Shubha Khote

It was only natural that Shobha Khote strayed into show business. Her father, Nandu Khote, was a star on stage and in the silent movies. Durga Khote, a famous movie personality of the yesteryear, was her aunt. The huge family home at Bombay's Chowpatty was always full of guests. "I had a happy, carefree childhood," she says. "Ours was a big, joint family and most of my cousins were boys. I used to play with them, run around, climb trees and was an acknowledged tomboy." She studied at St Teresa's Convent, Girgaum, and graduated in English Literature from Wilson College. Life in college was quite exciting to Khote and her brother Viju, another well-known stage, TV and screen actor. She took to swimming and cycling, excelled in both games and set up a new record for the one mile in cycling. "My family was sports-minded," recalls Khote. "Father had built a gymnasium in the house itself.