Some people step away from the spotlight and spend years trying to return to it.
Malini Sharma seems to have done something far more interesting. She built an entirely different life.
Raaz Actress Malini Sharma Now
Best remembered for Raaz and the unforgettable song “Aapke Pyaar Mein,” Malini has stayed away from mainstream Bollywood for more than two decades. Today, her world looks very different from film sets and music videos. She lives close to nature in the Sahyadri Hills, around two hours from Pune, where farming, homegrown food and a slower way of living have become part of her everyday life.
From Music Videos to Raaz
Before Bollywood, Malini was already a familiar face from modelling and music videos.
She appeared in Bombay Vikings’ hugely popular “Kya Soorat Hai” and Mika Singh’s “Saawan Mein Lag Gayi Aag.” She later appeared in the television series C.A.T.S., before moving into films.
Then came Vikram Bhatt’s Raaz in 2002.
The film starred Bipasha Basu and Dino Morea, but Malini made her presence felt too. Her appearance in “Aapke Pyaar Mein” became one of those early 2000s screen moments that many viewers still instantly recognise.
Her Marriage to Priyanshu Chatterjee
Around the same period, Malini was married to Priyanshu Chatterjee, best known for Tum Bin.
Their marriage eventually ended in divorce, and over time Malini moved further away from films and public life.
What is striking, though, is how little she seems to define herself through that chapter today.
Her story after the marriage did not become one of retreat. It became one of redirection.
Instead of staying tied to a public image from her acting years, she gradually built a life that seems far more connected to nature, community and the kind of everyday work that clearly matters to her now.
She Did Not Disappear. She Simply Chose Another Direction
Perhaps the nicest way to look at Malini’s story is not as someone who vanished from Bollywood.
She changed course.
When a follower once asked whether she regretted leaving the industry, Malini reportedly replied that she had only “steered away” and could always steer back again.
That one thought says quite a lot.
Her life after films has not been about hiding from her past. It has been about allowing that past to become just one chapter rather than her entire identity.
The Slow Local and a Life Closer to Nature
Nearly a decade ago, Malini began an initiative called The Slow Local in Versova.
It started around locally produced food, crafts, workshops and small community events. Over time, that idea expanded into something much more personal. She eventually moved to a farm in the Sahyadris, where she now grows vegetables and fruit trees and uses produce from the property to prepare meals for guests. Part of the mountain on the property has simply been left untouched.
Her reasoning is lovely: the jungle was already there, so why disturb it?
From Movie Sets to Farmstay Mornings
Malini’s current life includes running a farmstay where guests can slow down, eat homegrown food, walk through nature and spend time away from city noise. Her three bedroom villa is also offered for longer stays, while the property includes a library and spaces designed around a slower, more thoughtful rhythm of living. She also works from home as a relationship manager for a coffee company and continues to create customised oils.
It is a completely different definition of success from the one usually associated with Bollywood. And perhaps that is exactly what makes her story so refreshing.
Malini Sharma Today
Her recent images have naturally surprised people who remember her from Raaz. Back then, Malini had the glossy, intensely styled beauty associated with early 2000s screen glamour. Today, she appears with long, naturally silver hair, a bare face and an easy smile.
And she looks wonderful.
Not because she looks like the woman she was 24 years ago, but because she clearly does not seem interested in trying to. There is something genuinely graceful about seeing a woman allow herself to age naturally and appear in front of the camera without turning it into a statement. No dramatic makeover. No attempt to recreate an old image.
Just Malini, as she is now.
Back in Front of the Camera, But on Her Own Terms
Through The Slow Local Diaries, Malini has slowly begun appearing on camera again.
When she introduced the project, she described it as facing the camera after many years, this time without makeup, dialogue or a character to play. That feels like a fitting full circle moment.
The woman audiences first knew through modelling, television and cinema is still telling stories. She is simply telling different ones now.
Stories about growing food. Trees. Coffee. Nature. A home in the hills. A life made quieter by choice.
Glamcheck Take
She did not disappear. She redesigned the life she wanted. And that might be the best comeback story of all.