Actor-politician Hema Malini turned 71 on Wednesday (October 16). The actor, whom the millennials can recall just as a dancer and a BJP politician official, was before the highest-paid female superstar on Bollywood. The period was the 1970s and Hema was diva.
Born in 1948 to a Tamil-speaking Iyengar family, Hema did her early education in Chennai. Her dad was later posted in Delhi, where she went to class at the Delhi Tamil Education Association Senior School (DTEA) on Mandir Marg. After Class 11, she quit to begin her acting vocation. Hema made her debut as a supporting actor in the Tamil film, Idhu Sathiyam (1962) yet neglected to make an imprint.
At that point, in 1968, he made her Hindi film debut in Raj Kapoor's Sapno Ka Saudagar. It was with this film that the sobriquet 'Dream Girl' came to be associated with her as it was coined for her during the film's promotion. Initially intended to be finished by Vyajayanthimala, Hema stepped in when the veteran on-screen character retreated. Her notable excellence, solid character and dancing skills quickly got her took note.
Hema would make her mark next in Dev Anand's Johnny Mera Naam (1970). From that point onward, there was no halting Hema. She proceeded to star in various hit films – Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), Andaz (1971), Sholay (1975), Trishul (1978), Meera (1979), Naseeb (1981) and Satte Pe Satta (1982) to give some examples.
Hema would rise as the highest-paid female actor of her times (1976 – 1980). She additionally among the actors who kept on working after marriage, much like Sharmila Tagore and Rakhee. Her personal life was constant fodder for the gossip mills, given her affair with the much-married Dharmendra, her almost-married-to-Jeetendra stories in the tabloids and late actor Sanjeev Kumar's one-sided love for Hema. Indeed, her union with Dharmendra in 1980 itself was somewhat controversial. Accounts of her stressed association with Dharmendra's children – Sunny and Bobby – too are incredible.
In later years, her life and commitment for dance stood out as truly newsworthy, frequently doing shows in the company of her daughters, actor Esha Deol and younger daughter Ahana. Their weddings also were open undertakings. Recently, as the sitting Member of Parliament from Mathura, she is continually in news.
