Before Kammo Bua, Razia Chachi or Katto Amma, Himani Shivpuri was an NSD apprentice earning Rs 600 a month. In a new Filmfare conversation, the actor traces her journey from Dehradun theatre to parallel cinema and the mainstream roles that made her a fixture in Hindi film households.
The roles fans still rewind for
Himani’s filmography spans the 1990s and 2000s with characters that defined the family film. A short list:
- Kammo Bua in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
- Dr Razia Chachi in Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!
- Rifat Bi in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
- Kulwanti Bua in Pardes
- Katto Amma in Happu Ki Ultan Paltan
She says the DDLJ role brought a flood of bua offers, and that the typecasting initially upset her. “I tried not getting typecast,” she says in the interview. The proof is in her range: serious, comic and negative parts, from Biwi No. 1 to Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon.
NSD, Hum Log and a Rs 600 start
Her father, a Hindi teacher at The Doon School, encouraged her to take part in drama, debates and Bharatnatyam. She later chose NSD over a scholarship to study in the US, despite relatives who saw acting as “bhaandgiri”. As an NSD Repertory apprentice she earned Rs 600 a month, which she says gave her “a sense of independence”.
She also reveals that she refused Hum Log (1984), India’s first television soap, fearing it would leave no time for theatre. Writer Manohar Shyam Joshi later recommended her for Hamrahi, and the role of Devaki Bhojai brought her into homes through Doordarshan.
Co-stars: pranks, poha and graciousness
The interview has warm stories. Salman Khan, she recalls, improvised lifting her during a scene in HAHK, which Sooraj Barjatya kept. Filming a funeral sequence for Bandhan, Salman whispered jokes in her ear while the director asked for tears. Shah Rukh Khan told her that he had been part of the crowd in a film where she played the heroine, and she describes him as hard-working and gracious with fans. Madhuri Dixit, she says, got poha for the unit during HAHK and remained free of “false airs” despite being the top heroine.
Loss during DDLJ and finding a way forward
Himani also speaks about losing her husband, actor Gyan Shivpuri, during the making of DDLJ. She says he died of a heart attack three days before the final shoot, and that Yash Chopra told her the schedule could not be changed. Her son Katyayan was around nine and studying in Dehradun. Work became her solace. Now a writer-director, Katyayan made The Comedian (2023), which opened the JioCinema Film Festival, and Hunger (2023), which screened at the NYC Independent Film Festival.
Why it matters for fans
Himani’s story is also a map of 90s family cinema. The same actor who played Kammo Bua in DDLJ was in HAHK, Pardes, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, a run that still defines the era. It helps explain why her face feels like part of the family for a generation.
She says she has adopted her father’s ancestral village, Bhatwari, and hopes the remote village can have a “sustainable existence”. That, more than any bua role, is the takeaway from the conversation.
Source: Filmfare