Top 100 Hindi Film Actresses of all time
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Born into a traditional south Indian family, Aishwarya started modeling at a young age. This green-blue-eyed beauty appeared in advertisements for many prestigious firms; the ones that brought her into the limelight were the garden sari and the Pepsi ad. Crowned Miss India 1994 runner-up, she was a hot favorite in the run for miss world title, which she won, her beauty and charm made her India's darling. Ash stormed into the Indian movie industry, where she has proven herself a brilliant & genuine actress. Her performance in Iruvar (1997) was critically acclaimed, and she won the Screen best female debutant award for her role in ...Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (1997). She was adored in movies like Taal (1999), Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Devdas (2002), her item number in 'Bunty & Bubbly' had sent waves of rhythm across the nation. With her successful Bollywood movies and prestigious Hollywood projects lined up for release it is impossible to ignore this Indian diva in international scenes.- Actress
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Alia Bhatt (born 15 March 1993) is an India actress. The recipient of several accolades, including one National Award, six Filmfare Awards and three IIFA Awards. Bhatt is one of the highest-paid actresses in India. She has appeared in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list since 2014 and was featured by Forbes Asia in their 30 Under 30 list of 2017.- Actress
Aquarian Amrita was born on February 9, 1958. Her parentage is Sikh-Muslim. Her dad's name is Shivinder Singh, and her mom's maiden name was Rukshana Sultana. She is the great-grand daughter of Shobha Singh, who knighted and had his prefixed by 'Sir'. She is the niece of writer/author Khushwant Singh, who was also known for his column in leading Indian newspapers.
She is of the most attractive actresses of her time, and perhaps the only one who had a lead role with both Dharmendra and his son, Sunny Deol, and has proved to an actress who is not afraid of doing negative roles.
Amrita Singh has been a dedicated Bollywood actress for years. Amrita Singh left her career as an actress when she married Bollywood actor, Saif Ali Khan, in 1991, even though he was years younger than her.
Saif Ali Khan is the son of Bollywood actress, Sharmila Tagore, and Indian cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan. Amrita and Saif have two children, a daughter, Sara Ali Khan, and a son, Ibrahim Ali Khan.
In 2004 Amrita and Saif Ali Khan have decided to separate, and eventually divorced. The children, Sara and Ibrahim, are now with their mother in India, while Saif is courting an Italian girlfriend.
Amrita Singh has made it known now that she intends to make a come-back in Bollywood, as well as considering doing TV pro grammes.- Actress
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Anushka Sharma was born on 1 May 1988 in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Her father, Colonel Ajay Kumar Sharma, is an army officer, and her mother, Ashima Sharma, is a homemaker. Her father is a native of Uttar Pradesh, while her mother is a Garhwali. Her elder brother is film producer Karnesh Sharma, who earlier served in the Merchant Navy. Prior to joining the navy, Karnesh played for the under-19 Bangalore Ranji cricket team. Sharma has stated that being a military brat played an important role in shaping her as a person and contributing to her life. In an interview with The Times of India in 2012, she said, "I take pride in saying that I am an army officer's daughter even more than being an actor. She studied in Army School and graduated with specialization in arts from Mount Carmel College, Bangalore. She then moved to Mumbai to further her modeling career. Sharma says she originally wished to make it big in the modeling world but had no strong aspirations for films. She began her modeling career at the Lakme Fashion Week as a model for Wendell Rodricks's Les Vamps Show and was picked to be Rodricks's finale model at the Spring Summer '07 Collection. Since then she has done campaigns for Silk & Shine, Whisper, Nathella Jewelry and Fiat Palio.
Her first acting role was in Aditya Chopra's Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008) opposite Shahrukh Khan. The film was a huge success and her performance was appreciated. Film critic Taran Adarsh said, "Anushka looks the character and surprises you with a confident performance. It's no small achievement to share screen space with an actor of the caliber of SRK and Anushka manages it very well from start to end." Her second film, Badmaash Company, also under Yash Raj Films, was released on May 7, 2010. She was praised for breaking out of the shell of the conservative and homely Taani to play the feisty and independent Bulbul, and her performance was applauded.
She has two other projects on hand. She began shooting for her first venture outside of Yash Raj with Nikhil Advani and Akshay Kumar in Patiala House in December 2009. Patiala House is scheduled to be released on February 11, 2011. She has also started filming for her third Yash Raj Film, Band Baaja Baaraat, directed by Maneesh Sharma and co-starring debutant Ranveer Singh.- Actress
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Aruna Irani made her debut in the movie Gunga Jumna (1961) at nine years old playing Azra's character. After doing several small roles in films like Jahanara (1964), Farz (1967), Upkar (1967) and Aaya Sawan Jhoomke (1969). She was paired with comedian Mehmood Ali in films like Aulad (1968), Jawab, Humjoli (1970), Manmandir and Naya Zamana (1971).In 1971, she starred in Caravan. She later starred in Mehmood Ali's Bombay To Goa (1972), Garam Masala (1972), and Do Phool (1973). Her best character roles came in Rajesh Khanna films like Dhanwan, Redrose, Amrit, Kudrat, Nasihat, Masterji, Aan Milo Sajna. Her films have included Farz (1967), Bobby (1973), Prem Nagar, Paap Aur Punya, Mahachor, Fakira (1976), Bhala Manus, Kali Ghata,Sargam (1979), Love Story (1981), and Rocky (1981). She won her first Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Pet Pyaar Aur Paap (1984). In the late 1980s and 1990s Irani switched to playing motherly roles, notably in Beta (1992) for which she won her second Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. She acted in the Kannada remake of the same film and the same role. Some of her Marathi films are Changu Mangu, Lapwa Chapvi, Ek Gadi Baki Anadi and Bol Baby Bol. In her later career, Irani also switched to television performing character roles in various serials. She also took up to direction and production of tele-serials like Mehndi Tere Naam Ki, Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand, Vaidehi and more. On Sunday 19 February 2012, she was awarded the 'Lifetime Achievement Award' at the annual Filmfare awards function in Mumbai.- Producer
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Asha Parekh was born in a middle-class Gujarati household to a Hindu father, Pranlal Parekh, and a Muslim mother Sudha Parekh on October 2, 1942 in India. Since she was an only child, she became the center of her parents' lives. Her mother enrolled her in classical dance classes at an early age, and Asha excelled at dance to the point where she performed at stage shows. Famed film director Bimal Roy saw her dance at a stage function and cast her at the tender age of ten in Maa (1957). He liked her and cast her again in Baap Beti (1954). The film's failure disappointed her, and even though, she did a few more child roles, she quit to resume her schooling. At sixteen, she decided to try acting again and make her debut as a heroine, but director Vijay Bhatt fired her from Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959) claiming she wasn't star material. Almost immediately, film producer Sasadhar Mukherjee and writer-director Nasir Hussain cast her as the heroine in Dil Deke Dekho (1959) which made her a huge star. Shammi Kapoor became her favorite hero and friend, and they starred in three more films, the most famous being the murder mystery Teesri Manzil (1966). The film also led to a long and fruitful association with Nasir, and he cast her as the heroine in six more films.
Her fame gave her enough leverage to get producers to hire her mother Sudha Parekh to design her costumes for most of the films that she starred in. A fallacy that surrounded her was that she was generally considered a glamorous dancer/tomboy and not a serious actress until director Raj Khosla cast her in the tragedienne role in the hit film Do Badan (1966). The truth was directors and audiences knew early on that she had genuine acting talent. She won the Gujarat State Award for Best Actress for her first Gujarati film Akhand Saubhagyavati (1963). And she easily compensated for non-actors like Joy Mukherjee and Biswajit in Hindi films, while holding her own against acting giants like Ashok Kumar.
Important directors were casting her and repeating her in their films, but Asha also brought out jealousies from her female co-stars. Simi Garewal claimed that Asha tried to cut her part down in "Do Badan", but Asha insisted that she never did that, and as proof, she showed that Simi won the Filmfare Award as Best Supporting Actress for the film. The "Do Badan" team also stood by Asha, especially the director Raj Khosla who later cast her in three more films. Her leading man Manoj Kumar soon directed and starred opposite her in his blockbuster Upkar (1967), which also won the Filmfare Best Picture Award.
