Kalpana Rao

Kalpana Rao is an Indian actress, motivator, and motivational speaker based in Mumbai. She was born in Kolkata, West Bengal. Her initial seven years of life were spent in Kolkata. Later, her parents moved to Mumbai. She belongs to a middle-class family and does not have luxuries at her disposal. But Kalpana Rao’s parents were able to fulfill her all basic needs. She was inspired by her mother, who made her a spiritual person and a believer in Lord Krishna. Her sister also encouraged her to be independent and to stand up on her feet.

She completed a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Psychology & Ancient Indian Culture in 1985. When she was forty-four, she enrolled in the Women’s Entrepreneurship course at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore. She is fluent in Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, and Bengali languages. Kalpana Rao was never a forthcoming woman and always enjoyed being behind the scenes. She perceived her outwardness and entrepreneurial abilities when she performed well in one of her husband’s exhibitions.

During that time, Kalpana Rao worked as a head clerk at CitiBank. She sold her house in Mumbai and shifted to Bangalore with her husband. In 1994, Kalpana Rao and her husband began their business in Bangalore. She is the founder of Pari’s Haute Couture. Therefore, she has twenty-one years of experience in the retail world. Her husband became an entirely spiritual person after he recovered from an illness. It was a turning point in her life. After that, she took the responsibilities of the business and household chores. She also was taking care of her children.

Kalpana Rao always wished to become an actress, but her mother did not allow her to become an actress. Her mother believed that girls of good families don’t work on television and do acting. In 2008, Kalpana Rao was diagnosed with sciatica, a nerve-hampering illness due to which she had to be bedridden. In 2014, a change came in her life when she went to the UK to drop her daughter there for her college education. After coming back to India, Kalpana Rao began working on improving her physical health. Later on, she got an opportunity to act as a grandmother in a commercial ad for Honda. 

Meanwhile, Kalpana Rao was incurring much loss in her business. She shut down the business in 2008. At that time, Kalpana Rao was fifty-five and thought of working in the corporate sector. Then, she moved to Mumbai to try her hands in acting. Later, she got a chance to work in a television commercial alongside Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan or also known as SRK is a prominent >> Read More... . Within three months, she was offered a role in a film where Rajnikanth was the protagonist. It was Kalpana Rao’s debut film. After that, she has acted in several films, ads, short films, and web series. The latest ones are OlaCabs for Mother’s Day, Vodafone SuperFan with Chris Gayle Chris Gayle is a famous cricket player for the Wes >> Read More... , TVS Scooty, and a short film on women’s financial security. Besides acting, she is also a motivational speaker. She used to upload her motivational videos on social media like Instagram, etc.