Ratna Pathak Shah is an Indian actress and director known for her work in Hindi theatre, television, and films. Her extensive work in theatre includes a series of plays in both English and Hindi. She rose to prominence when she appeared in the hit TV serial Idhar Udhar in the 1980s. She garnered widespread recognition and acclaim with her portrayal of Maya Sarabhai, a snobbish socialite in the cult sitcom Sarabhai vs Sarabhai (2004–2017). Her other prominent roles include the coming-of-age romantic comedy Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na (2008), the action comedy Golmaal 3 (2010), the family comedy-drama Kapoor & Sons (2016), and the black-comedy Lipstick Under My Burkha (2017), all of which earned her nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also received critical acclaim for her performances in the romantic comedies Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (2012) and Khoobsurat (2014). Her performance in Amazon Prime Video's anthology film Unpaused (2020) earned her a nomination for the Filmfare OTT Award for Best Actress in a Web Original Film.

She is also one of the two daughters of famous actress Dina Pathak, with the second daughter being another successful actress Supriya Pathak.