Although Asha earned the title "Jubilee Girl" because of the continuous string of box office successes, such as Ziddi (1964), Shikar (1968), Aan Milo Sajna (1970), she also hit a rare bump with Raj Khosla's Chirag (1969). But she also earned her first Filmfare nomination as Best Actress for the film, and Khosla didn't blame her for the film's failure and in fact, cast her soon again and came up with a huge hit, Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971). However, success brought controversy. Once again, a female co-star claimed that Asha cut her role down in the film. This time, Asha confronted Laxmi Chhaya directly and told her to think before she spoke as Padma got twice the number of songs than Asha did in "Mera Gaon Mera Desh". Aruna Irani allegedly said that Asha reduced her role in Nasir Hussain's box-office smash Caravan (1971), but facts back up Asha that she would never cut another performer's role, as Aruna had more songs than Asha, and she received a Filmfare nomination, while Asha wasn't nominated for the film at all. However, Asha did win the much coveted Best Actress Filmfare Award for Shakti Samanta's Kati Patang (1970). She played a deglamourised woman in a white sari pretending to be a widow whose vulnerable smile hides a painful past. Asha was thrilled when she won the award, but Mumtaz Askari, her box-office rival and former co-star from Mere Sanam (1965) and Bhai Bhai (1972), complained that she was more deserving for her own performance in Tere Mere Sapne (1971).
Asha was hitting the heights of fame and glory even though she was now 30, an age where heroines normally would pack it in. But her passion for dancing sent her abroad on a extended trip to do dance shows and as a result, turned down important film roles. When she came back in 1973, she found that a younger and bolder breed of heroines like Hema Malini and Zeenat Aman got those roles and now ruled the roost. Asha focused on her distribution concern which she had started with Nasir Hussain when he directed her in the film Baharon Ke Sapne (1967) and would continue to do so for twenty more films. She also threw herself in her charity work, even having a Santa Cruz hospital named after her. She lived with her parents in her beautiful seaside bungalow, whose innovative design drew a lot of attention. Asha's passion with dance continued and her performance of famous dance ballets like "Chauladevi" won her acclaim. She did supporting roles in films, garnering Filmfare nominations as Best Supporting Actress for Udhar Ka Sindur (1976) and Raj Khosla's massive hit, Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki (1978), which also won the Filmfare Award as Best Film. But the rest of her supporting roles as mother and bhabhi (sister-in-law) disenchanted her, with the exception of her strong performances in Hathyar (1989) and the Gujarati film Kulvadhu (1977). And her back problems forced her to give up doing dance shows.
But she found a new passion, directing television serials such as the hugely popular Kora Kogaz in the early 90's, which convinced her to give up acting permanently in 1995. She formed her production company "Akruti," through which she produced and directed television serials. However, her acting accomplishments were not forgotten as she received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002. After her mother's death, she sold her huge bungalow and moved into a smaller place to take care of her ailing father until he, too, passed away. She has never married and has not had any affairs with her many heroes, claiming that her reputation of being unapproachable probably intimidated men. In her 2017 memoir "The Hit Girl" (co-written by Khalid Mohamed) she confirmed that her longtime director Nasir Hussain was the "only one and true love of my life." Since he was already married with two children, she couldn't marry him without wrecking havoc on both their families. Their romantic relationship eventually ended after several decades. His wife Ayesha Khan died in 2001, but Asha didn't try to marry the widowed Husain, since "he had become a shadow of his former self." He died just a year later in 2002. Asha continues to remain in touch with his children Mansoor Khan and Nuzhat Khan, grandson Imran Khan and nephew Aamir Khan. When she was in her mid-thirties, she tried to adopt a child, but the doctors wouldn't let her, because he had birth defects. Since marriage and motherhood didn't happen for her, Asha decided to devote all her time to her hospital and other humanitarian efforts. She also has set up a dance academy "Kara Bhavan," which has produced many skilled and talented dancers. For several years, she served as a judge on talent shows on television. She also kept up with the times, by having her official Instagram account. She turned 80 in 2022, but age hasn't slowed her down, as she traveled from India to USA to collect a lifetime achievement award at a film festival. Today, Asha says that she is very flattered to know that she has fans all over the world.- Actress
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Fate intervened when Bipasha recoiled and passed out when dissecting a rat. Thus ended her dream of being a medical professional. She was enrolled in the science faculty until 12th standard, but switched to commerce thereafter. After acquiring a degree in commerce she planned to be a chartered accountant but ended up being the Ford Supermodel of the World when she was just 17 years old.
Bipasha was born on January 7th 1979 in New Delhi. subsequently the Basu family re-located to Calcutta. Bipasha is the second of three sisters, born and brought up in a Hindu Bengali family, she is fluent in Hindi, English, and Bengali. The names of her sisters are Bidisha and Bijoyeta. Unbelievable as it may sound, sexy Bipasha was considered 'ugly' in her younger years due to her dark complexion. Her name means 'Dark Deep Desire', and is also the name of a river.
After her triumph as the Ford Supermodel, she went on to be crowned Miss Vivacious sponsored by Tulips.
Bipasha made her foray into Bollywood with Ajnabee (2001) in 2001, and subsequently acquired a place for herself in the tinsel world. She went to star in Raaz (2002), Jism (2003), No Entry (2005), Phir Hera Pheri (2006), Corporate (2006) & Dhoom 2 (2006). All of these movies did fairly well at the box office, and escalated her position as not only a leading lady, but one who can dare to bare. Dhoom 2 (2006) also credits her as a playback singer.
She has also appeared in two music videos, and was one of the judges in the 2004 Femina Miss India beauty pageant.- Actress
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"You have outdone Smita Patil," said Shekhar Kapur, when he saw Chitrangda Singh's performance in her debut movie Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2003). And he is not the only one. Time and again Chitrangda has been compared to the legendary Smita Patil.
Chitrangda began her career as a model prior to making the transition to the silver screen. Chitrangda also acted in the 2005 film Kal: Yesterday and Tomorrow (2005). She took a break from acting from 2005 to 2008 after her marriage to Indian golfer Jyoti Randhawa. She made her film acting comeback with the leading role opposite Sanjay Suri in the film Sorry Bhai! (2008) Her recent release was Sudhir Mishra's Yeh Saali Zindagi (2011).
Chitrangda is the face of popular brands like Aliva, Parachute Advansed and Garnier Age Lift. Chitrangda Singh is back and here to stay!- Actress
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Deepika Padukone, born 5 January 1986 in Copenhagen, Denmark, is an Indian model and actress. She is the daughter of former badminton champion Prakash Padukone. Her mother tongue is Konkani. Deepika has a younger sister named Anisha.
She has been modeling appearances in print and television advertising campaigns for Liril, Close-Up toothpaste and Limca, receiving many prestigious modeling offers, including brand ambassadorship of the Jewels of India, an annual jewelry exhibition. She hit the international scene when Maybelline made her their new international cover-girl face.
At the fifth annual Kingfisher Fashion Awards, for Indian models and designers, she was awarded the title of Model of the Year. Shortly after wards, she was chosen as one of the models for the Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar for 2006, thus cementing her reputation as a supermodel. She also bagged two trophies at the Idea Zee F Awards in 2006 - female Model of the year (Commercial Assignments) and Fresh Face of the year.- Actress
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Deepti Naval is an Indian film actor, director, writer, painter and photographer. After her schooling at the Sacred Heart Convent, Amritsar, she migrated to the US where she studied Painting, English and Psychology at the City University of New York and received her Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts at Hunter College in Manhattan. Her interest in a whole range of other subjects led her to study American Theater, Photography, and Astronomy. After graduation Deepti had a brief stint with the Gene Frankle Institute of Film and Television pursuing her passion for cinema and acting.
