Raakhee Gulzar

Short Biography

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, the film went on to become a big hit including its song `Jhilmil sitaron ka aangan hoga...` .She 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 blockbuster films like Heera Panna (1973), Daag (1973), Blackmail (1973) and Tapasya (1976). To her great advantage she formed an extremely popular romantic screen team with the reigning king of Bollywood 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 the film Shakti (1982), when their romantic pairing was still at the height of its popularity. She also played his dead mother in Lawaaris (1981). She also acted in other Bengali films such as Paroma (1984) to great acclaim.Towards the mid 1980s and 1990s she played elderly mother 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.