Actors Renuka Shahane and Ashutosh Rana have been married for over 20 years, and fans have been waiting to see them together on screen ever since. Shahane tells us that she would love to share the frame with her husband, but only if it’s a meaningful role: “We would love to work together, but both of us should have roles that we’d like to play.”

The 56-year-old, who was recently seen in Govinda Naam Mera, shares, “The roles have to be mindful of the fact that we are husband and wife in real life. As long as people say, ‘It was great to see them on the screen together’, I don’t mind taking up edgy stuff too.” 

The Tribhanga (2021) director continues that Rana, 55, who has cemented his position in the industry with movies like Dushman (1998), Sangharsh (1999), Raaz (2002) and Simmba (2018), among others, is picky when it comes to projects. She says, “He is a powerful actor and opts to play only weighty characters. He likes to go for roles that he has not done before. I think, for any actor, that is a basic criterion.”

When asked if the two take each other’s advice while choosing projects, she confesses, “We depend on each other quite a lot, and we discuss things constantly to decide what to do and what not to.” 

Shahane, who is also active in Marathi cinema, agrees that the industry still has a long way to go. “There was a time when films such as Me Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy (2009) and Sairat (2016) were thought to be better than their Hindi counterparts,” she says.

The actor adds, “There have been exceptional Marathi films that have broken that barrier, but it is not as big an industry compared to Telugu, Tamil or Malayalam cinema. Telugu and Tamil movies can compete with the Hindi film industry, but Marathi cinema cannot really do that, yet.”