Raakhee

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Raakhee
Born Rakhee Mazumdar
August 15, 1947 (1947-08-15) (age 64)
Ranaghat, Nadia district, West Bengal
Years active 1967–present
Spouse Gulzar

Raakhee (Hindi: राखी, Bengali: রাখি মজুমদার) (born 15 August 1947) is an Indian film actress, who has primarily appeared in Hindi films, as well as several Bengali films. She is popularly known as Raakhee Gulzar after her marriage with lyricist-director Gulzar (Sampooran Singh Kalra). In her career spanning over four decades, Raakhee has won three Filmfare Awards and one National Film Award, among other awards. At the Filmfare, Raakhee has been nominated 16 times (8 for Best Actress and 8 for Best Supporting Actress), which makes her the overall most-nominated performer in the female acting categories.

Contents

[edit] Early life and education

Rakhee was born in Ranaghat, in the Nadia district of West Bengal on early hours of 15 August 1947, it was here that she received her early education in a local girls' school. Her father who had a flourishing shoe business was uprooted from his native village in East Pakistan, modern day Bangladesh, during the partition and thereafter he settled in West Bengal [1][2]

While still a teenager, Raakhee had an arranged marriage to Bengali film director Ajay Biswas, which ended shortly thereafter.

[edit] Career

Raakhee won rave reviews for her first Bengali film Badhu Baran 1967 in Calcutta at the age of 20, after which she was offered the lead role in her first Hindi film, Rajshri Productions Jeevan Mrityu with Dharmendra in 1970. It went on to become a big hit including its song 'Jhilmil sitaron ka aangan hoga...'[3]

She again shot to fame in the 1971 film Sharmilee where she played a double role opposite Shashi Kapoor. Consequently she established herself as a popular and major Hindi heroine acting with the best co-stars and directors, in several blockbusters like Heera Panna (1973), Daag (1973), Blackmail (1973) and Tapasya (1976).

To her great advantage she formed an extremely popular romantic pairing with leading Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan. They went on to star in no less than eight hit films: Kabhie Kabhie (1976), Muqaddar Ka Sikander (1977), Kasme Vaade (1978), Trishul (1978), Kaala Patthar (1979), Jurmana (1979), Barsaat Ki Ek Raat (1981), and Bemisal (1982). With her main focus on good roles rather than star status, Raakhee raised eyebrows when she did not hesitate to play Amithab's elder sister-in-law in Shaan (1980) and even his mother in Shakti (1982), when their romantic pairing was still at the height of its popularity. She also played his dead mother in Lawaaris (1981). She acted in other Bengali films such as Paroma (1984) to great acclaim.

Towards the mid-1980s and 1990s she played elderly mother—usually a bereaved and bitter widow whose husband died at the hands of ruthless villains—or supporting roles in films such as Ram Lakhan (1989), Baazigar (1993), Khalnayak (1993), Karan Arjun (1995), Border (1997), Soldier (1998) and Baadshah (1999).

Her last film was Shubho Mahurat in 2003 for which she won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress, and she has since retired from the film industry.

[edit] Personal life

In her second marriage, she married film director, poet and lyricist, Gulzar. The couple had a daughter, Meghna Gulzar (Bosky), though when their daughter was only one year old, they separated but never divorced. Meghna Gulzar grew up with her father Gulzar and after completing her graduation in films from New York University, went on to become a film director, of films like Filhaal, Just Married and Dus Kahaniyaan,[4] and also authored the biography of her father Gulzar, in 2004.[5]

At one point, Raakhee stayed in her bungalow, Muktangan on Sarojini Road in Khar, Mumbai, later she sold off the property and moved to an apartment two buildings away, though the new high rise is still called by the same name, as she had wished. These days she mostly stays in the Panvel farmhouse on Mumbai outskirts.[6][7]

[edit] Awards and nominations

Won
Nominated

[edit] Filmography

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Lounge: Rakhee Gulzar". Mint (newspaper). August 11, 2007. http://www.livemint.com/2007/08/11005133/Rakhee-Gulzar.html. 
  2. ^ Analysis: I celebrate Independence Day, Not my Birthday: Rakhee Boloji.com, 2007.
  3. ^ "Raakhee Biography". Yahoo! Movies. http://in.movies.yahoo.com/artists/Rakhee-Gulzar/biography-11571.html. 
  4. ^ "Women directors scale Bollywood". BBC News. 21 February 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/entertainment/1832430.stm. 
  5. ^ "On the Shelf". Indian Express. Jan 11, 2004. http://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/38822/. 
  6. ^ "Bipasha to rebuild home to suit her 'energy'". Sify.com. 02 July , 2008. http://sify.com/movies/bollywood/fullstory.php?id=14707044&cid=2359. 
  7. ^ Dasgupta, Priyanka (24 February 2009). "Rakhee-Meghna delight on Gulzar's win". The Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ENTERTAINMENT/Bollywood/News-Interviews/Rakhee-Meghna-delight-on-Gulzars-win-/articleshow/4177596.cms. 
  8. ^ "37th Annual BFJA Awards". BFJA. http://web.archive.org/web/20080422070342/www.bfjaawards.com/legacy/pastwin/197437.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-23. 
  9. ^ 21st National Film Awards

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