A multi-faceted personality, her major contribution has been in the area of art cinema, winning critical acclaim for her sensitive and close to life characters that emphasized the changing role of women in India. The first American-Indian actor to join Hindi films, Deepti made her debut in the year 1980 with the path-breaking film Ek Baar Phir, for which she won her first Best Actor award, and has since appeared in more than 90 films carving a distinct niche for herself in the Indian Film Industry. Prominent among these are - Kamla, Ankahi, Main Zinda Hoon, Panchvati, Leela, Freaky Chakra, Didi, Firaaq and more recently, Memories in March, Listen Amaya, Boy With the Top Knot, Lion, NH-10 and Goldfish. She made her debut in theatre with the poetic stage play, Ek Mulaqaat where she played the celebrated Punjabi writer, Amrita Pritam along with Shekhar Suman who played lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi.
Through her work, Deepti has given a prolific aspect to neo-realistic cinema, making her one of the most celebrated and respected artists of her time. She was awarded Best Actor in several international film festivals for her various roles and recognized as the 2007 Tribute Honoree of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles.
Her directorial debut, Do Paise Ki Dhoop Chaar Aane Ki Baarish on Netflix, won her the Best Screenplay award at the New York Film Festival. She also wrote and directed Thodasa Aasmaan, a women-centric TV serial and produced a travel show called The Path Less Travelled.
As a writer Deepti has four books to her credit. Lamha Lamha her first collection of poems was published in the year 1981. Her second book, Black Wind and Other Poems was published in 2004. The Mad Tibetan: Stories From Then and Now in 2011 displayed her skill as a storyteller. Her recently published memoir, A Country Called Childhood has garnered critical acclaim. Written with charming honesty, her visually rich and evocative prose speaks of her growing years in Amritsar during the tumultuous 50s and the 60s.
As a painter her knife work with oil on canvas is distinctly expressionistic, especially her landscapes, figures, self-portraits and sketches. Reflections was her first solo exhibiton in 1995 at the Jehangir Art Gallery followed by several exhibits in India and abroad. Her paintings are mostly self portraits as she explores different spheres through self. Her landscapes and Kumaon series are a capture of her travels.
FAMILY: Deepti's father, Uday Chandra Naval, hailed from Punjab and was a professor teaching English at Lehman College, City University of New York. He had graduated with honors in English literature from Govt. College Lahore during pre-partition India. Her mother, Himadri Gangahar, was a painter who was born and raised in Burma. She received her education at the Jesus and Mary Convent in Mandalay and later migrated to India during the Japanese invasion in 1942. Himadri's fascination for music, dance, and drama influenced her younger daughter through bedtime stories.
Deepti's older sister, Smiti Khanna, is a biochemist who spent substantial years working on cancer research at the Sloan Kettering Institute in NYC. Her younger brother, Rohit Naval, is a technology product designer and lives with his family in Long Island. Deepti's nephew Sanaj Naval who starred in her debut film as director, Do Paise Ki Dhoop Chaar Aaane Ki Baarish is all set to be a full-time actor.
AWARDS:
Best Actress Filmworld Award for Ek Baar Phir, 1981 Best Actress Award for Leela at Karachi Int'l Film Festival Best Actress for Memories in March at Madrid Imagine India International Film Festival Best Screenplay Award for Do Paise KI Dhoop Chaar Aane KI Baarish at NYIFF (New York Indian Film Festival). Best Actress Award for Listen Amaya at the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) 2013. Deepti Naval Nominated for Best Actress, at the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) 2013 Edition.
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY:
Goldfish (2023) The Boy With The Top Knot ( 2017) Lion (2016) NH-10 ( 2015) Heartless (2014) Listen Amaya (2013) Memories in March (2011) Firaaq( 2008) Freaky Chakra ( 2003) Shakti: The Power (2002) Leela ( 2002) Bawandar (2000) Current (1992) Suryodaya (1991) Mane/Ek Ghar (1991) Didi ( 1989) Marhi Da Deeva (1989) Mirch Masala (1987) Panchvati ( 1986) Ankahee (1985) Yeh Ishq Nahin Aasaan (1984) Andhi Gali (1984) Kamla (1984) Kissise Na Kehna (1983) Katha (1983) Angoor (1982) Saath Saath (1982) Chirutha (1981) Chashme Buddoor (1981) Hum Paanch (1980) Ek Baar Phir (1980)- Producer
- Actress
- Set Decorator
Devika Rani Chaudhuri, usually known as Devika Rani (30 March 1908 - 9 March 1994), was an actress in Indian films who was active during the 1930s and 1940s. Widely acknowledged as the first lady of Indian cinema, Devika Rani had a successful film career that spanned 10 years.
Born into a wealthy, anglicized Indian family, Devika Rani was sent to boarding school in England at age nine and grew up in that country. In 1928, she met Himanshu Rai, an Indian film-producer, and married him the following year. She assisted in costume design and art direction for Rai's experimental silent film A Throw of Dice (1929). Both of them then went to Germany and received training in film-making at UFA Studios in Berlin.The couple returned to India in 1934, where Himanshu Rai along with Rajnarayan Dube established a production studio, Bombay Talkies, in partnership with certain other people. The studio produced several successful films over the next 5-6 years, and Devika Rani played the lead role in many of them. Her on-screen pairing with Ashok Kumar became popular in India.
Following Rai's death in 1940, Rajnarayan Dube gave the charge and responsibility of the studio to Devika Rani as she produced some more films with her late husband's associates, namely her manager Sashadhar Mukherjee and Ashok Kumar. As mentioned in the book written by KM Srivastava, Sashadhar Mukherjee questioned the character of Devika Rani and used to pass insulting comments on her. Following these events of baseless accusations by her manager Sashadhar Mukherjee and several conflicts with him, In 1945, disappointed Devika Rani retired from films, married the Russian painter Svetoslav Roerich and moved to his estate on the outskirts of Bangalore, thereafter leading a very reclusive life for the next five decades. Her persona, no less than her film roles, were considered socially unconventional. Her awards include the Padma Shri (1958), Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1970) and the Soviet Land Nehru Award (1990).
Devika Rani was one of the founders of Bombay Talkies along with Himanshu Rai and Rajnarayan Dube. The Bombay Talkies Studios' story is full of magic and color. In the '30s, the movie business was supposed to be a 'dirty business'. People would talk about movies, but many wouldn't even consider going to watch one. This would be similar to people talking about gold prices but seldom buying it. Even though movies did make people curious, its reputation as a professional field was bad. There seemed to be a lack of respect for the profession because it was being considered the domain of undesirable sections of the then Indian society. Due to this lack of respect and understanding for the profession, financiers during those times would face an impossible challenge when it came to getting returns on their investment.
It was during this hunt for financiers that Himanshu Rai came in contact with Abhimanyu Prasad Singh, a close friend of Seth Badriprasad Dube, who was a well-known financier. He introduced Himanshu Rai, a London return actor/ theatre artist to Seth Badriprasad Dube with a dream of making a cinema company but Seth Badriprasad declined the proposal of funding Himanshu Rai because Seth Badriprasad had once financed the first Indian Talkie film Alam Ara which didn't earn him any profit and he made an opinion that only actors and directors get fame but the financier doesn't get profits. During that era, the film business was not considered money earning business. It was more about the passion for cinema and getting fame. Because of this fact, Seth Badriprasad Dube declined the proposal of financing Himanshu Rai.
Abhimanyu Singh spoke next to Seth Badriprasad's son Shri. Rajnarayan Dube. He was a young and dynamic businessman who operated a successful company called Dube Industries, which he had founded in 1929. Shri. Dube was born on 10th October 1910 at Kalighat in Kolkata and was an ardent devotee of Maa Kali. He was influenced by the power of art and creativity at a young age. Both men met at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Colaba, Mumbai (Bombay), and discussed an initial investment amount of Rs. 25 lakhs. However, Himanshu Rai couldn't convince Rajnarayan Dube to invest the amount because of the dismal returns on investment that the Indian movie industry offered. At this point, it would seem that Bombay Talkies would never come to be, but things have a way of working out in unexpected ways.
