Profile

Occupation: Actress

She established herself as: One of the leading actresses of Hindi cinema in the 1980s

Recognition:

• Bobby (1973) and Saagar (1985) won her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.

• Rudaali (1993) which earned her a National Film Award for Best Actress and a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress. While Krantiveer (1994) garnered her a fourth Filmfare Award.

Interesting facts:

• Dimple Kapadia is the eldest of four kids born to a Gujarati entreprenuer. She had always wanted to be an actress.

• Dimple was launched by Raj Kapoor at age 16, playing the title role in his teen romance Bobby (1973). In that same year, she married Indian actor Rajesh Khanna and retired from acting to take care of her daughters. Reportedly, it was Khanna who "put a ban on her acting career promptly after the marriage," though Kapadia has once noted that "career has always been secondary" to her.

• She is the mother of Twinkle Khanna and Rinke Khanna, both former actresses. Her daughters also became actresses and retired after settling down. Her elder daughter, Twinkle is married to actor Akshay Kumar.

• Bobby was a major mainstream and critical success, following which Kapadia's modern wardrobe and hairstyle in Bobby, consisting of "knotted polka-dotted blouse and earphone hairstyle", made her a youth fashion icon of the times in India. Consequently, polka-dotted dresses were often referred to as Bobby Print.

• Kapadia returned to the film industry in 1984, following her separation from Khanna. Kapadia accredited the reason for her return was because of a personal need to prove to herself her own capabilities.

• Initially recognised as a national sex symbol, Kapadia was keen to avoid being stereotyped and expand her range of acting roles. She, subsequently, took on more serious parts in a range of film genres, from mainstream to parallel cinema, and received acclaim for her performances in such films as Kaash (1987), Drishti (1990), Lekin... (1990), Rudaali (1993), Gardish (1993) and Krantiveer (1994).

• Kapadia continued working infrequently through the 1990s and the 2000s and was noted for her portrayal of the title role in the American production Leela (2002).