Born on 22 January 1972 in a moderate Marathi-speaking family, Namrata Shirodkar is an Aquarian. She used to live in Khar, an elite suburb in Mumbai. Her sister is the actress Shilpa Shirodkar. She is the granddaughter of famous Marathi actress Meenakshi Shirodkar, who starred in Brahmachari (1930s), and was the first actress to wear a swimsuit and gambol in a pool, albeit to depict Lord Krishna bathing in the Yamuna river with his gopis.
Namrata worked as a model, and was crowned Miss India in 1993. She represented India in the Miss Universe pageant and came in sixth place. She was featured on VH1′s The Greatest: 40 Dumbest Celebrity Quotes Ever for her answer at the 1993 Miss Universe contest to a question asked by Michael Dorn: “I would not want to live forever because I don’t believe that one can live forever. And so, I don’t think I would want to live forever!” The same year, she also represented India in the Miss Asia Pacific contest and was chosen first runner-up.