A few months passed by and Himanshu Rai had grown increasingly despondent because it was becoming impossible to raise investment for his movie company. In his depression, the man attempted suicide but was unsuccessful. Shri. Rajnarayan Dube got wind of this through Abhimanyu Prasad Singh and wondered about this man, one who so completely and wholeheartedly believed in the power of cinema and talking pictures that he did not see fit to continue living if he couldn't follow his dreams. Rajnarayan Dube decided that Himanshu Rai was onto something here and finalized the investment with him soon after. In doing this, Shri. Rajnarayan Dube went deliberately against the advice of his father, Seth Badriprasad Dube, who felt that this would not be a good investment choice. In doing this, Shri. Rajnarayan Dube gave birth to the Indian Film Industry, which has now gone on to become a huge cultural and financial force in the country.
At the very nascent age of the cinema Rajnarayan Dube's Bombay Talkies was born in India when other contemporary film companies of the world such as Warner Bros. Entertainment, Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures were born and brought up to create cinematic magic for the world audience, but Bombay Talkies (under the command of Girish Ghanshyam Dube), is the only premier film company which has made a charismatic comeback and repeating its old pride and glory after sixty-three years of utter darkness.
Cinematic Giant and Pillar of Indian Cinema, Rajnarayan Dube founded the Legendary Film Company, The Bombay Talkies Studios along with its associate companies Bombay Talkies Laboratories and Bombay Talkies Pictures as individual proprietorship companies. At the same time to add more people, he established the first public limited film company of India The Bombay Talkies Limited (ltd.) in 1934, although all companies were commonly known as Bombay Talkies. As Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani were actors they were given some shares of the company as their remuneration. Some films were produced under the banner of The Bombay Talkies Limited also, but most of the films were produced under The Bombay Talkies Studios and Bombay Talkies Pictures. The Bombay Talkies Studios also successfully Distributed, Processed, and Promoted films of other producers and banners other than their own films. All the films were financed by Rajnarayan Dube in his individual capacity as the owner of his proprietorship finance company Dube Industries (Estd. 1929).
On 15 April, 1934, Bombay Talkies began operations. The movie company was named by Shri. Dube's mother, Smt. Gayatri Devi. Though Light of Asia and Karma a concept which Himanshu Rai built during his days in Europe, it was released in 1925 and 1933 respectively. As the release went unnoticed, Rajnarayan Dube re-released them and the first films to come out of the stables were Light of Asia (Prem Sanyas) and Karma in 1934. It was followed by Jawani ki Hawa, Achhut Kanya and Jeevan Naiya. The movie company-operated along with the principle of keeping the creative aspects and business aspects separate. Shri. Rajnarayan Dube would look into the business end of things and both Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani would immerse themselves in the creative pursuit. This approach gave rise to some of the most technically impressive films seen this side of the planet. The technical prowess was due to the movie studio employing German and other European technicians, prominent among them being Franz Osten.
In his book, Bombay Talkies - Pillar of Indian Cinema, Late. KM Srivastava mentioned that Rajnarayan Dube's Bombay Talkies was single-handedly responsible for making the careers of some of the leading talents in the golden age of Indian cinema. Besides Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani, the company gave the world Ashok Kumar, Leela Chitnis, Madhubala (who began as a child artist and was given her stage name by Rajnarayan Dube himself, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Leela Chitnis, David Abraham Cheulkar, Phani Majumdar, Gyan Mukherjee, K.A. Abbas, Saadat Hasan Manto, Nabendu Ghosh, Hansa Wadkar, Uttam Kumar, Kedar Sharma, Gemini Ganesan, P.L. Santoshi, Shakti Samanta, Niranjan Pal, Pt. Narendra Sharma, Kishor Sahu, P. Jairaj, Asit Sen, Mumtaj Ali, Nalini Jaywant, Kamini Kaushal, Snehprabha, Joseph Wirsching, Kanan Devi, Famous Bengali Novelist Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Shaheed Lateef, Sita Devi, Abhi Bhattacharya, R.D. Mathur, Aghajani Kashmiri, Kamal Bose, Pran, Usha Kiran, Renuka Devi, Great Writer Munshi Premchand (Written 2 Films for Bombay Talkies), Mukri, Bhagwati Charan Verma, Mehmood, Kishore Kumar, Kamal Amrohi, Guru Dutt, Suraiya, Bimal Roy, Nitin Bose, Salil Chowdhary, Kavi Pradeep, Franz Osten, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Sashadhar Mukherjee, Asha Bhonsle, Lata Mangeshkar, Satyajit Ray, Amiya Chakravarti, S. D. Burman, Manna Dey, Saraswati Devi (who was the first woman music director of Asia). All in all, Bombay Talkies gave the world 280 of the most talented movie professionals in the last century.
Under the command of Rajnarayan Dube, Bombay Talkies had Produced & processed 450 films like Achhut Kannya, Kismet, Bandhan, Mahal, Jhoola, Jeevan Naiya, Neel Kamal, Baadbaan, Daag, Majboor, Drishtidan (Bengali), Izzat, Prem Kahani, Punarmilan, Aawaz, Pratima, Raj Mahal, Apnapan, Anyaya, Roti, Farar, Ziddi, Mashal, Azad, Jwar Bhata, Basant, Sangram, Patita, Bhabi (1938), Durga, Kala Patthar, Indian Lady, Jeevan Prabhat, HamariBaat, Anand, Aurangzeb, Bemisaal, Mamta, Sipahi, Milan, Naya Sansar, Anjaan, Adalat, Aandolan, Zindagi, Zamindar, Kanjoos, Ravan, Raja Rani, Phaansi, Kasam, Parakh, Dhobi Doctor, Deewana, Darpan, Dr. Kumar, Maa, Khamosh, Nauka Doobi, Talaq, Zakhmi, Maharaja, Nirmala, Vilayati Babu, Dushman, Khandani, Puraskar, Tawaif, Asha, Aandhi, Sadma, Anaath, Loafer, Muqaddar, Prem Kahani, Vachan, Lahore to Calcutta, Navjeevan, Ramdhari B.A., Saudagar, Ghajini, Hero, Sawa Lakh, Pratima, Bulandi, Char Aankhen, Chanakya, Nakli Heera, Lahore, Rail Ka Dibba, Dost, Chhoti Si Duniya, Cinema and many more.
While Himanshu Rai's original vision for a movie production house sowed the seeds for the formation of Indian cinema as an industry, Shri. Rajnarayan Dube single-handedly architected the business angle of the entire industry which was yet to come. He supported various new theatres such as BN Sircar's New Theatres in Calcutta, V Shantaram's Prabhat Pictures, Homi Wadia's Wadia Movietone, Sohrab Modi's Minerva Movietone, LV Prasad's Prasad Labs and Pictures (Prasad was an ex-technician from Bombay Talkies), SS Vasan's Gemini Pictures and Mehboob Khan's theatres, Tarachand Barjatya's Rajshri Productions (Barjatya served as a distribution manager for Bombay Talkies for the period of seven years), Sashadhar Mukherjee's (Filmalaya Studio). Shri. Dube financed these fledgling companies and made them stronger. In essence, he builds the entire movie ecosystem in the country. Everyone whom Shri. Dube supported, went on to build a name for themselves in the industry.
Shri. Rajnarayan Dube had a big vision for Indian Cinema. He wanted Indian film making to be a respectable profession. He thus stipulated that Bombay Talkies would only hire graduates. He hoped this move would legitimize the Indian film industry of the thirties and forties, and it certainly did. Besides this, Shri. Dube also wanted the Indian film industry to be inclusive of Indians from all states and sectors of life. Even though the movie company worked with European technicians, Shri. Dube would bring on Indian technicians and make sure that they learned the art of movie-making. He also brought a lot of Indian writers on-board so that movies could have an Indian cultural sensitivity and thus could appeal to a large number of people. This move gave rise to a whole new Indian profession, movie making! This seemed to be a good move in the light of circumstances that were yet to arrive.
