Mumbai: Actress Rupali Ganguly became emotional while speaking about her late father, veteran filmmaker Anil Ganguly, at FICCI Frames 2026 in Mumbai, where she recalled her family’s financial struggles and her father’s long-held dream of owning a home in the city. 

The ‘Anupamaa’ actress said her father faced financial difficulties during his career as a filmmaker and that the family eventually lost their home. She recalled how filmmaking outside the corporate system could involve filmmakers selling their homes to finance their projects.

“My father was a filmmaker. In those times, those who were not into corporate filmmaking business, they sold homes and made films. There was a point when we lost it all, My father’s only dream was to make a house in Mumbai.”

Ganguly said her work on ‘Anupamaa’ eventually allowed her to fulfil that dream by buying her first home in Mumbai. She also addressed the perception of being a “nepo kid”, acknowledging that she grew up as the daughter of an established filmmaker while stressing that she wanted to build an identity through her own work.

“I was a typical nepo kid, a big filmmaker's daughter. But that was the only dream of my dad that I wanted to fulfil. Anupamaa hua and maine apna pehla ghar khareeda (Anupamaa happened and I finally got my first home).”

Anil Ganguly was a filmmaker and screenwriter in Hindi cinema. He died on January 15, 2016, at the age of 82. His filmography includes the National Award-winning ‘Kora Kagaz’, along with ‘Tapasya’ and ‘Saaheb’.

Also speaking at the event was ‘Anupamaa’ producer Rajan Shahi, who recalled working with Ganguly during the early stages of her career. Shahi said she had to audition three times for their first project together before she was eventually selected.

He also remembered the financial difficulties she was dealing with at the time, saying she would sometimes walk from Worli because she could not afford the bus fare.

“For the first show we did together, Rupali had given three auditions and I had rejected her. She asked me to give her another chance. That time, she used to walk all the way from Worli as she didn’t have money to travel by bus. So that is her struggle and I am very proud of her,” Rajan Shahi said.