Before Surabhi became a household name and Renuka Shahane a familiar face in living rooms across India, her journey to the iconic show began with what she calls a "disaster."
In an interview with NDTV, the actor recalled how she ended up auditioning for the cultural magazine show after returning from the shoot of Circus, a series where she worked with Shah Rukh Khan early in both their careers.
Renuka revealed that her Surabhi audition was far from perfect. In fact, she laughed through most of it. "I forgot the lines. I kept laughing at myself because I couldn't remember," she said.
The script she was given was a long passage about the Brihadeshwar temple, and while she thought she had memorised it, she blanked out on camera. "It was a disaster," she admitted.
At that point, Renuka was convinced she wouldn't land the role. But show creator and producer Geeta Doctor saw something in her that went beyond words. "Geeta loved my smile," she said, adding that it turned out to be the deciding factor.
Her warm and cheerful presence was seen as the perfect counterpoint to co-anchor Siddharth Kak's serious and scholarly tone.
That small, spontaneous moment changed everything. Renuka Shahane was cast, and Surabhi went on to become one of Doordarshan's most cherished shows of the 1990s, remembered fondly by an entire generation.