Who can ever forget the sparkling eyed Pooja of KABHIE KABHIE? It is these eyes and the haunting beauty that fluttered the hearts of Millions. Rakhee is yet an other Bengali woman who made it big in the tinsel town.

Born on August 15 1947, Rakhee hails from a customary Bengali family, which means unlike most of the Bengali beauties, Rakhee did not have any filmy background. It is never easy to make it big in the film industry if you don't have your roots out there, people say. Rakhee seem to prove everybody wrong by her skillful acting.

Initial years were not at all easy for this beautiful lady. Her talent as an actress was recognized by none other than the producer-actor Sunil Dutt himself. It was he who casted her in his movie RESHMA AUR SHERA, but she never seemed to get much of the attention for this film, yet! She never gave up. She kept on doing small roles in movies like FALAK and LAAL PATHHAR where the presence of already established actress like Hema Malini proved to be costly for Rakhee.

Her marriage to Ajoy Biswas, a producer and journalist, seemed to show a ray of light in her career. But when she was not selected in the screen test for the film, which her own husband was directing, her hope diminished. However it was Rajashri Films that sparked up her hope again in the film called JEEVAN MRITYU casting with the then rage Dharmendra. The movie was a big hit. The song 'JHILMIL SITARON KA AANGAN HOGA...' became a household song. With the good news of starting her career afresh came the bad news, the divorce with her husband Ajoy Biswas. That did not hinder her acting career. She continued to act in most of the hit films-HEERA PANNA, BLACKMAIL SHARMILEE and DAAG. She also went on a winning spree of Film fare awards with the films like SHARMILEE and DAAG.

She seemed to work with all the heartthrobs of her time, including Dev Anand, Shashi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna and Dharmendra. In later years she went on to act with Vinod Khanna, Vinod Mehra. But she was best paired with none other that Big B himself.

When she was in the peak of her career she re-married the Filmmaker Gulzar, but unfortunately even this marriage didn't seem to work. She didn't get to do any of his films, but she certainly got all the respect from the people of the industry. They separated amicably without a divorce.

Around this time she made a comeback with films like LAAWARIS, TAPASYA, KAALA PATTHAR, KABHIE KABHIE, TRISHUL and MUQQADAR KA SIKANDER, the films that went on to celebrate their Silver Jubilee.

Unlike the other actresses who refused to do a mother's role in the later years of their career, Rakhee never seem to mind doing that. For her it is only a part of her career and that does not seem to bother her much. Infact Rakhee, who was paired with Amitabh Bachchan as his heroine in films like BARSAAT KI EK RAAT, TRISHUL, KASME VAADE, KALA PATTHAR and the most remembered KABHIE KABHIE, played his mother in films like SHAKTI.

The spree of being mother on the screen continued in the movies. She has been the mother of almost all the actors since late 90s including Anil Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan, and Shahrukh. The list goes endlessly. RAM LAKHAN, KARAN ARJUN, KHAL NAYAK, BAADSHAH, BORDER, SOLDIER, RUDALI, SHYAM GHANASHYAM and EK RISHTAA. She also got the best supporting actress award for her motherly role in RAM LAKHAN.

The intensity of her acting with all the versatile roles that came her way, she seems to be the most adored actress of yesteryears.

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