During one scene in the movie Karma, there was a minute-long kissing scene between Himanshu Rai & Devika Rani onscreen. During the re-release, some extra controversial scenes were shot at that time for the sake of sensational purpose. This caused quite a stir in Indian society then Seth Badriprasad Dube's father of Shri. Rajnarayan Dube was furious about the scene. Himanshu Rai apologized and held his ears' and said that it would not happen again. After that incident, Shri. Dube however, resolved to screen all films by himself before they could be released. He was a Brahmin and a conservative and strictly discouraged smoking, drinking and other vices in the studio premises. He was also a very caring employer for those pioneering people who worked at Bombay Talkies. He made sure that Education, Rent, Food, and other daily necessities were provided free of cost to employees of Bombay Talkies. He also championed the rights of the movie industry by setting up Unions and Associations such as IMPPA (of which Bombay Talkies was the first member) Several people along with Rajnarayan Dube, Himanshu Rai, and Devika Rani were responsible for the formation of IMPPA. He also helped grow the regional film industry. He staunchly supported Marathi, Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Gujarati and Southern cinema. If it wasn't for Shri. Dube, the Indian movie industry would have resembled other Southeast Asian movie industries from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Bollywood today is big enough to compete with Hollywood movies.
During the Second World War, Bombay Talkies was struggling. The war had made things very difficult in many ways. The company had several movies on the floor but they could not get them finished because the crucial German technicians had been arrested and detained by the British Government. At this point, 15-20 films were on the production floor and were stalled pretty badly. Himanshu Rai suffered a nervous breakdown as a result of this and passed away in 1940. Bombay Talkies had just lost its crucial co-founder on whose vision the entire company stood to be successful. Shri. Rajnarayan Dube decided that Rai's vision for Indian cinema would continue and he again invested four lakhs ten thousand rupees into the venture. This injected some much-needed blood into the company and a new era of Indian film making began. Shri. Dube decided that from that moment on, Bombay Talkies would only hire Indian technicians and production professionals.
In this second phase, the company boomed and went on to a very productive cinematic run. 1943 hit Kismet was getting rave reviews everywhere and managed to run in theatres for 3 and a half years in over 90% of the Indian theatres! By comparing the value of gold and land by today's standards, the movie made the equivalent of Rs. 40000 crores. Not one movie has broken this record in terms of business. By 1954, Bombay Talkies had put its name to a huge amount of work. It had produced & processed 450 films, had introduced over 280 new talents, built 400 theatres across the country. With the historical grand success of Bombay Talkies, the legendary film company under the influence of Rajnarayan Dube had now processed more than 450 films of outside and likeminded producers and made more than 250 film projects for the new and needy producers. As the success of Bombay Talkies was going sky-high the clash of ego between the giants also started roaring high? The three companies which solely belongs to Rajnarayan Dube, The Bombay Talkies Studios, Bombay Talkies Laboratories and Bombay Talkies Pictures were doing fine but the fourth company The Bombay Talkies Limited, which was established by him to include more people and more talents was becoming a platform to project nasty ego clashes of the directors and management of the company. Instead of being devoted to filmmaking and cinema they devoted their energy and talent for spreading rumours and objectionable stories. At this time Shri. Rajnarayan Dube decided that he and his company had arrived at the goal that they had set out to complete two decades earlier. Indian films were now a major force in terms of communication and entertainment in post-independence India. Shri. Dube shut down his sole proprietorship companies The Bombay Talkies Studios, Bombay Talkies Laboratories and Bombay Talkies Pictures in 1954 so that he could pay more attention to other aspects of his business and continued to distribute and finance films. The fate of the limited company, The Bombay Talkies Limited, which was established to include more people and more talents, got entrapped in selfish motives and litigation. Since 1953, complicated legal battles have been going on in different courts till date. Among all odds and misfortune, of the past time Bombay Talkies became a dream only to be in memories, the artists and technicians, whom Bombay Talkies made living legends in their own lives, who became national and international personalities by virtue of their own right, became world famous. But there was no one to take notice of Bombay Talkies.
With the noble intention and the purpose of promotion, protection, and projection of ancient divine culture globally Girish Ghanshyam Dube Revived Bombay Talkies after six decades with full glory and pride. With the historical revival of the legendary Bombay talkies, Girish Ghanshyam Dube paid his heartfelt tribute to his grandfather, pillar of Indian Cinema Rajnarayan Dube along with Himanshu Rai, Devika Rani, and many great filmmakers, artists and technicians. Girish Ghanshyam Dube brought his idol, Chandrashekhar Azad, from the darkness of history and presented him for the first time in the larger than life manner. Rashtraputra first patriotic film based on the life and times of the greatest revolutionary Chandrashekhar Azad was screened at the 72nd Cannes film festival, France. The international audience connected with the patriotic and nationalistic thoughts of the great son of mother India through Rashtraputra. After Rashtraputra Girish Ghanshyam Dube created and released the first mainstream Sanskrit film of the world Cinema, Aham Brahmasmi to promote, protect & project Devbhasha Sanskrit worldwide and to preach Bramhavakya of Vedas to every corner of the World.
Many film-makers followed Rajnarayan Dube as a fortune for them, like in his Book, 'Bombay Talkies - Pillar of Indian Cinema', Senior Most Journalist of India Late. KM Srivastava mentioned Prakash Mehra, one of the legendary filmmakers of India who got the first chance to direct a movie named, Haseena Maan Jayegi, starring Shashi Kapoor. The film got stuck because of lack of budget. Later, popular actor Shashi Kapoor advised him to acquaint with Shri. Rajnarayan Dube; "He is the person who will appreciate your talent and help you out from the issue". Rajnarayan Dube said yes to him and the film triumphed magnificently. The same incident happened with Prakash Mehra in the film Samadhi which was starred by Dharmendra. Rajnarayan Dube helped him and got a huge applause. Because of such incidents, Prakash Mehra followed Rajnarayan Dube as a deity and he was always thankful to him. Then he gave back to back hits like Zanjeer, Khoon Pasina, Hera Pheri with the help of Rajnarayan Dube. After his establishment he didn't face financial trouble but still, he used to take one hundred and one rupees as goodwill from Rajnarayan Dube for his later hits like Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Laawaris, Jaadugar and many more.
Recently in an event, Mr. Chandra Shekhar Pusalkar Phalke, grandson of the father of Indian Cinema Dada Saheb Phalke said, "With the establishment and work culture of Bombay Talkies, Rajnarayan Dube has played a great historic role in nurturing and developing the Indian film industry. He gave it the form of an organised industry and made it be accepted as a respectful form of art by the civilised society." He further added, "Like Dada Saheb Phalke, Rajnarayan Dube also faced all kinds of conflicts and the result of his immense struggle is visible like a World Heritage Site in the form of Bombay Talkies today. He strongly affirmed, If Mr. Rajnarayan Dube was not there, there would be no Himanshu Rai, neither Devika Rani nor there would be Bombay Talkies."
Numerous people have written books about Bombay Talkies and Rajnarayan Dube like Multiple editions of a book written by Mohammad Zahid Ahmed titled as The Man Behind Indian Cinema, which was launched in The United States of America on 19th June 2016. The last edition of the book mentions that The truth behind "The Bombay Talkies ltd" and commercial Indian cinema lies beneath the biography of Mr. Rajnarayan Dube. The novels unfold the truth of Indian cinema and the history that people made without any substantial evidence. Many news reports and media tries to recreate the fact about Indian cinema.
