MY FAVOURITE FEMALE BOLLYWOOD STARS OF THE 70s

I'm doing 2 more posts for 70s Week, and they are about my 10 favourite actors from the Hindi films of the 70s… I’ve chosen 5 men and 5 women whose movies I particularly enjoyed in that decade. My all-time favourite Hindi film actors are all listed on my sidebar and show up all the time in my reviews, so these picks will come as no surprise to previous visitors to this blog. But I thought this would be a good excuse to talk about why exactly I love them so much, and of course to put up lots of gratuitous screencaps of each of them!

So I’ll start with the ladies today, and then my post on the men will be up tomorrow. I think the 70s were the last decade that women got really meaty roles in mainstreamHindi cinema (although to be fair, they got plenty of rubbish ones too). But things really nosedived for women in Bollywood in the largely trashy 80s (especially after 1983), and I think the industry is yet to fully recover from that lull when it comes to female roles. A shame. There were some great heroines in the 70s: sassy, spunky, feisty women with minds and voices of their own, and the power to make their own decisions. I miss them.

I cheated a little on the women for this list – I picked 6 instead of 5 actors, because I found it impossible to leave any of them off my list. They each, in various ways, embodied the spirit of the 70s – style, attitude, vivacity, colour, passion, adventure, glamour. Here we go, in no particular order:

• Jaya Bhaduri

I adore this woman’s acting, and although I’ve raved about her about a gazillion times on this blog, I’ll never stop raving. This award-winning actress had the extraordinary ability to disappear into the characters she played, infusing them with a life of their own that was just magical to see. She was at her best playing strong women facing down their destinies, and I just love her older performances, and for me, she is definitely the most talented Bachchan.

I’m on a quest to see all of Jaya’s movies… so far, from the 70s I’ve seen ‘Guddi’, ‘Bawarchi’, ‘Parichay’, ‘Zanjeer’, ‘Abhimaan’, ‘Shor’, ‘Kora Kagaz’, ‘Mili’, ‘Sholay’ and ‘Chupke Chupke’, and will soon watch ‘Koshish’. I’ve loved her in every one of these films, whether she was playing a street urchin, or an infatuated schoolgirl, or an unhappy wife, or a traumatized widow. She made each role memorable. In view of her prodigious talent, it saddens me that she decided to largely give up films in order to be a full-time mother, although she seems happy with her choice (see Filmi Girl’s interesting 70s Week post on Jaya for an alternate view on this).

Much as I wish Jaya had done more films in her younger days, I think she accomplished an extremely impressive body of work in her youth – absolutely great and impactful performances – and I’m grateful for that.

• Hema Malini

Hema rocked out the 70s with graceful dancing, vibrant onscreen presence and gorgeous smile. Always a classy lady, she exuded a unique confidence, elegance and poise onscreen. She wasn’t the most talented actor ever, but as a competent professional, she went for roles that played to her strengths, and she made the most of them. Apart from more conventional seedhi-saadhi heroine roles, she also took on some really fun and feisty roles in the 70s too, like her roles in ‘Seeta Aur Geeta’, 'Sholay' and ‘Jugnu’.

• Sharmila Tagore

Sharmila is an actor I admire more than I love, although I do love her. I admire her stylish, glamorous looks, her great figure, and her ability to convey just about any emotion in the world with those ultra-expressive eyes and that dimpled smile. Her eyes could exude anything – from femme fatale allure, to baby-sweet cuteness, to everything in between. I admire her distinctive beauty, and I admire her strength, individuality and sophistication, and how she didn’t try to portray a false goody-goody image, either as an actress or a person. Regardless of the outcome, she did things her way, even after marriage (which may, sadly, not be true for some of the other women on my list).

To me, she was above all a style icon of the 70s (the 60s too – in fact, the 60s more than the 70s) – always so great to look at. But she was also a pretty good actress, and I’ve always found her very believable in her roles. In the 70s, from her memorable role opposite Shashi Kapoor in the masala flick ‘Aa Gale Lag Jaa’ to the challenging ‘Mausam’, Sharmila held it together and made her mark.


• Neetu Singh:

How much do I love Neetu??!! She always makes me smile, with her own beautiful smile. She was so gorgeous, sassy, fun, cute and feisty in her 70s roles. I love the fact that she had curves and owned those curves! You never got the feeling that she wasn’t comfortable in her body. I love how she attacked her roles with such gusto and vivacity. I just. plain. LOVE. Neetu.

From the adorable Veera of ‘Deewaar’ to the feisty Neetu of 'Parvarish' to the sweet young doctor of ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’, Neetu was always such fun to watch onscreen. As with Jaya, I do wish she’d kept working after marriage, but I’m grateful to still have her past work to enjoy.

