Meet superstar who got married at peak of her career, faced domestic violence for 30 years, she is now...

Written By Riddhima Kanetkar | Updated: Jan 27, 2024, 12:06 PM IST

In 1986, Rati Agnihotri and Anil Virwani welcomed a son, but even after the arrival of the child, the relationship between Rati and Anil did not improve and Rati had to suffer domestic abuse for 30 years.

Rati Agnihotri is one of the most beautiful actresses in Bollywood. When she entered the film industry, it did not take long for people to go gaga over her beauty. People used to call Rati an 'Apsara' descended from heaven. Rati made her Bollywood debut with the film 'Ek Duuje Ke Liye' in 1981. Her pairing with Kamal Haasan was greatly appreciated and the film was a super-duper hit at the box office. With this, Rati also became the top actress in Bollywood. However, the personal life of this actress, who had a successful career in Bollywood, was not so rosy. Her marriage became the cause of the biggest trouble for her. Today, we will tell you all about the bone-chilling life story of Rati Agnihotri.

Rati Agnihotri was born on December 10, 1960, in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, in "a conservative Punjabi family." She began modeling at the age of ten and her first film roles were in the Tamil language films 'Puthiya Vaarpugal' and 'Niram Maaratha Pookkal'. After getting permission from Rati's father, director Bharathiraja shot 'Puthiya Vaarpugal' with Rati and despite being a Punjabi, she received praise for her performance. After doing some brilliant Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu films, Rati made her Bollywood debut in 1981 with 'Ek Duuje Ke Liye' and made her mark in Hindi cinema. In more than four decades of her career, Rati has won the hearts of the audience with her powerful acting.

By the mid-80s, Rati Agnihotri had become the top actress in Hindi cinema. However, when Rati was at the peak of her career, she met Mumbai-based businessman and architect, Anil Virwani at an event and since then things changed. Although her parents were against her relationship with Anil, Rati went ahead and dated him for some time. Rati and Anil got married in 1985 and after that, Rati took a break from her career for her family.

For Rati's parents, Anil was not an ideal match for their daughter and soon, they were proven right. In the first year of her marriage, Rati came to know the reality of her husband. Anil started beating the actress badly. As time progressed, things got worse. In an interview, Rati revealed that Anil used to beat her, and she used to run around the house to save herself from him.

In 1986, Rati Agnihotri and Anil Virwani welcomed a son, but even after the arrival of the child, the relationship between Rati and Anil did not improve and Rati had to suffer domestic abuse for 30 years. 

But, ultimately, in 2015, she decided to end her marriage and moved out of her house. According to a report in Times of India, it was on March 7, 2015, when the actress's son Tanuj was in Pune for the shooting of a film, and due to Anil's anger, she started fearing for her life. According to the report, Rati had said, “I thought in my mind that I am a 54-year-old woman and will gradually become old and weak and then one day I will get beaten to death.”

Exactly a week later, on March 14, 2015, Rati went to the police station and filed a case of domestic violence against her husband. Rati Agnihotri and Anil Virwani divorced in 2015.

Now, Rati Agnihotri spends a lot of time in Poland, where she owns an Indian restaurant with her sister Anita.