History witnessed the success and fall of the pillar of Indian cinema and the disasters of broken fire in the Bombay talkies studio campus many times. Negatives, important documents along with props and properties of filmmaking got burned and became ashes. Multiple researches were done on Indian Cinema and Bombay Talkies, numerous books were read on Bombay Talkies, only information on released films were obtained but no vital information could be gathered. Every book mentioned contradictory information on Bombay Talkies, only a few names were mentioned related to Bombay Talkies and its foundation. From the very ashes of history the senior most and respected film journalist K M Srivastava recollected the truths and facts of Bombay Talkies. K M Srivastava's career spanning fifty years, he has done a great service to the students of cinema by researching Bombay Talkies. K M Srivastava has disclosed nearly each and every aspect of Bombay Talkies in his historical book Bombay talkies - the pillar of Indian cinema, that how London return flop Actor Himanshu Rai got to finance his films, how he met Rajnarayan dube and how the actors and actresses of that time rose to glory. All the needful information was available in this book. The book is now the authentic prime source of inspiration, information and knowledge about Bombay talkies and that magnificent era. K M Srivastava's work contains more authentic information than any other source available. K M Srivastava documented nearly everything in detail in his research book on Bombay talkies. He has interviewed most of the legends who were associated with Bombay talkies. He was the eye-witness of most of the events along with his fellow journalists. The intense and comprehensive research book Bombay talkies - the pillar of Indian cinema - 3rd Edition written by senior journalist K M Srivastava was released by Chandrashekhar Pusalkar Phalke, the grandson of father of Indian cinema Dada Sahab Phalke on On 19 May 2018.
In his 52 years long career, It is the third time that senior most Journalist Of Indian Cinema , K M Srivastava wrote Bombay Talkies History in the book, Bombay talkies - the pillar of Indian cinema.
The event was organized by Manika Sanstha. The guests and speakers of the event were senior editor of Madhuri Magazine, Sudeep, Rashtriya Sahara editor, senior journalist and narrator Harish Pathak, senior film actors Surendra Pal, Gajendra Chauhan and actress Asema Bhatt. The program was conducted by Devmani Pandey and incorporated by Amar Tripathi. A large number of friends of the literary world were present on the occasion. Chief Guest at the book launch event, Mr. Chandrashekhar Pusalkar Phalke, grandson of the father of Indian Cinema Dada Sahab Phalke said, "With the establishment and work culture of Bombay Talkies, Rajnarayan Dube has played a great historic role in nurturing and developing Indian film industry. He gave it the form of an organised industry and made it to be accepted as a respectful form of art by the civilised society." He further added, "Like Dada Sahab Phalke, Rajnarayan Dube also faced all kinds of conflicts and the result of his immense struggle is visible like a World Heritage Site in the form of Bombay Talkies today. He strongly affirmed, If Mr. Rajnarayan Dube was not there, there would be no Himanshu Rai, neither Devika Rani nor there would be Bombay Talkies."
The detailed history on Bombay Talkies and Indian cinema, can be found in the Books, The Man behind Indian Cinema by Mohammad Zahid Ahmed and Bombay Talkies - Pillar of Indian Cinema by KM Srivastava.- Born in a Gujerati-speaking family on June 8, 1957, daughter to businessman, Chunnibhai and Betty, Dimple has a younger sister, Simple, who was born on 15 August 1958.
She was discovered by Raj Kapoor, who signed her up opposite his son, Rishi, in the 1973 hit 'Bobby'. The film made Rishi and her stars overnight, at the time of the film's she was just 16 years old.
Exactly 6 months before the release of 'Bobby' Dimple who was a mad fan of super-star Rajesh Khanna, met and married the actor. Rajesh was 15 years older than her. After her marriage she quit films.
On Rajesh's 32nd birthday, a daughter, Twinkle nicknamed as Tina, was born to them. Then on July 27, 1977, Dimple and Rajesh became parents of Rinke, who would later also become an actress in her own right.
Dimple and Rajesh separated in 1982, enabling her to make a come-back to the tinsel screen with 'Zakhmi Sher'. She continues to act and has over 69 movies to her credit, some of them the more popular ones being 'Saagar', 'Insaaf', 'Zakhmi Aurat', 'Ram Lakhan', & 'Batwara'. - Actress
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Divya Dutta is an Indian Actress from Ludhiana (Punjab) who has acted in various Hindi and Punjabi movies.She did her schooling from Sacred Heart Convent in Ludhiana.She has won more than 25 awards in the Film Industry including Zee Cine awards for best supporting role in "Veer Zaara" and IIFA award for best supporting actress in "Delhi6".She has been nominated for Film Fare and Star Screen award twice.For her role in "Welcome To Sajjanpur" she won star sabse favorite kaun award.She has worked in more than 60 movies and is famous actress known in Bollywood.She has also worked in international movies and was seen in video of "Romeo" by a famous house music duo from London, England, Basement Jaxx.- Fatima Sana Shaikh was born in Mumbai, India, to Hindu Brahman Father, Vipen Sharma, and Muslim Mother, Raj Tabassum. She was enrolled to St. Xavier High School in Mumbai for her primary education and later to Mithibai College, Mumbai for higher education.
Shaikh began her film career with the 1997 film Chachi 420 with Kamal Hasan. She played the role of Bharti, Jaiprakash Paswan a.k.a. Jai and Janki Paswan's daughter. Though she has been acting since 1997, she has scaled new heights of fame and success now after playing the role of Geeta Phogat in Aamir Khan's movie and also sharing the screen with the star.
Her hobbies include dancing, reading, sketching and photography. - Actress
- Stunts
- Writer
Fearless Nadia was born Mary Evans in Perth, Australia. She accompanied her family to India as a child. She began working in the circus in the early 1930s, where she took the name Fearless Nadia. The tall, blue-eyed, blonde began her film career several years later in Hindi language films in India. She was best known for portraying the masked, cloaked adventuress "Hunterwali" (A.K.A. "The Lady Hunter") in 1935. She appeared in over 50 films in India. She married her long-time producer-director Homi Wadia in the early 1960s and retired from films.- Actress
- Producer
Genelia D'Souza is an Indian actress, model, and host. She has appeared in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam language films. After gaining wide attention in a Parker Pen commercial with Amitabh Bachchan, D'Souza began her acting career with Tujhe Meri Kasam in 2003. She was recognized for her role in Boys the same year, and later established herself in Telugu cinema by acting in several Telugu films during 2003-2005. D'Souza received her first Filmfare Award in 2006 for her performance in the Telugu romantic film, Bommarillu, which earned her critical acclaim. In 2008, she gave critically acclaimed performances in Santosh Subramaniam, a Tamil remake of Bommarillu, and the Bollywood movie Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na. Having acted in several commercially successful movies in Telugu and Tamil, D'Souza has established herself as one of the leading actresses of the South Indian film industry.In addition to movie acting, D'Souza has hosted the television show Big Switch, and is the brand ambassador of Fanta, Virgin Mobile India, Fastrack, LG Mobiles, Garnier Light, Margo, and Perk in India- Actress
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Hema was born in the Tamil-speaking Chakravarthy household on October 16, 1948 in Ammankudi, Tamil Nadu. Her dad's name is V.S.R. Chakravarthy and her mom, Jaya, was a film producer. She was enrolled in the Chennai-based Andhra Mahila Sabha.
After performing as a dancer in a 1961 regional movie, she was rejected by Tamil Director, C.V.Sridhar, during 1964 when she first attempted to act, on the grounds that she was too thin to be heroine in Venniradai and the role went to Venniradai Nirmala. Later Hema performed in the song Singara Therukku Selai sung by Seergazhi Govindrajan and L.R.Eshwari as a supporting actor from the 1963 Tamil film Idhu Sathiyam starring S.A.Asokan as the hero. But Hema persisted, debuted opposite Raj Kapoor in 'Sapnon Ka Saudagar' just 4 years after her rejection but the movie was a flop.
Thereafter there has no been looking back for this attractive Libran, who went to star in close to 155 movies; who also produced and directed two movies, and also directed a TV serial 'Noopur'.
