ASHA PAREKH THE HIT GIRL

Asha Parekh was to the movies
born. Ever since she was knee-high, she faced the camera as a child artiste,
while performing simultaneously at dance fetes. An alumnus of Bombay’s The J.
B. Petit Girls’ High School, she devoted after-school hours to learning
classical dance from exacting gurus. Given a break as a leading lady by
Filmalaya Studio’s Sashadhar Mukherjee, she debuted opposite Shammi Kapoor in
the romantic entertainer Dil Deke Dekho. Instantaneously, the audience and
the critics agreed: “A star is born.” Followed a concatenation of silver and
golden jubilee hits, which established her as the quintessential Hit Girl.
Possessed of all the requisites of the cinema of the 1960s and the ’70s –
felicity at instinctive acting, intricate dance skills and the ability to
invest conviction into the roles of zestful, glamour-exuding film heroines –
she made an impact, too, with parts demanding gravitas. Apart from films in
Hindi, she has also acted in films in Gujarati, Punjabi and a film in
Kannada. The Mumbai film trade, to date, acknowledges her as one of the
heroines with the highest number of successes. Her innumerable dance ballets
on stage have earned her untold acclaim, at home and overseas. Among her
other facets, she has been involved since decades in running a charitable
hospital. She was Chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification
(1998-2001) and has been associated with the Cine and TV Artistes’
Associations and other organisations dedicated to the welfare of film
industry workers, technicians and actors. She turned producer and director
with several top TRP-rated TV serials like ‘Kora Kagaz’ and ‘Palash ke Phool’
and programmes like ‘Baaje Paayal’. Currently she has chosen to retire from
acting, but adds, “Never say never.” She lives by the famed Juhu shoreline in
Mumbai.