Most Popular Indian actresses part 1

Now from today, 100rupees.com is no more on internet. I have set permanent redirection of 100rupees to my blog abhisays.com. Now I am concentrating only on my blog. Since 100rupees.com was related to movies and entertainment so I will try to publish some articles on abhisays related to movies and glamor world. In this regard, I have started a series on Indian actresses. This article is first part of a series of articles on Indian actresses. We live in a male dominated society. So Indian film industry is not its exception. Even in Hindi movies, actresses get less footage, less challenging roles and less money as compared to the co-actors but there are some female stars who have made their position and status in Hindi cinema which is comparable to their contemporary actors. This series is dedicated to those Indian actresses. I have divided the whole series into 7 parts which will cover all the popular Indian actresses right from 1950 to 2008. Writing on such a vast topic is not an easy task, thus this series will take a period of around 1 month to complete. Bollywood is heart of Indian cinema. Every year it produces hundreds of quality Hindi movies. After Hollywood, it is the largest film producer in the world. So it is very difficult to keep the track of all the Bollywood actresses but I have tried my level best to select some actresses from the huge list. So let’s start the journey and cover the period of 1950-1960. This period is known as the golden era of Indian Cinema. Movies like Pyaasa, CID, Kagaz ke Phool, Awara, Mera Naam Joker, Mother India, Shree 420, Do Beegha Zamin marked the beginning of modern Cinema in India. The top ten most beautiful Indian actresses in this period are —

1. Nargis — Nargis was the first most popular Indian actress. She is also considered as the greatest Indian actress of Indian Cinema. In 1949, she showed her talent with movies like Andaaz and Barsaat. After these films, she became super-star and with Raj Kapoor, formed one of the most successful and romantic pairs of India film industry. Her song Pyar Hua Ikrar Hua in “Shree 420” with Raj Kapoor under one umbrella in heavy rain became the synonym of love and romance. The pair gave us films like Awaara, Aan, Shree 420, Chori Chori, Jagte Raho etc. In 1957, Mother India was released. It nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The film was a huge success. Nargis played the central character “Radha”. It was a story of a Indian woman. It was a performance of a lifetime. Then she got married with Sunit Dutt and left movies. She died in 1981 due to blood cancer.
2. Madhubala — Madbhubala was Marlyn Monoroe of Indian Cinema. She is also considered most beautiful Hindi Film heroine ever. She started her filmy career as lead actress, with Kedar Sharma’s Neel Kamal in 1947. Here she was opposite to Raj Kapoor. This movie was a big failure on the box-office but it gave Madhubala a launch pad for other movies. She became super star with her solid performance in Mahal with Ashok Kumar. It was a suspense thriller. The film became a big hit and the Indian film industry heralded the arrival of a new superstar “Madhubala”. Some of her successful films are Phagun, Howrah Bridge, Kala Pani, Chalti ka Naam Gaadi and Mughal-e-Azam. In 1960, she gave her life time performance in the epic mega-budget historical, Mughal-E-Azam. This movie became the crowning glory of her career. 35 years after her death, in 2004 a digitally colorized version of Mughal-e-Azam was released and Madhubala became hot favorite in new generation. Dilip Kumar once said about Madhubala.
   

   “Had she lived, and had she selected her films with more care, she would have been far superior to her contemporaries. Apart from being very versatile and an excellent artiste, she had a warm and cheerful nature. God had gifted her with so many things…”

3. Nutan — Nutan is considered as India’s most sensitive and attractive actress. She performed almost every role with a certain moral superiority and grace.She was one of the top actresses of her time. He made a record by winning 5 Film-fare awards for best actress, the highest number of best actress award won by any Indian actress. In 1951 she reached her first peak with her first hits, Hum Log and Nagina, along with being crowned the first ever Miss India. For her super-hit film Seema, she won a Film-fare Award for the first time. She followed her success with a romantic comedy, Paying Guest, in which she co-starred with Dev Anand. In 1959 she starred in two hit films, Anari and Bimal Roy’s Sujata. Her other memorable films are Chhalia, Bandini, Saraswatichandra, Devi and Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki.
4. Meena Kumari — She is known as the ultimate tragedy queen of Hindi films. In almost every film, she represented the character of sorrowful lonely woman whose desires have been suppressed by the cruel world. She took performance of female roles to new heights in Hindi films with her classic contributions including Parineeta, Baiju Bawra, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai, Dil Ek Mandir, Kajal, Phool Aur Pathar and Pakeeza. “Baiju Bawra” was her first super-hit film. In this film she performed the character of a woman who sacrificed her desires and dream for the material and spiritual advancement of the man she loves. Then she became second wife of famous film director Kamal Amrohi. Her married life was a big failure. She became tragedy queen in real life also. After giving her all time best performance in Pakeeza, she died in 1972.
5. Waheeda Rehman — Initially, Waheeda Rehman was a Telgu film actress. GuruDutt saw her talent and brought to Bombay to work in his movie, C.I.D. Then she played the central character in masterpiece movie Pyaasa, followed by classics like Kaagaz Ke Phool and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. Her other hit movies were Chowdhavin Ka Chand, Kala Bazaar, Bees Saal Baad, Ram Aur Shyam and Guide. In DevAnand’s Guide she reached the peak of her career where she lived the role of a desperate housewife. She won the Film-fare Best Actress Award for her roles in Guide and Neel Kamal and National Award for Reshma aur Shera.
6. Vyjayanthimala — She was the first South Indian actress who became super star in Bollywood. She was not only a good actress but also a classical dancer. Before coming to Hindi films she acted in a few Tamil movies. She started her career in Hindi films with Bahar in 1951, a hit movie, primarily because of her dance performances. In Devdas she played the role of dancing girl Chandramukhi and won Film-fare award for Best Supporting Actress which she didn’t accept and said her role in that movie was that of the main actress rather than a supporting actress. The big success of Naya Daur made her super star. After Bimal Roy’s Madhumati she reached the peak of stardom. She won Film-fare awards for Best Actress in Sadhna, Ganga Jamuna and Sangam. After her last major hit, Jewel Thief in 1967, she retired from Hindi films.
7. Geeta Bali — She is also one of the most popular, spontaneous and natural actresses of mid 50s. Some of hit films are Bawre Nain with Raj Kapoor, Baazi with Dev Anand, Baaz with Guru Dutt, Jaal, Albela with Bhagwan Dada. She received a Film-fare nomination as Best Actress for Vachan and another nomination as Best Supporting Actress for Kavi. She married to super star Shammi Kapoor.