Hema Malini celebrates her 71st birthday. She is called the ‘dream girl’ of Bollywood, Hema is one of the most successful actresses of her time.
In most of her films, she starred opposite her husband Dharmendra and with Rajesh Khanna and Dev Anand. Malini was initially promoted as the “Dream Girl”, and in 1977 starred in a film of the same name. She has played both comic and dramatic roles, as well as being a dancer.
In 2013, she received the NTR National Award from the Government of Andhra Pradesh for her contribution to Indian cinema.
As she turns a year older, here’s looking at lesser-known facts about dream girl Hema Malini:
- Hema Malini made her on-screen debut with not a Hindi but a Tamil film titled ‘Ithu Sathiyam’!
- She was one of the highest-paid and most successful actresses of her time
- Hema is the only actress who has romanced with all the five Kapoor squad- Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, and Rishi Kapoor.
- Dharmendra and Hema Malini converted to Islam as Dharmendra was already married. The couple has an age gap of 13 years.
- A trained Bharatnatyam dancer, Hema runs a dance school named the Natya Vihar Kalakendra dance school.
- The Sholay actress won her first Filmfare award for the movie Seeta Aur Geeta in which she played the double role of twins
- Malini has acted with Dharmendra in over 25 films.