• Zeenat Aman:



More than any of the other actors on my list, I think Zeenat embodied the attitude of 70s cool. She was effortlessly cool, effortlessly stylish, effortlessly funky, effortlessly everything. Sharmila, as I mentioned before, was more about 60s chic, and my other picks didn’t really ‘own’ the unique look and ‘feel’ of the 70s. Zeenat totally did. Totally.

There always seemed to be something rebellious and restless lurking just behind Zeenat’s eyes, and that’s so 70s. No matter how cool, calm and ‘together’ she looked outwardly, you could sense a little inner turmoil, and that made her perfect for her roles in films like the hippie drama ‘Hare Raama Hare Krishna’ and of course, the iconic ‘Don’. I just loved her as Roma in ‘Don’, with her million-and-one hairdos, fabulous wardrobe, and great attitude. Just loved her. Plus (obviously) she was sexy and gorgeous (as most famously seen in 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram', a film in which I do think Mr. Raj Kapoor deployed Zeenat's potent sexiness in a very negative way). Anyway, however you look at it, 70s Zeenat just rocked.

• Mumtaz

I love Mumtaz – she was a magnificent dancer, a lushly stunning woman, and brought such irrepressible spirit and warmth to her roles. And as Memsaab has noted, she had great chemistry with just about any leading man, from Rajesh Khanna to Dharmendra. She was great in her 70s films, especially the ones she did opposite Rajesh Khanna in the early 70s.

Shabana Azmi almost made this list – she did some great masala films in the 70s, like the fun ‘Fakira’, ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ and of course, ‘Parvarish’. She also made great art films like ‘Ankur’ and ‘Junoon’. But I would much rather rave about her powerful and iconic performances in the 1980s, which really established her as an excellent actor.

So that’s it for the female actors (as, incidentally, Shabana Azmi would call them – she dislikes the word ‘actress’) I loved in the 70s. Who are your favourites? Will be back to talk about the guys tomorrow….

POLL RESULTS: Big B's Leading Ladies

So technology is great – we all know that. But sometimes it turns around and gives you a sharp bite in the behind. Like yesterday, when after painstakingly selecting, cropping, resizing and labelling some of the many pictures from my trip to India, with the intention of sharing the said photographs with my friends (yourselves included), my computer did this weird random thingy where it speedily deleted all the pictures I had spent hours working on, leaving nary a trace of them anywhere – and also leaving me with my heart thumping madly and my head spinning with the sheer horror of the moment. Oh well – like the phoenix I shall rise again and do the selection of photos all over – but it will take a while. First I must get over the trauma, and then I must find the time… hopefully I will find it over the coming weekend…

So, instead of posting pictures and commentary from my trip (which I was really looking forward to doing), today I will be doing a long-overdue post on the final results of my first ever poll. The really cool thing is that exactly 100 votes had come in just when I decided it was time to close the poll. Again, many thanks to all of you for voting!

Now, to set the scene, here are some pictures of Mr. Bachchan:

To recap, the question was which of 10 listed female actors had shared the best onscreen chemistry with the Shahenshah of Bollywood (by the way, very belated but sincere 65th birthday wishes from myself to the screen icon). And this is how you voted:

REKHA: The beautiful star of the original ‘Umrao Jaan’ is our winner – Rekha captured a whopping 53 votes. She acted opposite the big B in movies like ‘Silsila’, ‘Mr. Natwarlal’, and ‘Muqaddar ka Sikandar’. I’ve noted before that I don’t really get why the Bachchan/Rekha jodi is so popular, and unfortunately I am no closer to getting it now – perhaps it has something to do with the rumours that swirled around the two actors? I guess watching them together onscreen would be much more interesting if you were also looking for evidence of their real-life relationship at the same time…

JAYA BHADURI: Excuse this diversion, but I just have to say that I love Jaya Bhaduri –she is one of my favourite actors – Indian or otherwise. For some reasons, her performances make such a huge impact on me – I just find her mannerisms, her expressions, her enunciation, just spellbinding and powerful in their simplicity and skill. Recently, at an airport, I was browsing over-priced Hindi movie DVDs and thinking that I couldn’t afford any – and then I came upon one of her films, ‘Kora Kagaz’, and quickly made an exception because I love her so much. And when I heard that ‘Laaga Chunari Mein Daag’ was out at my local cinema, I dropped everything and rushed over to see it because of her – I didn’t like the character she portrayed, but she was true to the character and delivered a good performance. I think she is simply a wonderful actor. (Diversion over.)

I was really rooting for Jaya ji in this poll. I personally think that of all the actors I listed, she shares the best onscreen chemistry with her real-life husband. They are both very good actors, they both have this amazing presence – call it star-quality if you like – that makes them really compelling to watch, and they are both good-looking (in an unconventional, and therefore much more interesting way), but it’s more than that - they just have that ‘x-factor’, that ‘flow’, that makes for a great onscreen couple.

