Anjum Bin Anam –
The 1980s were kind of Bollywood’s slow transition period to western fashion trends for actresses, but still, traditionalism was strong. Basically, this decade was a one-queen show period because Bollywood goddess Sridevi reigned in this period alone, other contemporaries were excellent, yet their position was far away from hers.
Her real name is Shree Amma Yanger Ayyappan. She was the Bollywood Queen of the ’80s. Her pairings with Sunny Deol, Jeetendra, Anil Kapoor, and Rishi Kapoor were admirable. She started as a child actress. She was the only actress who has had a successful long-lasting career in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam cinema simultaneously. She was the pioneer of the female protagonist trend in Bollywood. She made her Hindi film debut with the movie Himmatwala. After that, she starred in successful movies like Mr. India, Chaalbaz, Nigahein, Nagina, Saltanat, and Chandni. Her dance moves in Main Teri Dushman, Kate Nahin Katte, and Hawa Hawai are still old gold masterpieces. She is the mother of actresses Jhanvi and Khushi Kapoor. Till her death in 2018, she was married to director Boney Kapoor. Sridevi’s lifespan was not that big, but yes her career was bigger and more successful than any other actress in the Indian film industry.
Her real name is Lalitha Rani. She made her debut with the movie Sargam. She also worked in notable movies like Sarabi, Sanjog, and Aaj ka Arjun. She also acted in a movie with Bangladeshi film actor Alamgir, their song Aguner Din is still very popular. It was told that she was a tough competitor to actress Sridevi in the ’80s. In the beginning, they were like sisters, because both were from South India, but later they turned into rivals. Even Sridevi regarded her as “Akka” in the early periods, which means elder sister in the Tamil language. It was true that she was the second most prominent actress of the ’80s but she ended up behind Sridevi, notably by a wide margin. She left the movie Nagina to do another movie, which established Sridevi as a superstar and gave her career a new height.
Her real name is Shashikala Sheshadri. She made her debut with the movie Painter Babu. She also worked in notable movies like Hero, Jurm, and Damini. Her pairing with actor Jackie Shroff was admirable. To some critics, her beauty and potentials both were underexplored, some blamed she did not take her career that seriously, otherwise she could have reached the level of actresses Jaya Prada and Sridevi. She was just satisfied with what she had in her career, and never tried to go that big. She was the only actress of her time who was fluent in all four notable dance forms Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathak, and Odissi of India.
She made her debut with the movie Betaab and worked in notable movies like Mard, Naam, and Aaina. She is the mother of actress Sara Ali Khan. A lot of directors blamed Amrita for ending her successful career so early by getting married to a newcomer actor Saif Ali Khan. After the marriage, Saif Ali Khan’s career took off well but her career shattered permanently.
She made her debut with the movie Jamane Ko Dikhana Hai and worked in notable movies like Prem Rog, Souten, and Pyar Jhukta Nahin. She is the maternal aunt of actress Shraddha Kapoor. Padmini was a lot different than the other contemporary actresses. She never accepted any western fashions in her looks, and always tried to stay more traditional by image. A lot of directors insisted on her trying bold western styles, but she denied it each time which caused her to lose a lot of big-budget films. As a result, she was out of opportunity at the beginning of the ’90s because at that time western fashions were getting more common in Bollywood films.
She made her debut with the movie Ek Duje Ke Liye and worked in notable movies like Farz Aur Kanoon, Tawaif, and Hukumat. Her pairing with actor Kamal Hassan was admirable. Rati got valued a lot less than she deserved. Her acting skills were tremendous but for the huge popularity of her other contemporaries, like Sridevi and Jaya Prada, she did not get that much to shine. However, her career was not bad either, she had several good successful movies.
She made her debut with the movie Trisul and worked in notable movies like Noorie, Naam, and Yeh Vaada Raha. Poonam debuted in the same year as actresses Sridevi and Jaya Prada, but she took a break after her debut movie. Poonam was always praised for her critically praised movies, and she was quite choosy about her films.
She made her debut with the movie Des Pardes and worked in notable movies like Karz, Rocky, and Adhikar. She is the wife of Industrialist Anil Ambani. She entered Bollywood with her cute aura and bold fashion sense. She aged a lot more slowly than her other contemporaries but marrying early kind of caused a full stop to her career.
Her real name is Yasmeen Joseph and she is half-Anglo by her origin. She made her debut with the movie Ram Teri Ganga Maili and worked in notable movies like Jeeva, Loha, and Taqdeer Ka Tamasha. Mandakini got hugely popular with a few movies only but later vanished. There was a rumor about her having affair with gangster Dawood Ibrahim, but she never admitted it.
She made her debut with the movie Jawani and worked in notable movies like Ilzaam, Aag hi Aag, and Ghar Ka Chirag. She was a lot younger by age than the other contemporary actresses. She is half Iranian by origin, and for that, she was considered by some directors a “Persian Beauty”. Her career had ups and downs, and she mostly represented a modern rich uptown girl in her movies because of her decent looks.
She made her debut with the movie Prem Geet and worked in notable movies like Ghulami, Shazish, and Shiv Shakti. Anita appeared in a lot of regional movies mostly Punjabi. Her continuing in other regional film industry kind of harmed her Bollywood career, she could have ended up better, but she chose to work under regional diversity. Through her interviews, she claimed to be happy with her diverse career.
She made her debut with the movie Naseeb Apna Apna and worked in notable movies like Love 86, Woh Phir Ayegi, and Begunaah. She is the elder sister of actress Tabu and niece of actress Shabana Azmi. Farha’s mother was against her entering the film industry, but she had her aunt’s support. Her mother insisted on keeping a nickname than using her actual name, but bold and adamant Farha chose to continue with the real one.
She made her debut with the movie Nikah and worked in notable movies like Kasam Paida Karne Walon Ki, Salma, and Pati Patni Aur Tawaif. She bid adieu to the film industry quite early. Directors expressed that she was popular enough to sustain long like the other contemporary actresses, but she chose to lead a normal life after leaving her Bollywood career. She is a Pakistani by birth but later got Indian overseas citizenship.