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Bollywood Actress Mala Sinha
Mala Sinha is popular Indian actress of the sixties and early seventies. Mala Sinha was born on 11th November 1936 in Nepal. She was born to a Nepali christian family couple and was named Alda. Her friends at school used to tease her calling Dalda (a branded vegetable oil of India), so she changed her name. Her father's name was Albert Sinha. In 1952, she was given a break by Ardhendu Bose, a notable Bengali film director in the film Roshanara (1952). She acted in a couple of Bengali films in Calcutta. She went to Bombay to shoot for a Bengali film, where she met the eminent Bollywood playback singer Geeta Dutt. Impressed by her Geeta introduced her to film director Kidar Sharma, who casted Mala Sinha as the heroine of his film Rangeen Ratein in Bollywood. In 1957, noted Bollywood actor and film director Guru Dutt (the husband of Geeta Dutt) cast Mala in his film Pyaasa. Mala gave a memorable performance as the woman who chooses to marry a rich man (played by character artiste Rehman) rather than a poor unsuccessful poet (played by Guru Dutt himself). The film remains to this day a classic in the history of Indian cinema. The immense success of the film made Mala Sinha, a cynosure of many an eye and what followed was a decade and a half of prolific filmmaking. Soon she found herself opposite to the great Raj Kapoor in Parvarish (1958), Phir Subah Hogi (1958) and Main Nashein Mein Hoon (1959). Based on Fyodor Dostoyevski's Crime And Punishment, the stark Phir Subah Hogi showcases Mala in a performance that's eye-openingly subtle. She will be always known for pensive picturisation of song Woh Subah Kabhi to Aegi in Phir Subha Hogi. The same year she performed in Dev Anand’s Love Marriage (1959) and BR Chopra’s Dhool Ka Phool (1959). At this stage, she went full throttle into films and did many small films with big names and big films with small names. Anpadh, Hariyali aur Raasta and Dil Tera Deewana (1962) are said to be her greatest movies. She featured in B R Chopra's super hit Gumraah (1963). In the intervening period she did 10 films with Biswajeet. With Dharmendra in Aankhen (1968) Mala Sinha captivated the world with her ‘chinky looks’ taking on the role of a Japanese girl. Who can forget the tantalising Mala Sinha singing Gairon pe karam apnon pe sitam, in a role that spelled an apotheosis of quintessential Mala Sinha. But since playing the central role was a major motivating factor for Mala Sinha, she also worked in several films with upcoming stars like Dharmendra (Anpadh), Manoj Kumar (Hariyali), Sanjay Khan (Dillagi) and Amitabh Bachchan (Sanjog), besides doing 10 films with Biswajeet. She is said to have refused a fill-the-bill role in Ram Aur Shyam opposite a stalwart like Dilip Kumar. To Mala's credit, she could shoulder hits like Anpadh, Aasra and Do Kaliyan, on her own slender shoulders. Mala Sinha's marriage was a long-distance affair --- she lived in Mumbai, her husband (C.P.Lohani) in Kathmandu --- but it has lasted 34 years. Even after she married Nepali actor C P Lohani (with whom she had done the Nepalese film, Maiti Ghar) in 1968, she had a huge success playing a Japanese girl in Aankhen. But after Mala gave birth to daughter Pratibha, her career began to wane. Subsequently, she paired with Rajesh Khanna in Maryada and won accolades for her moving performance as Sanjeev Kumar's grey-haired wife in Zindagi. She did do some character roles. But after KhelIn latter years, however, Mala Sinha sacrificed subtlety for melodrama but she had no regrets --- it paid her rich dividends. Mala was also a singer of some repute and used to sing for All India Radio, albeit she was never allowed to sing playback (even for herself) in the movies. Mala Sinha received Filmfare nominations as Best Actress for memorable films like Dhool Ka Phool(1959) directed by Yash Chopra, Bahu Rani (1963), Jahan Ara (1964), and Himalay Ki God Mein (1965). She wasn't even nominated for her mostly essayed roles in strong women-oriented films, such as Hariyali Aur Raasta (1962), Anpadh (1962), Gumrah (1963), and Aankhen (1967). In spite of putting up commendable performances, she has never won the Filmfare award for any of her roles. As she grew older, Mala Sinha gracefully moved on to doing character roles that befitted her age. She currently lives in Bombay with her now-retired husband and daughter Pratibha. Her daughter Pratibha Sinha is an aspiring Bollywood actress. She has also been a heroine in Nepali and Bengali films. In Bengali films she has acted with Uttam Kumar. Her last Bengali film was Kavita which featured Ranjit Mullick and Kamal Hassan. Though Mala evinced as much interest in her daughter Pratibha's career as her father did in her career, she was unable to achieve the same success for her daughter.
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Popular Bollywood Actors
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