Rati Agnihotri was born on December 10, 1960 to a Punjabi family in Bombay, India. Although, she came from a traditional, conservative family, she was allowed to model at age 10. W...more >>hen she was a teenager, her father relocated the family to Madras, Tamil Nadu because of his job. There, she attended Good Shepherds Convent school and acted in a school play. Bharati Raja, one of Tamil Nadus famous film director, was in the audience and was on the lookout for a heroine to star in his new film. He met with Ratis father and promised the film would wrap in a month. Her father reluctantly agreed, and a sixteen-year-old Rati was very excited to star in her first film, Pudhiya Varpukal (1979). It was also her hero Bhagyarajs first film, and he coached her with her lines by teaching her Tamil. The film became a blockbuster, with Rati an overnight sensation. Bharati Raja soon directed her in her second film, Neeram Maradapukal (1979). Even though she was Punjabi, South Indian audiences embraced her as if she was truly one of their own, and she reciprocated the feeling by calling herself Tamilian at heart and calling Madras her home.<< collapse