From oldies like ‘Mili, ‘Abhimaan’ (those two are my favourite Amitabh/Jaya movies), ‘Sholay’, ‘Chupke Chupke’ and ‘Zanjeer’ to the more recent ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’; I think these two really vibe well together onscreen – I love the fact that despite the contrast in height, their onscreen interactions never place Jaya at a disadvantage – she always rises to meet up and sometimes even towers over him and grabs your attention more – and I think they are just so… interesting together. They just relate really well onscreen, and you (the viewer) can really ‘feel’ their characters and relate to their story and the way they bounce off each other. So (just in case you missed it amidst all my gushing), I think they are great together onscreen.

Jaya got 24 votes, less than half of the number of votes Rekha received – I really wish she’d done better in this poll but hey, she’s in second place so she did pretty good.

HEMA MALINI: A while ago, I did an update on the poll – and since the time of that update, the gorgeous Hema ji has earned more votes than any of the other listed actors, bumping her up to a prestigious third place, with 20 votes (perilously close to Mrs. Bachchan!) Another diversion: how gorgeous is this woman? I saw her in ‘Laaga Chunari Mein Daag’ and just could not believe how youthful and beautiful she looks. One thing I like about Hema is that I somehow get the impression that she holds all this steely resolve, boldness and ambition within an apparently very demure and mild exterior – I feel she is easy to underestimate (not as an actor, but as a contender – in any forum) and that she relishes and takes advantage of the fact that her soft exterior simply veils a true go-getter. I like.

But back to the topic at hand – Hema has co-starred with the Big B in older films like ‘Do Aur Do Paanch’ and ‘Nastik’, and the couple was ‘re-launched’ in the more recent ‘Baghban’ – I thought they were absolutely adorable together as the yearning, inseparable spouses in that film. I also thought they were great as a cute, affectionate, constantly teasing couple in ‘Veer Zaara’, another recent pairing. As for ‘Baabul’… for me, it was such a bad film that I didn’t notice whether or not they were good together. But yeah, I think Amit ji and Hema ji are really cool together – he’s all humour, intensity and/or gravitas, she’s all warmth, spirit, grace and light; they respond really well to each other and look very handsome together – it usually works really well.

PARVEEN BABI: Hema’s fans knocked Parveen out of the top 3 at the last minute – but only by a hair’s breadth. She’s in fourth position, with 18 votes. Parveen provided many memorable moments alongside Amitabh Bachchan in films like ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’, ‘Deewaar’ and ‘Shaan’. Whether it was comedy or tragedy, these two made a really strong couple and seemed to bring out the best in each other. And speaking of strength, I agree with Carla that there is something strong, vibrant and earthy about Parveen that works quite well with the towering persona that is the Big B.

Next up, in fifth position, it’s a tie between RANI MUKERJI and ZEENAT AMAN, each with 8 votes each. It’s clear from the difference in the number of votes between Parveen and these two; that Rekha, Jaya, Hema and Parveen are the female actors you’ve loved the most opposite Mr. Bachchan. But neither Rani, who did a great job opposite Amit ji in ‘Black’, nor Zeenat, who gave us a fab turn opposite the Big B in ‘Don’, and also co-starred with him in ‘Laawaris’, ‘Pukar’ and a number of other films, have done badly in this poll.

RAKHEE: Rakhee Gulzar has co-starred with Amit ji in movies like ‘Trishul’, ‘Kabhi Kabhie’, ‘Kasme Vaade’ and the more recent ‘Ek Rishtaa’. While I am not the world’s biggest Rakhee fan, I think her performances opposite Mr. Bachchan have been quite memorable, and they make a nice couple. Following closely on the heels of the fabulous Rani and Zeenat, here she is in sixth position, with 7 votes.

And finally… we have a three-way tie for the seventh position – it’s BINDU,

AMRITA SINGH, AND SHARMILA TAGORE,

clinching the bottom spot in this poll with 3 votes each. I think all three of these ladies are fabulous – but not the best onscreen chemistry with Amit ji (although I think Amrita rocked opposite him in ‘Mard’). They do deserve an honourable mention, so thanks for giving them some votes and showing them some love. And thanks again to Carla for giving a nod to TABU (‘Cheeni Kum’) and Beth for her nod to NEETU SINGH (‘Parvarish’).

And so those are the results of the Big B leading-lady poll – currently up is the SRK leading lady-poll, and the results are really interesting so far. I am thrilled to see that although Kajol is definitely (and not at all surprisingly) leading the pack, some of the other ladies that I love to see opposite SRK – Juhi Chawla and Rani Mukerji, for example; are making a strong showing as well. Please keep voting. Thank you!