After turning down marriage proposals from Sanjeev Kumar and Jeetendra, she met with hot fellow actor, Dharmendra, both were attracted to each other and wanted to get married. Dharmendra, who was already married to Prakash Kaur, and had two sons, Sunny and Bobby, could not marry Hema as Prakash refused to divorce him. According to the Hindu Marriage Act, a Hindu cannot marry a second time while the first wife is still alive. Dharmendra belongs to a Arya Samaj Hindu Punjabi Jatt family.
She had a hit on-screen pairing with Dharmendra, Shashi Kapoor and Dev Anand in the 70's and, post-marriage, she had 8 hits opposite Rajesh Khanna in 1980-87. Dharmendra Hema Malini were paired in lead roles romantically in 31 films but have worked in 35 films. Of them 20 were hits and 15 were flops. Interestingly Rajesh Khanna-Hema Malini pair had 2 hits in early 70's and then 3 unfortunate flops in late 70's after which pair was written off but in eighties they gave 8 blockbusters as a pair. In all Hema has 10 hits with Rajesh Khanna.
On August 21, 1979, both Hema and Dharmendra converted to Islam, changed their names to Aisha Bi R. Chakravarty and Dilawar Khan Kewal Krishn respectively, and got married in accordance with Islamic rites. Three years after their marriage, Hema subsequently gave birth to Esha and then later to Ahana. Esha is an actress in her own rights. The trio, well proficient in the arts of Bharatnatyam dance form, have performed together at a number of dance events and concerts.
Hema is a member of the right-winged Bharatiya Janata Party, and became a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament.
She was amongst the first actresses to wear bell-bottom and shirts in Hindi movies, and is also amongst the few who have kept their word of not wearing any revealing outfits in public. Hema, who is also called 'Dream Girl' continues to act in movies as of 2013.- Actress
- Producer
Huma Qureshi born and raised in Delhi. Her father is a famous restaurant owner called Saleem's a chain of some 10 restaurants in Delhi. Her brother, Saqib Saleem is an actor and acted in Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge. In year 2011 an announcement was made that Huma would make her Bollywood debut in a movie too called Billa 2 but got delayed due to some unknown reason. However, a few months later, a new announcement came as she wasn't part of the project and she has gotten her Bollywood debut, Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur. Huma has a nice role in 2 parts of Gangs of Wasseypur.- Actress
- Music Department
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Ila Arun was born in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. She is known for Jodhaa Akbar (2008), Sherni (2021) and Khalnayak (1993). She is married to Arun Bajpai.- Producer
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In April 1948 Jabalpur-based, Bengali-speaking Indira and Tarun Kumar Bhaduri were blessed with a child they named Jaya, and enrolled in the St. Joseph's Convent School in Bhopal.
Her acting career started when she was 15 in a Bengali film Mahanagar. She became an actress in her own right in Bollywood after the release of Guddi. She went on to star in many Hindi language films, including blockbusters like Jawani Diwani, Uphaar, Anamika, Abhimaan, Sholay, Bawarchi, Chupke Chupke Zanjeer just to name a few. Her acting spanned from 1963 to 1981. She also wrote the script of Shahenshah.
She married Amitabh Srivastav alias Bachchan, and subsequently gave birth to Shweta and Abhishek. Amitabh is the son of Sikh-Hindu parents, namely Teji and Harivansh Rai Srivastav alias Bachchan.
Jaya quit acting after 1981. Then her married life faced considerable upheavals especially with the much-publicized affair of her husband with Bollywood actress, Rekha. Then their lives were disrupted when Amitabh was seriously injured by a blow from actor, Puneet Issar, while filming 'Coolie', which almost took his life.
The family suffered another setback in 2005 when her asthmatic husband was admitted in Lilavati Hospital after complains of severe pains in his abdomen.
Her husband did recover, and both husband, wife, Abhishek, and his new bride, continue to dominate Bollywood with their screen presence. Jaya has also received a number of awards recognizing her talents in Bollywood.- Actress
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Jayaprada was born as Lalita Rani in a middle class household to Krishna and Neelavani in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh on April 3, 1962. She was a small town girl with dreams of becoming a doctor. Her mother enrolled her in dance and music classes when she was seven years old, in addition to going to a regular school. Even though, her father and uncle were film financiers, her initial break into films didn't come through them. She was discovered dancing on stage at a school function when she was just fourteen years old. Character actor Prabhakar Reddy gave her the name of Jayaprada and introduced her in a three minute song in the Telugu film, "Bhoomi Kosam" (1976). That immediately led her to longer roles in "Devude Digivaste" (1975) and "Naaku Swatantram Vachindhi" (1976). The floodgates opened. Major film directors, such as Bapu, K. Vishwanath and K.Balachander, approached her with quality projects. She immediately became a huge star in Telugu films as diverse as the color-drenched, big-budget "Seeta Kalyanam" (1976) to the stark, naturalistic black-and-white film "Antuleeni Katha" (1976), where she won a special acting award for her unforgettable dramatic performance. But it was her dancing skills and nuanced acting style as a mute girl that made K. Vishwanath's "Siri Siri Muvva" (1976) into a timeless classic. It would also be her passport into Hindi films as K. Vishwanath remade it into "Sargam" (1979) and made her a overnight star in Bollywood as well. She earned her first Filmfare nomination as Best Actress for the film, and it would become one of her favorite films. She stalled on doing more Hindi films for two years as she wasn't fluent in the language. But she became fluent in Hindi, as well as Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Bengali, and had hit films in all these languages. She endeared audiences with her sincere portrayal of Amitabh Bachchan's girlfriend in her next favorite film "Sharabi" (1984), which became another big hit and earned her second Filmfare nomination as Best Actress. K. Vishwanath directed her to her third Filmfare nomination as Best Actress for her other favorite film "Sanjog" (1985). But some of her best performances would go unrewarded. In the Telugu film directed by K.Balachander, "47 Rojulu" (1981) showed Jayaprada as a innocent girl duped by her husband in Paris, France, and her struggle to escape from him. But in Hindi films, she usually played the traditionally dressed, docile, obedient wife, and while that image led to hit films, it also eventually tired her audiences. She also seemed bored and indifferent with no new challenges ahead as she had already made her other favorite films: the Hindi films "Sur Sangam" (1985) and "Tohfa" (1984), the Telugu film "Sagara Sangamam" (1983), the Kannada films "Sanadi Appanna" (1977) and "Kavi Ratna Kalidasa" (1983). The only excitement came from her personal life when she met her husband film producer Srikant Nahata. They started out as friends as he was already a married man with children. But it turned into love when he stood by her because of her income tax problems. She was branded the "other woman," especially since Nahata wouldn't leave his wife. So she ended up marrying him in 1986, and he has continued to be married to both women. In 1994, she also became a politician by joining the Telugu Desam Party. A few years later, a rift developed with the political party and she was deeply hurt when she was no longer in the party. She also didn't have any major films lined up. But she kept up with her many social and humanitarian causes, especially related to poor women and children. She also became tough and strong and forged on ahead by joining a different political party in a different state, Uttar Pradesh. She won the election with the slogan line, "Andhra is my janambhoomi but Uttar Pradesh is my karmbhoomi." She also started making films playing stronger, mature roles. In "Deh," she played an older woman having an affair with a much younger man. She also wrote and directed "Class Medal," a Telugu film that starred her sister's son Siddharth and produced by her brother Rajababu. She didn't forget her first love, dancing, and did a dance ballet in 2005 that won her great acclaim. And she also dabbled in playback singing and even recorded an album with music composer Bappi Lahiri. In 2008, she received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for her long and plentiful contribution to the South Indian film industry. Having three careers (acting, dancing, politics), and a husband, left her no time to have children of her own, even though she has expressed a desire to have children. So far, she has shown no desire to give up her three careers and in fact, stated that she'll be as hardworking and dedicated in the future as she is now.- Actress
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- Music Department
Juhi was born in the Chawla family on November 13, 1967 in Ludhiana, Punjab, India, and is the daughter of Punjabi-speaking dad, Dr. S. Chawla and Gujarati-speaking mom, Mona. She has a brother named Sanjeev. Her mother passed away in an accident during the year 1998 while Juhi was filming 'Duplicate'.
