Ex-Miss India Who Married a Star, Quit Acting for a PhD

Mostly, the first step for a Bollywood actor is to complete their education before pursuing acting as a career. The actress we are going to look at today opted to shift focus towards education after establishing her name in films. She made her entry in the movie world at the age of 17 after winning the highly coveted Miss India crown. Some years later after her marriage, she decided to make a significant change to her life, that’s when she started pursuing a PhD in education.

This is Swaroop Sampat, one of the most flexible and versatile evergreen actress in the industry. She won the title of Miss India in 1979 and went on to represent the country at the Miss Universe pageant. She did not win but that was a great achievement that enabled her to step in the acting world.

Swaroop Sampat made her entry into bollywood from the film Naram Garam (1981). She featured in movies like Nakhuda, Sawaal, and Himmatwala, among others. But she also starred in the television series Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi in 1984 which brought her tremendous success.

Her acting did take a backseat as she joined the University of Worcester in 2009, where she pursued her PhD. Her thesis focused on the consumption of drama shows as a tool to enhance life skills in disabled children. She is also a trainer and provides workshops for teachers. 

In more recent years, however, the actress has been a part of blockbusting films like Uri: The Surgical Strike, The White Tiger, Ki and Ka, as well as a Zindagi show called Zindagi In Short.

On the personal side, Swaroop Sampat has been married to actor Paresh Rawal since 1987 and they have two sons, Anirudh and Aditya. Even after 40 years of marriage, the couple have weathered the swings of life and remained at each other's side.