Popular actress Shalini Panday’s journey from Anchor to Actress

Shalini Panday is an Indian actress popularly known for her work in Gujarati cinema. In 2017, she appeared in the movie ‘Last Chance’ directed by Vijay Limbachiya and ‘Rachna No Dabbo’ opposite Freddy Daruwala and directed by Rajan Joynar.
Shalini was born and brought up in a traditional family in Bokaro, Jharkhand. She started connecting to the Bollywood films, songs and everything related to the film industry at an early age. Gradually, some of her in born 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.
She did her secondary schooling from Bokaro with her extremely affectionate grandfather and loving but strict grandmother, as she lost her mother at a very early phase of her life. 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. During her tenure in the news channel, she also started modeling and doing ramp shows as well as brand endorsements.
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. She accepted these assignments mainly for two reasons, one to learn and other to assure the family that she was working in Mumbai and not living there merely as a struggler.
Her first Gujarati film was ‘Vair’, after which she did ‘Last Chance’ and then ‘Rachna No Dabbo’. At present she is working on couple of Gujarati films as a lead actress. She is also working on two Hindi films.
Initially, her father wanted her to pursue study to become either a Lawyer or appear for Civil Services or do Hotel Management, but watching her grow, her father started to believe in her interests in media and entertainment. Now when she is cherished for her work by people, she makes her family and friends proud.