This
week in the spotlight for Fragrance of Yesteryears, we have someone who
is not only an actress, but also a dancer, choreographer, director,
producer, and a politician. The legend is none other than
Hema Malini.
She was born in the Indian state of Madras on October 16, 1948 into a
Tamil speaking family. She is the baby sister of two elder brothers.
Malini started off her on screen career in the 1968 blockbuster,
Sapno Ke Saudagar, opposite
Raj Kapoor. Her
breakthrough was in the 1970s, when she acted in numerous films like
Johnny Mera Naam (1970),
Andaz (1971), and
Lal Patthar (1971).
These movies gave her the extra edge among the actresses during the
times because she took all challenging roles, like the widow in
Andaz and a negative character in
Lal Patthar. In 1977, she starred in a movie called
Dream Girl, which went on to give her the nickname, "
Dream Girl" of Bollywood.
During the mid-70s, when the
Dream Girl gained the most success in Bollywood, she went on to do a couple more movies, namely
Seeta Aur Geeta,
Sanyasi,
Dharmatma, and
Pratigya. Another memorable role of
Hema Malini was of "Basanti" from the 1975-hit movie
Sholay. Then came a time in the same decade when Hema-
Dharmendra starred in movies back to back, such as
Sharafat (1970),
Tum Haseen Main Jawaan (1970),
Naya Zamana (1971),
Raja Jani(1972), to name a few. Together the duo starred in 28 movies together, and Hema ended up marrying
Dharmendra in 1980.
Post-marriage, Hema acted in
Kranti,
Naseeb,
Satte Pe Satta, and
Rajput. The newly wedded couple also continued to star in movies like
Alibaba Aur 40 Chor,
Baghavat,
Samraat, and
Razia Sultan. In 1992, Hema directed her first Bollywood film,
Dil Aashna Hai, which failed at the box-office and brought her career tumbling down from there on.
After taking a long break from the Hindi cinema, Hema made a come back in 2003 in
Baghban opposite
Amitabh Bachchan. The following year, she played a cameo in Yash Chopra's
Veer-Zaara. A few years later, she directed her second movie which starred, both her husband and daughter,
Esha Deol,
Tell Me O Khuda (2011).
Malini won the Filmfare Best Actress Award for
Seeta Aur Geeta in 1973 and the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000.
Did you know?- In 2003, Hema played the role of Goddess Durga in a Star Plus serial Jai Mata Ki.
- She owns a dance school, Natya Vihar Kalakendra.
- She has acted in over 150 films in a time span of about 40 years.
- She has been nominated 11 times for the Filmfare Best Actress Award.