Talking to PTI, the actress said earlier, “It is ironic that Preity Zinta is from my hometown (Shimla, Himachal Pradesh) and studied at the same school.”
In a recent interview with Indian Express, the actress further talked about how she was called Preity Zinta and said, “For the longest, we only had Preity Zinta who made it to the industry from there and my family would often say, ‘Sabki kismat Preity Zinta jaisi nahi hoti.’ In fact, I was also called by her name back in town, so growing up all that I heard is that I am a heroine and one day I will go to Mumbai. So I knew I had to figure a way out.”
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 "Pratibha Ranta (Image: Instagram)")
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