Hema Malini

Hema Malini (born 16 October 1948) is an Indian actress, director and producer, Bharatanatyam dancer-choreographer, a politician. Making her acting debut in Sapno Ka Saudagar (1968), she went on to appear in numerous Bollywood films, most notably those with actor and future-husband Dharmendra and with Rajesh Khanna.^[2][3] Malini is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actresses in the history of Indian cinema.^[4] She was initially promoted as "Dream Girl", and in 1977 starred in a film of the same name.^[5] During this period, she established herself as one of Hindi cinema's leading actresses, noted for both her comic and dramatic roles, her beauty, and her accomplished classical dancing.^[6][7][8]

Malini is among the most successful female film stars in the history of Indian cinema.^{[7][9][10][11]} Appearing in over 150 films in a career span of 40 years, she has starred in a large number of successful films, and her performances in both commercial and arthouse cinema, were often recognised.^[7] During her career, she has been nominated 11 times for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress, of which she won once in 1972. In 2000, she was presented with the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. In the same year, she was honoured with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour, by the Government of India.^[12] In 2012, the Sir Padampat Singhania University conferred an Honorary Doctorate on Malini in recognition of her contribution to Indian cinema.^[13] She also served as the Chairperson of the National Film Development Corporation. She was awarded the prestigious "SaMaPa Vitasta Award 2006" in Delhi by SaMaPa – "Sopori Academy of Music And Performing Arts" by Music Legend Pandit Bhajan Sopori for her lifetime contribution and service to Indian culture and Dance.

Of late Malini spends most of her time on charitable and social ventures, while making occasional appearances in films. She is a member of India's Bharatiya Janata Party and was nominated member by the party in Rajya Sabha, the upper House of parliament during 2003–2009

Hema Malini Chakravarthy was born into a Tamil speaking Iyengar Brahmin family^[15][16] in Ammankudi, Tiruchirappalli to V.S. Ramanujam Chakravarthy^[17] and Jaya Chakravarthy on 16 October 1948.^[1] Her mother was a film producer. Malini was the youngest of the three children and has two brothers.^[18] She was not interested in academic studies but enjoyed history, her favourite subject in school.^[18] She was educated at Andhra Mahila Sabha in Chennai.She studied at DTEA Mandir Marg till class 10 but did not complete class 10 when she got acting role.^[17]

Some of Bollywood's most popular actors like Sanjeev Kumar and Jeetendra have proposed to Hema Malini.^[19][20] In her authorised biography, Hema Malini mentions she almost accepted Jeetendra's proposal, but later backed out.^[19] Unable to tolerate the rejection, Sanjeev Kumar was reportedly driven to alcoholism and remained unmarried till his death in 1985.^[19]

Hema fell in love with her co-star Dharmendra during the filming of Sholay.^[21] She eventually married him in 1980. Before they married, they both converted to Islam, though the conversion was nominal and for convenience only; Hema remains a strong practising Hindu^[22] since Dharmendra was married to Prakash Kaur^[23][24][25] who refused to divorce him. Apart from Sholay, the Dharmendra-Hema pair appeared together in films like Seeta Aur Geeta, Dreamgirl, Charas and The Burning Train. After her marriage she became the step-mother of Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol, both popular actors in Bollywood. She has two daughters with Dharmendra, Esha Deol (born 1981) and Ahana Deol (born 1984). Her elder daughter Esha is a well-known actress in Bollywood who married a diamond merchant Bharat Takhtanj, on 29 June 2012:^[26] while her younger daughter Ahana is an aspiring director^[27] who worked as an assistant director to Sanjay Leela Bhansali for his film Guzarish (2010).^[28][29]

Hema Malini's niece is actress Madhoo who had starred in films Phool Aur Kaante (1991), Roja (1992)^[30] and Annayya

Hema Malini is a trained Bharatanatyam artist. Her daughters are well trained in the same dance form; the three have performed together at charity dance concerts.^[40][41] Malini is also trained in Odissi by Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra. Her refulgent smile eased her portrayal of a wide range of characters ranging from the fiery Narasimha to a graceful Rama in Tulasidas's Ramcharitmanas.^[42] In 2007, she performed in Mysore on the eve of Dussera, where she played the roles of Sati, Parvati and Durga.^[43] She had performed at the Khajuraho Dance Festival with her daughters.^[44]

In 2003, she played the role of Goddess Durga in television serial Jai Mata Ki, directed by Puneet Issar and aired on Star Plus.^[45] She then starred in the title roles of twin sisters in the Sahara One serial Kamini Damini. She directed and starred in the television serial Noopur, in which she played the role of a Bharatanatyam dancer.^[31] She owned the editorship of New Woman, a Hindi woman's magazine.^[46][47] In 2000 she was appointed as the first-ever woman chairperson of the National Film Development Corporation for three years.^[17][48] She owns a dance school, Natya Vihar Kalakendra.^[49]

In 2007, she was signed by Kent, a mineral water purifier system, as its brand ambassador.^[50] She is one of the three brand ambassadors of Pothys, a textile showroom in Chennai (the others being Sudha Ragunathan and Trisha Krishnan).^[51]

The first biography of Malini, Diva Unveiled-Hema Malini, was written by Ram Kamal Mukherjee and first published in 2005

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1999	-----------	-----------------
2000	Hey Ram	Ambujam Iyengar
2001	Censor	Radha
2003	Aman Ke Farishtey
2003	Baghban	Pooja Malhotra
2004	Veer-Zaara	Saraswati
2005	Bhagmati		Special Appearance
2006	Ganga	Thakurain Savitri V. Singh
2006	Baabul	Shobhana Kapoor
2007	Laaga Chunari Mein Daag	Dulariya	Special appearance
2007	Gangotri	Thakurain Savitri V. Singh
2010	Sadiyaan	Benezer Pervez Shahbudin
2011	Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap	Sita
2011	Aarakshan	Shakuntala	Special appearance
2011	Tell Me O Kkhuda	Susan D'Mello
2012	Barbareek- Sheesh Danee Mahayoddha	Hidimba