Dimple Kapadia, the famous yesteryear actress who ruled the ‘80s and ‘90s with her charismatic looks, turned 66 years old today. From ‘Bobby’ (1973) to ‘Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo’ (2023), the actress has had an incredibly body of work. Her versatility and depth in acting continues to amaze audiences even after four decades.
But did you know that Dimple Kapadia got married to late superstar Rajesh Khanna while she was only 16? That’s not all. Dimple got married just six months before her big Bollywood debut with ‘Bobby’ in 1973.
At a recent FICCI event, Dimple Kapadia shared that she met Rajesh Khanna for the first time on a flight. She said, “I was born dramatic…He sat next to me. I was looking at him. Rajesh Khanna, I mean come on guys, give me a break. I very chalaak-ly (cleverly) told him, ‘Wahan toh bohot crowd hoga, bheed hogi. Aap mera haath pakdoge na? (There will be too much crowd, will you hold my hand?) He said, ‘Haan bilkul (Yes, of course)’. I replied, ‘Hamesha ke liye?’ (Will you hold my hand forever?) And the rest is history.”
On Dimple Kapadia’s 66th birthday, let’s have a look on the actress’s journey from the start. While struggling with the failure of ‘Mera Naam Joker’ (1970), Raj Kapoor wanted to come up with a new face and at one party, his eyes got stuck on Dimple. Later, he cast her for ‘Bobby’ (1973) with his son late Rishi Kapoor. This is how Kapadia’s Bollywood journey started. But after her marriage and ‘Bobby’s release, she quit acting at the insistence of Rajesh Khanna.
Later when ‘Bobby’ became a super hit and she got separated with Khanna in 1982, Dimple made her grand return to acting with Ramesh Sippy’s ‘Saagar’ (1985). Surprisingly, this was also a blockbuster hit and it helped Dimple Kapadia win her first Filmfare Award for Best Actress.
After that, she did not have to look back and gave back-to-back acclaimed performances in ‘Kaash’ (1987), ‘Drishti’ (1990), ‘Lekin’ (1991) and ‘Rudaali’ (1993). For her superb performance in ‘Rudaali’, Dimple won the National Film Award and Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.
Since the 2000s, the actress worked in prodigious films like ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ (2001), ‘Tum Milo Toh Sahi’ (2010), etc. She left a huge mark with her roles in ‘Being Cyrus’ (2006), ‘Luck By Chance’ (2009), ‘Dabangg’ (2010), ‘Cocktail’ (2012) and ‘Finding Fanny’ (2014).
The most exciting thing is that Dimple Kapadia’s amazing acting talent also impressed Hollywood bigwigs and for that, she got a chance to play a prominent role in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet’ (2020).
Currently Dimple is enjoying the critical acclaim for her latest series, ‘Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo’, which is currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
