Asha Parekh (English: Asha Parekh, born October 2, 1942, Mahua, Gujarat) is a famous Indian Hindi film actress, director and producer. She was one of the top actresses of Hindi films from 1959 to 1973. Actress Asha Parekh, who surprised everyone with her acting talent in the 60s, worked with veteran actors like Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Dharmendra, Devanand, Ashok Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Rajesh Khanna in her long film career. Asha Parekh, who has made a name for herself as a serious actress, has also been awarded the biggest honor of Indian cinema, ‘Dada Saheb Award’. Went.
Asha Parekh was born on October 2, 1942 in a middle-class Gujarati family. His father was Hindu and mother Muslim. His mother was a social worker and active in the freedom movement. Asha Parekh’s family environment was very religious. Despite belonging to different religions, his parents were devotees of Sai Baba. Asha ji started learning Indian classical music at a young age.
Since childhood, Asha ji was very fond of dancing. Whenever music was played in the neighboring house, his feet started tapping in the house. Later his mother got him trained by Kathak dancer Mohanlal Pandey. When she grew up, she also gained skill in ‘Bharatanatyam’ from Pandit Gopikrishna and Pandit Birju Maharaj.
Asha Parekh started her film career by working as a child artiste in the film ‘Aasmaan’ (1952). After this film, she started getting recognition as ‘Baby Asha Parekh’. Impressed by Asha Parekh’s dance in a stage programme, director Vimal Roy took Asha Parekh in his film ‘Baap-Beti’ at the age of twelve. This film did not achieve much success. Apart from this, he played the role of child artist in many other films. Asha Parekh left school as soon as she entered the film world.
At the age of sixteen, Asha Parekh decided to enter the film industry again, but Vijay Bhatt, the director of the film ‘Goonj Uthi Shehnai’, ignored Asha’s acting talent and refused to cast her in the film. But the very next day, filmmaker Subodh Mukherjee and writer-director Nasir Hussain selected Asha Parekh to play Shammi Kapoor’s heroine in their upcoming film ‘Dil Deke Dekho’. This film brought Asha Parekh and Nasir Hussain very close to each other. Nasir Hussain also cast her as the heroine in his next six films, ‘Jab Pyaar Kisi Se Hota Hai’, ‘Phir Wahi Dil Laaya Hoon’, ‘Teesri Manzil’, ‘Bahar Ke Sapne’, ‘Pyaar Ka Mausam’ and ‘Caravan’. Kept in the role of.
Asha Parekh, who has become popular as a beautiful and romantic actress, was established as a serious actress by director Raj Khosla in films like ‘Do Badan’, ‘Chirag’, ‘Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki’. In this list, director Shakti Samant further expanded the acting talent of Asha Parekh through ‘Kati Patang’, ‘Pagla Kahin Ka’. Asha ji also acted in Gujarati and Punjabi films.
Asha Parekh’s image started changing after working in banners other than Nasir Hussain. He started being taken seriously. Raj Khosla’s ‘Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki’, ‘Do Badan’ and ‘Chirag’ and Shakti Samant’s ‘Kati Patang’ provided him opportunities to do serious roles and showcase his acting talent. These successes had taken Asha ji to the heights of fame. Asha Parekh worked with famous stars of that era like Shammi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, Manoj Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Dharmendra and Joy Mukherjee. His chemistry with Shammi Kapoor was very strong and the film ‘Teesri Manzil’ set many records. Asha ji’s contemporary actresses Nanda, Mala Sinha, Saira Banu, Sadhna etc. one by one got lost in the darkness of anonymity, but Asha ji remained in the news due to her social service and other works.
After the death of her mother, there was a void in Asha Parekh’s life. After moving from acting to direction in 1995, Asha Parekh did not act in any film. He successfully tried to fill it through social service. He adopted an entire ward of a hospital in Mumbai. He worked to serve all the patients admitted there and helped the needy. He has also fought long battles for the welfare of the workers of the film world. She was the president of ‘Cine Artists Association’ for six years. She is the first woman to become the chairperson of ‘Central Board of Film Certification’, Mumbai.
Yesteryear’s best actress Asha Parekh was honored with the biggest honor of Indian cinema ‘Dada Saheb Phalke Award’ on September 30, 2022. President Draupadi Murmu honored 79-year-old Asha Parekh with this prestigious award at the 68th ‘National Film Awards Ceremony’ held at Vigyan Bhawan. The senior actress said she felt blessed to receive the award a day before her 80th birthday. Last year, actor Rajinikanth was awarded the ‘Dada Saheb Phalke Award’ for 2019.
The members of Dadasaheb Phalke Committee include famous singer Asha Bhosle, actress Hema Malini, actress Poonam Dhillon and singer Udit Narayan Jha. All of them together held a committee meeting and Asha Parekh was selected. Asha Parekh started working in films at the age of 10. He first stepped into Bollywood with renowned film director Vimal Roy’s ‘Maa’. He has worked in more than 95 films.[1]
Asha Parekh received ‘Filmfare Award’ (1970), ‘Padma Shri’ (1992), ‘Life Time Achievement Award’ (2002) for Best Actress for the film ‘Kati Patang’. Apart from this, he was also given ‘International Indian Film Academy Award’ (2006), ‘Living Legend Award’ by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for his excellent performance in Indian films.
Asha Parekh also entered the field of television direction with the Gujarati serial ‘Jyoti’ in 1990. After establishing a production company named ‘Aakriti’, Asha ji produced serials like ‘Kora Kagaz’, ‘Palash Ke Phool’, ‘Baje Payal’. Asha Parekh was the President of the Cine Artists Association from 1994 to 2001 and the first woman chairperson of the ‘Central Censor Board’ from 1998-2001.
Asha ji has not married. She says, “If she had got married, she would not have been able to do even half the work that she has done today.” The friendship of these three friends, Waheeda Rehman, Nanda and Asha, has been famous in the entire film industry. To spread her dance art to the masses, Asha Parekh, like Hema Malini and Vyjayanti Mala, prepared the dance plays ‘Choladevi’ and ‘Anarkali’ and presented her stage shows all over the world. He is proud of the fact that for the first time he gave a dance presentation from India at the Lincoln Theater in America.