Born and brought up in a traditional family in Bokaro, Jharkhand, Shalini Panday is an Indian actress popularly known for her work in Gujarati cinema. She always wanted to be an actor and a filmmaker.
She started connecting to Bollywood films, songs and everything related to the film industry at an early age. Gradually, some of her inborn talents like singing and acting started emerging from within and there she was looking for opportunities to pursue her passion. She didn’t have a road map to achieve that but slowly and gradually the opportunities started unfolding and destiny was driving her towards the goal.
While studying in Surat, she started working with a Gujarati news channel as an anchor. At that time she was not that affluent with the language, but she took up the challenge and ultimately it turned out to be a valuable experience. Her stint as news anchor also provided her a lot of confidence and assurance that she could navigate the challenges and handle difficult circumstances.
She then shifted from Surat to Mumbai. Initially, she started off by doing a small part in ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana’. This was followed by another role in the TV serial Laxmibai and few regional films in Bhojpuri and Rajasthani.
At the beginning she was reluctant to do Gujarati Film as the Gujarati Industry was dominated by rural-based stories. But few successful urban movies changed the impression in her mind. Her first Gujarati film was Vair, a period film based on the story of the great acclaimed poet and author, Zaverchand Meghani.
However, the film got stalled later due to some reasons. Thereafter, a film called Last Chance happened and then she came across a beautiful story, Rasna No Dabbo and she devoted a significant amount of time and energy in developing the character of Rasna at first and living that character for long. As of now, there are a couple of Gujarati films which she is working on as a lead actress. She is utilizing this lockdown period to work on the character and give her best as and when it happens. She is also working on two Hindi films.
Shalini is cherished by her fans for the hardwork she puts into everything she does. Sharing her learning process as an actor she says that passion, aptitude, desire to live various characters, hard work, practices, workshops, theatres and onset training gradually makes a good actor, though learning is a never-ending process.