AJAY AMRIT
suva
With so many Bollywood actresses coming and going over the last 50 years I thought we would have a look at some of the leading ladies who have left a lasting impression with all of us over this golden period of cinema.
With so many wonderful artists to choose from I have categorised them into decades and each week we will look at greatest stars from each era starting with the 1970’s.
1970’s The Golden Era of Cinema
The 1970s was certainly a golden age for cinema and boasted probably the most wonderful and definitely most charismatic actresses in the history of cinema. There were plenty of leading ladies to choose from during this era of so many talented performers.
To stay at the front of this talent laden era was no easy feat and some of the most popular actresses at the time were household names across India and the sub continent.
By popular consensus we have a look at the top 5 actresses of the 1970’s at number 5 is
5) Zeenat Aman – She was a former beauty queen turned actress. Having graduated from college in Los Angeles Zeenat bought a western flavour to the film industry with her glamorous looks and fantastic figure. She starred in many hit movies during the 1970’s like “Don” ,”Lawaris”, “Hare Ram Hare Krishna” to name a few, she was tagged a sex symbol at that time who had immense acting skills.
4) Reena Roy – This talented actress appeared in many hit films during this era, she is best known for her excellent acting skills and captivating screen presence. She starred in renowned films like “Jaise Ko Taisa”, “Nagin” and “Amnapan” to name a few opposite the leading actors of her era.
3) Rekha – In any other era Rekha would have swooped top spot as the greatest actress of her era, but in the 1970s the competition was very high indeed. She was not only a brilliant actress but accomplished dancer as well. She starred in so many Block buster hits like “Ghar”, “Muqadar ka Sikandar” and “Silsila” to name a few.
2) Jaya Bachchan- Jaya Bachchan is an immensely talented and professional actress in her own right and not just Mr Amitabh Bachchan’s wife. Actually when the pair first met on the sets of the film “Guddi” in 1971 Jaya was the bigger Star out of the two. Having been a brilliant academic student she went on to study at the Film & Television Institute in India and passed out as a gold medallist. She is recognised as one of the finest actresses in Hindi Cinema and is particularly known for her naturalistic style in both mainstream and artistic cinema. Jaya has starred in many block buster films like “Zanjeer”, “Sholay” etc, but there is one truly amazing film called “Koshish” where she stars opposite Sanjeev Kumar and depicts a deaf mother struggling through poverty and social stigmas. Jaya Bachchan is truly an immensely gifted and consummate professional actress.
1) Hema Malini – Known as the Dream Girl to her millions of fans, this evergreen actress starred in hit film after hit film during the 1970’s. Starring opposite every leading man at the time with legendry names like Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Sanjeev Kumar and the list goes on. She was paired opposite her husband Dharmendra in more than 28 movies, many of them being big hits. Hema was a legend to both men and women during this time and her onscreen presence captivated the audience whenever her films were released. During her career she has acted in over 150 films and in the Golden era of the 1970’s she was the leading female light in the industry along with her fellow artists above. She gave an outstanding performance in “Seeta Aur Geeta” and also starred in the film “Dream Girl” which was named after her. Regardless of every blockbuster performance she gave, Hema will forever be remembered for her flawless performance as the very cheeky and talkative girl named Basanti in maybe the greatest film in Bollywood History “Sholay”
n The writer is a regular contributor to the Fiji Sun’s column every Sunday. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the Fiji Sun
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