Waheeda Rehman (Hindi: वहीदा रहमान), born on 14 May 1936 is a famous Indian film actress who appears in Bollywood movies, most notably C.I.D. (1956) and Guru Dutt classics such as Pyaasa (1957), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962).
Early life
One of the most prominent actresses of the golden era, Waheeda Rehman was born into a traditional Muslim family in Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu, India. She and her sister learnt Bharatnatyam at Mumbai's Sri Rajarajeswari Bharata Natya Kala Mandir, where Guru T. K. Mahalingam Pillai, doyen among nattuvanars taught and performed on stage together. Her father, who was a District Commissioner, died while she still in her teens.
Many people believe that Rehman was born in Hyderabad. “It’s a long story,” she says, “When I was in Chennai, I did three to four Tamil and Telugu movies. In the first one, Kaalam Maari Pochu along with Gemini Ganesan a bilingual film which was made in Tamil and Telugu as Rojulu Maraayi, I did only a folk dance number in both Tamil and Telugu versions. However, it went on to become a hit! I was in Hyderabad celebrating its success and Guru Dutt happened to be there. He was on a lookout for new faces and heard that I could speak in Urdu. It is because he spotted me in Hyderabad that people assume I was born there.”
Her dream was to become a doctor but, due to circumstances and illness, she abandoned this goal. Instead helped by her supportive parents, she hit the silver screen with Telugu films Jayasimha (1955), followed by Rojulu Marayi (1955)and Tamil film Kaalam Maari Pochu(1956). It is interesting to know that Waheeda Rehman acted again in her native Telugu movie "Bangaru Kalalu"(Golden dreams) with A.Nageswara Rao in 1974 even after she moved to Hindi field. It is in Vijaya-Suresh combines "Ram aur Shyam"(Remake of Telugu movie "Ramudu Bheemudu)in 1967 that Waheeda acted again under the direction of the topnotch Telugu director Tapi Chanakya who incidentally directed her movies "Rojulu Maaraayi"in Telugu(1955) and Kaalam Maaripochu in Tamil(1956).
Career
Waheeda Rehman was discovered by Guru Dutt in a film and was brought to Bombay (now Mumbai) and cast as a vamp in his production C.I.D. (1956), directed by Raj Khosla. A few years after joining the Hindi film industry, she lost her mother. After the success of C.I.D., Dutt gave her a leading role in Pyaasa (1957). Their next venture together, Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), depicted the story of a successful director's decline after he falls for his leading lady. Dutt's existing marriage and her film successes with other directors caused them to drift apart personally and professionally, although they continued to work together into the 1960s Chaudhvin Ka Chand. She completed Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) under some strain. They broke away from each other after the film's indifferent reception at the Berlin Film Festival in 1963. Soon afterward, Guru Dutt died on 10 October 1964 in Mumbai reportedly from an overdose of sleeping pills and alcohol. Rahman was cast as "Gulabi" in Satyajit Ray's Bengali film Abhijan in 1962.
Later careerHer career continued throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. She won the Filmfare Best Actress Award for her roles in Guide (1965), where she hit the peak of her career and Neel Kamal (1968), but despite excellent offbeat roles in subsequent films, including a National award winning performance in Reshma Aur Shera (1971), some of the films failed at the box office. At around this time, Kamaljit who starred opposite her in Shagun (1964) proposed. She accepted and they were married on 27 April 1974. After her marriage, she shifted to a farmhouse in Bangalore. She bore two children named Sohail and Kashvi. After her appearance in Lamhe (1991) she retired from the film industry for 12 years. On 21 November 2000, her husband died following a prolonged illness. She moved back to her ocean view bungalow in Bandra, Bombay where she lives currently.
In recent years she made a comeback playing elderly mother and grandmother roles in Om Jai Jagadish (2002), Water (2005) and Rang De Basanti (2006) and Delhi 6 (2009) which were all critically acclaimed.
In October 2004, a Waheeda Rehman film retrospective was held at the Seattle Art Museum and the University of Washington where Waheeda participated in spirited panel and audience discussions on her most memorable films — Pyaasa, Teesri Kasam and Guide — although her most successful film is still considered to be Khamoshi, with costar Rajesh Khanna.
Awards
* National Film Award for Best Actress for Reshma Aur Shera in 1971.
* Filmfare Best Actress Award for Guide in 1966
* Filmfare Best Actress Award for Neel Kamal in 1968
* Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards, Best Actress (Hindi) for Teesri Kasam in 1967, and for Sunghursh in 1969.
* Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994
* NTR National Award for 2006.
* Padma Shri in 1972.
* Padma Bhushan in 2011.
