Sarita Joshi

Veteran actress Sarita Joshi has been active across the mediums of Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati stage, film, and television. Awarded the Padma Shri in 2020 for her contribution to the arts, she has acted in films such as Parivar (1967), Trimurti (1974), Main Zinda Hoon (1988), Darna Zaroori Hai (2006), Guru (2007), Simmba (2018) and Roohi (2021). Starting off on stage as a child artiste, she would go on to make her mark in Gujarati theatre. Popular for the plays she did with her husband Pravin Joshi in the 1970s, she is most widely known for her TV series such as Baa Bahoo Aur Baby (2005 – 2010) in which she played Godavari Labhshankar Thakkar a.k.a. Baa, as well as the TV film Sakubai (2021) and Gangoobai (2012).

Born Sarita Bhosle into a middleclass Maharashtrian family in Pune, her father, Bhimrao Bhosle, was a barrister while her mother, Kamlabai Rane, hailed from Goa. Part of a family of seven children—five sisters and two brothers—she grew up in an environment that was artistic with a healthy respect for the arts. It was a liberal family and there were no restrictions though there was always decorum. Exposed to professional theatre in Marathi and Gujarati from a young age, due to the deteriorating financial condition of her family following her father’s death, at the age of seven she had already joined the New Laxmikant Company of Baroda. Known as Baby Indu, she acted as a child artiste for around 12 years, and also worked with artistes like Ashraf Khan, Rani Premlata and Shanta Apte. 

She worked as an actress with Khatau Alfred Theatrical Company and Indian National Theatre, Bombay till 1982. The following year, she joined Pravin Joshi Theatre in 1983. During this period she also acted in Gujarati films. Among her early Hindi films is Trimurti (1974). A crime drama directed by Rajendra Bhatia, it revolved around three brothers who stand against the world and come out winning. Main Zinda Hoon (1988) saw her essay the role of a mother in this Sudhir Mishra directorial about a middleclass housewife who becomes the sole breadwinner of her married household, when her husband deserts them. Things change when she finds love outside marriage and her husband returns.

In the action thriller Karmayoddha (1992), she played the mother of Sameer (Raj Babbar), who returns to his city and witnesses a murder. Later, he and his family are attacked thinking that the dead victim has shared a secret with him.

She played a prostitute in Soni Razdan’s Nazar (2005), which revolved around a series of brutal murders, while in Guru (2007), she played the stepmother of Guru (Abhishek Bachchan), in the Mani Ratnam directorial about a villager, Gurukant Desai, who arrives in Bombay 1958, and rises from its streets to become a major business tycoon. Mehul Shah’s Bollywood Beats (2009) saw her play a character named Vina, in the comedy about a down-on-his-luck dancer who is fighting to hold his life together. 

Gangoobai (2012) saw her essay the lead role, a maid-in-Matheran, who has lived a life with simple aspirations, until one day she finds a new purpose of buying a designer sari. She follows her dream to the big city of Mumbai, even as she changes the lives of the people with whom she interacts. Produced by the National Film Development Corporation of India and directed by Priya Krishnaswamy, the film premiered at MAMI 2012, in the New Faces in Indian Cinema section; and was also screened at the South Asian Film Festival in Canada; the Hanoi International Film Festival in Vietnam and the IFFI 2012. 

She played the mother of Ghalib (Rajat Kapoor) in 10ml Love (2010), a Sharat Katariya directed romantic comedy concerning the tribulations of a love quadrangle during a night of magic and madness. Simmba (2018) saw her play Bharti Ranade, mother of Durva (Sonu Sood) in the Rohit Shetty directorial about a corrupt police officer, who enjoys all the perks of being an immoral and unethical police officer, until a life-changing event forces him to choose the righteous path.

In the 2021 comedy horror Roohi, she played Budhiya, in the Hardik Mehta directorial about two bumbling pals who get hired to kidnap a bride, but get into a wacky predicament when one falls for their abductee, and the other falls for the spirit that possesses her. 

In the course of an active career on stage, she has acted in approximately 150 plays, several of them conspicuous successes. These include Balwant Ni Baby directed by Adi Marzban and Santu Rangili directed by her husband Pravin Joshi - a Gujarati adaptation of Shaw's Pygmalion which ran to 500 shows. She also directed and acted in a Gujarati adaptation of Badal Sircar's Evam Indrajit. Her work as a stage actress saw her honoured by the Akhil Marathi Natya Parishad, Bombay, 1984.

Her popularity as an actress grew immensely with her performances in television. In Baa Bahoo Aur Baby, she played the elderly baa Godavari Thakkar, who lives in her father’s huge mansion – Krishna Villa, along with her six sons, two daughters, and their spouses and children. She won much appreciation for her rendition of Godavariben, the strict, strong, loving and caring matriarch, who, along with her quirky clan, tries to make sense out of the everyday grind. 

She also essayed the lead role in the TV film Sakubai (2021). The story of this Nadira Babbar comedy drama revolved around the common yet uncommon woman who plays an indispensable part in many lives, and who is ubiquitously address as 'bai'. Sakubai is a strong woman who puts on a brave face despite every trouble that comes her way. 

Other series she has featured in, include Titliyan (1989), Chand Chupa Badal Mein (2009), Bh Se Bhade (2013), Silsila Badalte Rishton Ka (2018), Hamari Bahu Silk (2019), Metro Park (2021), and Pushpa Impossible (2022). 

Sarita Joshi has picked up two awards for her work in television – the Indian Television Academy Awards Best Actress – Drama award for Baa Bahoo Aur Baby, and the Star Parivaar Favourite Saas award for her performance in the same serial. 

Besides being honoured with the prestigious Padma Shri, she also received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for her contribution to theatre as an actress.

On the personal front, she married theatre director and playwright Pravin Joshi. She is the mother of actress Ketki Dave, who played the role of Daksha in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and of actress Purbi Joshi, who appeared on Comedy Circus as a host.