Namrata Shirodkar was among the top actresses of her time, and in the late 90s, she was ruling the industry with hit films like Kachche Dhaage, Vaastav: The Reality, Pukar, and Astitva, among others.

After being crowned Miss India in 1993, Namrata was at the peak of her career when she shocked everyone by taking a step back from the film industry and deciding to become a homemaker.

But why did Namrata not continue despite having a flourishing career? It was because her then-lover, and now husband, Mahesh Babu, didn’t want her to continue working. Despite her success, she has never returned to acting even after almost 20 years of their marriage.

Namrata Shirodkar last appeared in the 2004 Hindi film Insaaf: The Justice and also featured that year in Gurinder Chadha’s Bride and Prejudice. In an interview, she spoke about doing modelling to fulfill her mother’s wishes.

Talking about stepping back and quitting the industry after marriage, Namrata shared while speaking to a Telugu YouTube channel, Prema – the Journalist: “Mahesh was very clear that he wanted a non-working wife. Even if I was working in some office, he would have told me to leave work. There are certain things we had for each other.”

Not only Mahesh, but Namrata also had some conditions for marrying him. Born in Mumbai, she always knew she wanted to live in an apartment, so the two decided to move to an apartment in Hyderabad. “That was my condition that if I’m going to come to Hyderabad, I will live in an apartment,” she revealed.

Mahesh was quite clear that he didn’t want a wife who worked after marriage. “We also took some time so that I could finish shooting for all my films. When we got married, I had no work, so I wrapped up all my pending movies. We were clear. There was a lot of clarity among us,” she added.

Namrata described her wedding to Mahesh as “the happiest moment” of her life, sharing that everything changed for her after they decided to tie the knot. She reflected on the joys of married life, calling the experience truly wonderful.

Speaking about motherhood, Namrata said she wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. The couple is blessed with two children: son Gautam Ghattamaneni and daughter Sitara Ghattamaneni.

The actress also shared in a conversation with SpotBoyE that she waited for the superstar to marry him for four years as he worked hard to take approvals from his family.