After completing her school in Ludhiana, the Chawla family moved to Bombay, Maharashtra, India, where Juhi attended at Sydenham College. After graduating, she entered in the Miss India competition and was crowned 'Miss India 1984', taking over from Miss India 1983, Rekha Hande.
Her first appearance on the tinsel screen was as Zarina in the 1986 release 'Sultanat'. She shot to fame after the release of 'Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak' opposite Aamir Khan. As of August 2007, she has been bestowed with three awards for her performance in 'Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke', 'Duplicate', and '3 Deewarein'.
Juhi got married to multi-millionaire industrialist, Jai Mehta during the year 1998. Since then the couple have a daughter, Jhanvi, and son, Arjun.
Juhi continues to act in movies, and also makes appearances in many off-beat movies, rather than the mainstream cinema with which she started her career. She also appears in a number of TV ad commercials.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Kajol Devgn is a well-known Bollywood actress known for her exceptional performances on screen. She attended St. Joseph's Convent School in Panchgani and was actively involved in extra-curricular activities such as dancing. In her early teens, Kajol was supposed to make her debut as an actress in a movie directed by her mother, Tanuja, but the project was cancelled. She eventually made her acting debut at the age of sixteen with the film Bekhudi (1992), while still in school. Later, she quit school to pursue a full-time career in the film industry.
She made her debut with Rahul Rawail's Bekhudi (1992) in 1992. Her film career flourished with commercial successes like Baazigar (1993), Yeh Dillagi (1994), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), which established her as a leading star in the 1990s. She was appreciated critically for her role in Gupt: The Hidden Truth (1997) and as an avenger in Dushman (1998). Another blockbuster Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001) won her multiple awards, after which she took a break. She returned to the industry after a brief period with the romantic thriller Fanaa (2006).
She was cast in My Name Is Khan (2010) in 2010 opposite Shah Rukh Khan - it was widely appreciated by critics worldwide. Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan became the first Indian actors to be invited by NASDAQ to open the NYSE American to promote My Name Is Khan (2010). She was also appreciated for her performance in Dilwale (2015) - it also featured other renowned stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Varun Dhawan, and Kriti Sanon. She was also cast in the period film Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior (2020) in 2020.
She also appeared in the social drama Tribhanga (2021), her first collaboration with Netflix.
She holds a managerial position at Devgn Entertainment and Software Ltd., And as the supervisor, she launched the filmmaking-related portal Cineexplore in 2000. Devgn established another company, Ajay Devgn Films, in 2009.
She appeared with Ajay Devgn, and her mother Tanuja as the supervisor in Zee TV's 2008 reality show Rock-N-Roll Family. She was named a part-time public broadcaster Prasar Bharati member in 2016.
The Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis honored her with the Swabhimani Mumbaikar Awards. She was also included on Forbes India's "Celebrity 100", a list based on the income and popularity of India's celebrities, in 2012, 2013, and 2017.
She has won 23 awards, including 6 Filmfare Awards, 5 Screen Awards, 4 Zee Cine Awards, 1 Stardust Award and 1 Bengal Film Journalists' Association Award, and one Bollywood Movie Award till the year 2021. She was also honored with the Rajiv Gandhi Award for her contribution to Indian cinema in 2002. Kajol was listed in the Box Office India's "Top Actresses" for five consecutive years (1995-1999), topping the list in 1998.
In 2001 and 2006, she was featured in Rediff annual "Top Bollywood Actresses" listing. And in 2007, she received Karamveer Puraskar, presented by the Mumbai Pradesh Young Congress, for her social work in helping educate unprivileged children.
During the shooting of Gundaraj in 1994, Kajol and Ajay Devgn started dating. They eventually tied the knot on 24th February 1999 in a traditional Maharashtrian wedding ceremony held at Devgn's residence.- Actress
- Writer
Kalki Koechlin was born to French parents in a small village in Pondicherry. Her parents had come to India as hippies in the 1970s and settled there after they fell in love with the country. Her parents are devotees of Sri Aurobindo.
Kalki was studying in Ooty when her parents insisted that she attend university. She studied drama and theatre at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she also worked with a theater company called Theatre of Relativity for two years. She performed in various plays, including David Hare's "The Blue Room," Marivaux's "The Dispute," and a devised play called "The Rise of the Wild Hunt" during her two-year stint with the theater group.
Kalki later decided to move to Mumbai to try her luck in Indian cinema. She was doing modeling assignments for television commercials before being shortlisted for the role of Chandramukhi (Chanda) in Dev.D (2009). Kalki, who can speak Tamil, English, and French, had to learn Hindi to prepare for her role in Dev.D (2009). She was apprehensive about how people would judge her after seeing her in the role.
She won The Hindu's 2009 MetroPlus Playwright Award, along with Prashant Prakash, for their co-authored entry "Skeleton Woman." Kalki also acted in the play "Hair" directed by Ajay Krishnan.- Katrina Kaif is one of eight siblings, 7 girls and 1 boy, from a mother who is a Caucasian of British Nationality, and a father who was formerly from Kashmir, India, but who has since acquired British citizenship. Her mother is now re-settled in Chennai (formerly known as Madras), the Capital of the state of Tamil Nadu in India.
She spent subsequent years in Hawaii, and then in London, Britain, She started modeling accidentally when she was in Hawaii at the tender age of 14, when she was approached for a jewelry campaign. Thereafter she continued modeling in London.
Continuing to model was the reason she got her break in a Bollywood movie Boom (2003) offered by none other than film-maker Kaizad Gustad.
She was flooded with modeling assignments the minute she set her foot on Indian soil, especially with her innocent expressive face, hour-glass figure, and drop-dead gorgeous looks.
Professionally she started off as a model with photographer Atul Kasbekar, and upon being accepted, she received offers from LG, Cola, Fevicol, Lakme, & Veet. It was the Lakme commercial that got her noticed. She retained Matrix as her Manager to accept work on her behalf and at the price she deserved.
Moving to different culture and country was not much of a culture shock for her, as she states that no matter where you come from, the bottom line is that everyone wants to be loved, respected, and cared for.
Despite of her positive attitude, she had been stereotyped as "Indian" by extreme right-wingers in Britain who made it clear that she did not quite fit-in with their "Blonde" Caucasian culture; while on the other hand in India itself she had been ranked as an 'outsider' very much like Sonia Gandhi.
Unlike other artistes from foreign lands, Katrina did not experience any difficulties in getting a visa nor of getting it extended in India.
Although linguistically challenged, Katrina puts on a bold face and states that other Bollywood artistes like Sridevi, who did not know Hindi, did get offers from Bollywood film-makers, and she is no different. She has taken Hindi and dancing lessons to fit in with the Bollywood culture. She likes to display a picture of her learning Kathak dancing where she used to dance 7 hours a day non-stop.
Adorned with soft gorgeous looks, she is not easily intimidated, but admits that she is very emotional, sensitive, and concerned about her privacy, Almost an incurable romantic, she prefers to wear comfortable non-revealing clothes when at home, hates to do her hair, and above all dislikes make-up. Admitting to being lonely in the beginning, but now has several friends who she can hang out with.
Although her first movie Boom (2003) was panned by the critics and shunned by the audiences, two other Telugu movies Malliswari (2004) and Allari Pidugu (2005) did get her noticed. She grossed 70 Lakh Rupees for Malliswari (2004) - making her top the list of the highest paid actresses during a South Indian movie debut.
Not done with South Indian movies, she has been signed in a Tamil movie 'Bheema' opposite National Award Winner Vikram.
She has received decent reviews for her part in "Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya", as well as a brief appearance in 'Sarkar'.
Katrina had made Mumbai her base, didn't mind singing and dancing around trees and as a result is now one of the biggest mega-stars, perhaps one of the highest paid female-lead actresses in Bollywood, and a crowd-puller whenever she makes an appearance for a live song and dance number.