Did You Know This 90s Actress Quit Acting & Became A Successful Senior Leader At Google?
We’ve heard a lot of stories about people who left their regular nine-to-five jobs or college degrees to make a name for themselves in the film industry. The world of films can tempt anyone to go the extra mile for a life of glitz and glamour.
Very rarely do we hear of someone the exact opposite — leaving the world of red carpets, fame and films for a regular job. It’s too big a shift to make for those accustomed to a certain lifestyle.
However, there is one actress from the 90s who left it all to pursue her education, get married, have a family and climb to a higher position in some of the world’s best companies.
Mayoori Kango made her Bollywood debut with Saeed Akhtar Mirza’s Naseem in 1995. She went on to do films with some of the biggest names in the industry like Mahesh Bhatt’s Papa Kehte Hain, Badal with Rani Mukerji and Bobby Deol and Jung with Sanjay Dutt, Shilpa Shetty and Jackie Shroff.
She was last seen in a small role in Kurbaan with Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor. However, her last major role was in 2001’s Jeetenge Hum.
You might remember her as the girl from the hit song, Ghar Se Nikalte Hi from Papa Kehte Hain, opposite Jugal Hansraj.
She got married to an NRI Aditya Dhillon and left the industry in 2003.
She moved to New York to pursue her MBA from Baruch College Zicklin School of Business. After this, she joined Performics, a digital media agency under the Publicis Group, as a Managing Director. Today, she’s the Industry Head at Google India.
From 2004-2012, she worked in the US, but after her son’s birth in 2011, she realised she needed a support system to raise her kid and maintain her career and moved to India.
In an interview with Times of India, Mayoori Kango shared how she never gave up on her education and that’s ultimately made her what she is today. She said, “People should complete their education before they come looking for that big break in Bollywood. Especially the actress ‘ their career in the industry lasts only around ten years. Have a backup option.”
