The morning Karishma Ka Karishma star Jhanak Shukla quit acting forever to become an archaeologist

 

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A post shared by Jhanak Shukla Suryawanshi (@jhanakshukla)

In fact, her acting career came to an abrupt halt at a very young age. While shooting for Karishma Ka Karishma, she woke up one day and said she didn’t want to go to the sets. That decision marked the end of her brief but memorable career, as her parents chose to prioritise her wishes above everything else.

In an interview with Quint, Jhanak recalled, “My first audition was for an ad with Pradeep Sarkar. I was five. He just wanted me to cry, and crying came naturally to me. I got my first ad, which led to several others, and then the show and eventually the film.”

 

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A post shared by Supriya Raina Shukla (@supriyarshukla)

All of this happened within just two years. “I was 4 or 5. I worked for only one or two years and then shifted focus to my studies. It wasn’t a long career, but it was memorable,” she said, adding that her parents ensured strict working hours—from 9 am to 7 pm—with no shoots beyond that.

Her mother, Supriya Shukla, shared that she was initially hesitant about letting Jhanak act at all. Speaking to Telly Masala, she said, “When I got the offer for Karishma Ka Karishma, I didn’t want her to work—she was just six. But we ensured strict conditions: limited working hours, alternate days off, and a happy environment on set. I made it clear—if she ever said she didn’t want to go, I would stop immediately.”

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That moment came after nearly a year. “One day, she woke up and said, ‘Mumma, I don’t want to go, I am very sleepy.’ That’s when we knew it was time to stop. It didn’t matter how successful the show was—we wanted her to have a normal childhood,” Supriya recalled. Despite the makers’ reluctance to replace her due to the show’s popularity, the family stood firm.

Post acting, Jhanak focused entirely on academics. Today, she holds multiple master’s degrees, including MA in Archaeology, MBM, and MSc in Marketing—and, notably, has never expressed a desire to return to acting. “She has seen fame and is now highly educated. She never missed acting,” her mother shared with pride.

During her short stint, Jhanak worked with some of the biggest names in the industry, including Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, and Jaya Bachchan. Recalling her time on the sets of Kal Ho Naa Ho, she said, “We were shooting for ‘Pretty Woman’. During a break, Shah Rukh Khan told the dancers, ‘Do you know who she is? She’s a star in India—Karishma Ka Karishma.’ I was six and blushing. It was a very special moment.”

Supriya also remembered how fond Jaya Bachchan was of Jhanak. “She would often keep her on her lap and play with her,” she said.

Despite early fame, Jhanak was raised with strict discipline. “I never made her feel she was special because I myself was an actor. She wasn’t allowed to eat from the set or throw tantrums. I wanted her to stay grounded,” Supriya explained.

 

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During the pandemic, Jhanak briefly ran a YouTube channel, sharing glimpses of her life with family, but she stepped away from that as well. In December 2024, she married her longtime boyfriend Swapnil Suryawanshi—an engineer, and the couple now lives in Dublin, where she continues her life away from the limelight, often sharing pictures on her Instagram handle.