[2][3] An alumna of the National School of Drama of New Delhi, Hattangadi had worked mainly in theatre when she made her movie debut with Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan in 1978.

[6][7] Rohini also received training in Indian classical dance forms, Kathakali and Bharatnatyam for more than eight years, under the guidance of Professor Surendra Wadgaonkar.

[8] Rohini and Jayadev have a son, Aseem Hattangadi, who is a theatre actor and acted in Badal Sircar's play, Evam Indrajit, directed by his father.

[12] In 1975 she won the Best Actress Award at the Maharashtra State Drama Festival, for her performance in Changuna, a Marathi adaptation of Federico García Lorca's Spanish classic Yerma.

[14] Her other theatre credits include Vijay Tendulkar's Mitra Chi Gosht, directed by Vinay Apte, Hori based on Premchand's Godaan, produced by IPTA, and most recently in the Hindi play Kohra with Sudha Chandran and Babul Bhavsar.

Hattangadi, along with husband Jayadev, ran "Kalashray", a centre for research, education in arts and talent encouragement in Mumbai, working with the underprivileged and developing tools for powerful communication.

Hattangadi made her film debut with Saeed Akhtar Mirza's Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan in 1978.

This was followed by her appearance in Mirza's next picture, Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai (1980), which won the same award, and Rabindra Dharmaraj's drama Chakra (1981).

Hattangadi's performance garnered her international recognition and she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in 1983, the only Asian to do that so far.

"[4] This was followed, however, by a string of acclaimed performances, starting with Mahesh Bhatt's Arth (1982), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In 1984 she acted in Govind Nihalani's satirical drama Party (1984) for which she received the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress.

The film starred Hattangadi and Kher as B.V. and Parvati, an elderly couple struggling with the recent death of their son.

[4] She was later recognised for her small part in N. Chandra's Pratighaat (1987), and for her comic performances in Pankaj Parashar's ChaalBaaz and Ladaai, both released in 1989.

Her films of this period include Govind Nihalani's Aghaat (1985), with Muzaffar Ali's Anjuman (1986) and Girish Kasaravalli's Mane and Ek Ghar (1991).