Nominations
* Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actress--Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962)
* Filmfare Nomination as Best Actress--Ram Aur Shyam (1967)
* Filmfare Nomination as Best Actress--Khamoshi (1970)
* Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actress--Kabhi Kabhie (1976)
* Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actress--Namkeen (1982)
* Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actress--Lamhe (1991)
Early life
One of the most prominent actresses of the golden era, Waheeda Rehman was born into a traditional Muslim family in Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu, India. She and her sister learnt Bharatnatyam at Mumbai's Sri Rajarajeswari Bharata Natya Kala Mandir, where Guru T. K. Mahalingam Pillai, doyen among nattuvanars taught and performed on stage together. Her father, who was a District Commissioner, died while she still in her teens.
Many people believe that Rehman was born in Hyderabad. “It’s a long story,” she says, “When I was in Chennai, I did three to four Tamil and Telugu movies. In the first one, Kaalam Maari Pochu along with Gemini Ganesan a bilingual film which was made in Tamil and Telugu as Rojulu Maraayi, I did only a folk dance number in both Tamil and Telugu versions. However, it went on to become a hit! I was in Hyderabad celebrating its success and Guru Dutt happened to be there. He was on a lookout for new faces and heard that I could speak in Urdu. It is because he spotted me in Hyderabad that people assume I was born there.”
Her dream was to become a doctor but, due to circumstances and illness, she abandoned this goal. Instead helped by her supportive parents, she hit the silver screen with Telugu films Jayasimha (1955), followed by Rojulu Marayi (1955)and Tamil film Kaalam Maari Pochu(1956). It is interesting to know that Waheeda Rehman acted again in her native Telugu movie "Bangaru Kalalu"(Golden dreams) with A.Nageswara Rao in 1974 even after she moved to Hindi field. It is in Vijaya-Suresh combines "Ram aur Shyam"(Remake of Telugu movie "Ramudu Bheemudu)in 1967 that Waheeda acted again under the direction of the topnotch Telugu director Tapi Chanakya who incidentally directed her movies "Rojulu Maaraayi"in Telugu(1955) and Kaalam Maaripochu in Tamil(1956).
Career
Waheeda Rehman was discovered by Guru Dutt in a film and was brought to Bombay (now Mumbai) and cast as a vamp in his production C.I.D. (1956), directed by Raj Khosla. A few years after joining the Hindi film industry, she lost her mother. After the success of C.I.D., Dutt gave her a leading role in Pyaasa (1957). Their next venture together, Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), depicted the story of a successful director's decline after he falls for his leading lady. Dutt's existing marriage and her film successes with other directors caused them to drift apart personally and professionally, although they continued to work together into the 1960s Chaudhvin Ka Chand. She completed Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) under some strain. They broke away from each other after the film's indifferent reception at the Berlin Film Festival in 1963. Soon afterward, Guru Dutt died on 10 October 1964 in Mumbai reportedly from an overdose of sleeping pills and alcohol. Rahman was cast as "Gulabi" in Satyajit Ray's Bengali film Abhijan in 1962.
Later careerHer career continued throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. She won the Filmfare Best Actress Award for her roles in Guide (1965), where she hit the peak of her career and Neel Kamal (1968), but despite excellent offbeat roles in subsequent films, including a National award winning performance in Reshma Aur Shera (1971), some of the films failed at the box office. At around this time, Kamaljit who starred opposite her in Shagun (1964) proposed. She accepted and they were married on 27 April 1974. After her marriage, she shifted to a farmhouse in Bangalore. She bore two children named Sohail and Kashvi. After her appearance in Lamhe (1991) she retired from the film industry for 12 years. On 21 November 2000, her husband died following a prolonged illness. She moved back to her ocean view bungalow in Bandra, Bombay where she lives currently.
In recent years she made a comeback playing elderly mother and grandmother roles in Om Jai Jagadish (2002), Water (2005) and Rang De Basanti (2006) and Delhi 6 (2009) which were all critically acclaimed.
In October 2004, a Waheeda Rehman film retrospective was held at the Seattle Art Museum and the University of Washington where Waheeda participated in spirited panel and audience discussions on her most memorable films — Pyaasa, Teesri Kasam and Guide — although her most successful film is still considered to be Khamoshi, with costar Rajesh Khanna.
Awards
* National Film Award for Best Actress for Reshma Aur Shera in 1971.
* Filmfare Best Actress Award for Guide in 1966
* Filmfare Best Actress Award for Neel Kamal in 1968
* Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards, Best Actress (Hindi) for Teesri Kasam in 1967, and for Sunghursh in 1969.
* Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994
* NTR National Award for 2006.
* Padma Shri in 1972.
* Padma Bhushan in 2011.
Nominations
* Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actress--Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962)
* Filmfare Nomination as Best Actress--Ram Aur Shyam (1967)
* Filmfare Nomination as Best Actress--Khamoshi (1970)
* Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actress--Kabhi Kabhie (1976)
* Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actress--Namkeen (1982)
* Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actress--Lamhe (1991)
Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehman
