Ranbir Kapoor’s much-awaited film, Animal was released on December 1, 2023, and it has lived up to the much-hyped expectations. Within just four days, the film crossed Rs. 250 crore mark at the box office and is expected to cross all the benchmarks. Directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, the film depicts the relationship between a father and son and how it turns into an obsession.
The film has a stellar star cast, with Ranbir Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Anil Kapoor, and Rashmika Mandana in pivotal roles. However, it is actress, Charu Shankar, who managed to grab everyone’s attention with her limited screen time. Charu plays the role of Ranbir’s mother, ‘Jyoti Singh', as a catalyst between the father and son.
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Though Charu is just a year older than Ranbir, the actress gracefully played the role of his on-screen mother in the film. Charu is a popular name in glamour and has some tremendous works under her credit. Let us delve into more details about the actress.
Born on August 17, 1981, in Delhi, Charu did her schooling from Modern School at Barakhamba Road and later did her Masters in English Literature from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University. While in college, Charu enrolled herself in The Danceworx and began her training in dance. Apart from acting, Charu is a dancer and choreographer. Other than her stint in the glamour world, Charu loves writing poetry.
As per multiple reports, Charu’s father, Durgesh Shankar, is a former employee of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, and her mother, Neelima Shankar, is a doctor by profession. Charu has a younger brother, Varun Shankar, who works in a law firm in Delhi.
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Charu Shankar’s first stint in acting happened when she participated in various plays and dramas in school and college. While studying in LSR, Charu was a part of the dramatics society and performed in various plays like Shiva Calling, Draupadi and a few others.
In 2001, Charu began her career with NDTV by hosting the channel’s morning show, Fatafit. She also hosted a few other fitness shows like Workout Victim, MetroNation and The Perfect Body Built By Tech. From 2016 to 2017, Charu worked with the news channel, Wion.
It was in 2007 when Charu Shankar made her acting debut with the American comedy film, The Darjeeling Limited. The actress went on to play the role of 'Rosiana' in the Hindi short film, Sleeping Awake. The film won the Best Foreign Film Award at the California International Shorts Film Festival. In 2012, Charu was seen in a small role in the film, The Reluctant Fundamentalist.
Besides this, Charu acted in Irrfan Khan starrer, Talvar in 2015, and Hindi Medium in 2017. She also had a brief role in Love Aaj Kal, starring Sara Ali Khan and Kartik Aaryan. In 2023, Charu was applauded for her role in the film, Mrs. Chatterjee vs. Norway.
In 2014, Charu made her television debut with the show, Siyaasat, in which her character, 'Mehrunissa' was hugely applauded.
In 2019, Charu made her web series debut on the show, Made In Heaven. In 2021, she was seen in the web series, His Storyy and The Empire. She was also seen in shows like A Suitable Boy, Aarya, Mithya and Delhi Crime. Her portrayal of the former Prime Minister of India, 'Indira Gandhi', in the web series, Rocket Boys and its sequel also got rave reviews.
Charu was seen in various advertisements like Cadbury Chocolate, Mirinda, Tanishq, Fortune Oil and many others. She has also choreographed the songs of the film, Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid in 2012.
Apart from being an actress, Charu is a fitness expert and launched Janani Wellness Studio, which provides online classes for pregnant women and new mothers. Charu is an AFPA-certified pre and post-natal fitness specialist and a certified ACE trainer. She also holds the director position at Aquamarine Productions Private Limited, a platform for young and aspiring artists. In 2017, Charu was appointed as the head of the well-being department of a maternity hospital in New Delhi.
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Charu Shankar married Raghav Laul in 2010, and the couple hopped on to parenthood in 2015 with the arrival of their son, Agastya Laul. Charu loves dogs and has seven pet dogs at her home. In an interview with a leading publication, Charu once revealed that she met her husband while rescuing a street dog. Talking about the same, she mentioned:
“My husband and I met while rescuing a dog. We have seven dogs and love pampering them."
As soon as the film, Animal was released, a segment of the audience expressed their surprise over Charu Shankar playing the role of Ranbir Kapoor’s mother while she was just a year older than him. Not just the audience, but the director, Sandeep Reddy Vanga, felt that she was too young to play Ranbir Kapoor’s mother in the film.
In an interview with ETimes, Charu revealed how she convinced Sandeep Reddy Vanga for the role of ‘Jyoti’ in Animal and stated:
“I got a call straight from the director’s team early last year, but when I went to meet Sandeep, he was very polite and he said, ‘Thank you for coming’, but I think you are too young to play Jyoti in the later part of the film. At the time I had already shot for ‘Rocket Boys’. So I showed him photos of myself as Indira Gandhi on my phone, saying ‘I love the challenge of becoming that which I am not’. He was quite taken aback when he saw those pictures, and he was like, ‘Okay, well, it’s quite something that you’ve managed to achieve’. Many months later, I got a call saying I have got the role. Sandeep later told me that he had auditioned hundreds of actors, but he had never forgotten how I sat across the table from him looking so different from the images on the phone he held.”
We are in awe of Charu and her effortless performance in the film, Animal. What do you think about her? Let us know.
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