Falguni Pathak’s Maine Payal Hai Chhankai girl Himani Shah sparks nostalgia with old clip, jokes she hasn’t topped that career high
Here's the latest update from the Bollywood world:
Navratri and garba festivities are incomplete without Falguni Pathak’s iconic numbers. Star and model Himani Shah, who starred in Falguni’s 1999 music video Maine Payal Hai Chhankai, of late shared a clip from the song, joking that it was the peak of her career that she has been unable to surpass since.
Adding to this, Himani Shah starred in Falguni Pathak’s Maine Payal Hai Chhankai music video. 'I fear I already peaked' Himani shared the clip with the text, “I fear I already peaked.” She captioned the post, “You guys listen to Falguni Pathak during Navratri. I have receipts.”
Meanwhile, Himani's post made followers nostalgic. A comment read, "Childhood Crush." One more comment read, "mimicking you was my fav thing in childhood and even today." Another comment read, "Baddie before the term was coined." Another fan wrote, “Too good, and I wanted to be you when I was a kid and now i am haha.”
Notably, Himani played one of the key characters in the music video Maine Payal Hai Chhankai. Set against the backdrop of a college arts and puppet show, the video featured Himani as a popular girl who mocks a simple girl who performs puppet shows with Falguni Pathak. The latter was played by Anita Pradhan Kharkar. The video also featured Vivan Bhatena as the male lead. Vivan went on to become a familiar face on television and appeared in films such as Dangal (2016), Judwaa 2 (2017) and Raja the Great (2017).
As per the latest buzz, Beyond her appearance in Falguni Pathak’s hit, Himani was a prominent MTV India VJ and model. She also made a cameo in the 2001 Bollywood movie Yaadein and acted in the 2005 movie Rehle Rehle Na.
In further updates, Today, Himani, who goes by her married name Himani Rajiv Shah, works as a beauty, fashion and luxury lifestyle digital creator based in Mumbai. She has 118K followers on Instagram and is followed by celebrities, including Kareena Kapoor Khan. She is married to Rajiv Shah, the son of prominent Mumbai diamond merchant and movie financier Bharat Shah. The couple are parents to two kids.
On top of that, Falguni Pathak, meanwhile, remains one of India’s most popular voices associated with Navratri and dandiya celebrations. Often called the ‘Dandiya Queen’, she rose to fame in the 1990s with her distinctive Gujarati folk-inspired pop music. Songs such as Maine Payal Hai Chhankai, Chudi Jo Khanki Haathon Mein and Meri Chunar Udd Udd Jaye became chartbusters. Decades later, her songs remain a staple at garba nights.
Vibha Maru is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Entertainment, based in Delhi. With a decade of experience across digital and print media, she covers Bollywood, Hollywood and web shows. A self-confessed cinephile who breathes Hindi cinema, Vibha can often be found sacrificing sleep after binge-watching films and web series. Though she holds a Commerce degree, she discovered her true calling in journalism after enrolling at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). She began her career covering Delhi's cultural scene, food, nightlife, concerts, and city life at The Times of India, before moving into full-time entertainment journalism with India Today. At India Today, Vibha interviewed some of the biggest names in Bollywood and television while carving a niche for herself through movie reviews, opinion pieces, nostalgic features, star interviews, and trend-driven stories. She later brought her storytelling and editorial expertise to The Indian Express, where she continued to deepen her understanding of cinema through long-form entertainment explainers, retrospectives and feature writing. Now, as Assistant Editor at Hindustan Times Entertainment, Vibha continues to chronicle the world of movies and pop culture. Her work spans breaking entertainment news, exclusive interviews, star features, and stories that capture the conversations shaping Indian cinema. Read More
Source: Hindustan Times