Padmini Kolhapure

ianfilmhistory.com/celeb-details/shakti-kapoor">Shakti Kapoor and mother to actors Siddhant Kapoor and actress Shraddha Kapoor was also an actress for a while in Bollywood. Her younger sister Tejaswini was also an actress. The Maharashtrian family hailed from Kolhapur their home town from where they have taken up their surname. Padmini Kolhapure is a neice to the legendary singers Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle through her father who is a cousin to Dinanath Mangeshkar and a cousin to the Mangeshkar sisters. Padmini’s mother is a Konkani speaking Saraswat Brahmin from Mangalore , Karnataka and was formerly working as a ground staff with Air India.

Padmini Kolhapure marked her debut in Hindi Film industry as a child star in Dev Anand’s ‘ Ishq Ishq Ishq’ and Raj Kapoor’s ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ in which she plays the young Zeenat Aman which is one of the most memorable role that led her to an instant success . She once again played the young Zeenat Aman with the film Insaaf Ka Tarazu , wherein she played the rape victim that led to her success but the role was a controversial one . She earned the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for her performance. From then on she graduated from a child artist to the main lead actress and signed her first film as an adult for Nasir Hussain’s ‘ Zamaane Ko Dikhana Hai’ opposite Rishi Kapoor. The film however flopped but she once again collaborated with the Kapoors with Raj Kapoor’s film ‘ Prem Rog’ in 1982. The film earned her a Filmfare Best Actress Award as the child widow she has acted beyond par excellence. Her role as a child artist was much appreciated by the audience, media and the film makers and this led to her doing more films such as ‘ Dream Girl’ in 1978, ‘Zindagi’ in 1976, Saajan Bina Suhagan in 1978 and Gehrayee in 1980 followed by Ahista Ahista for which she won the Special acting Award. Since she was getting popular and landing herself with more roles and more work as an actress in the film industry her mother quit her airlines job to be a full time escort for Padmini Kolhapure at her various shooting. Padmini Kolhapure is known for her meticulousness and and professionalism. She had more box office hits such as Vidhaata ,in 1982, Souten in 1983 with Rajesh Khanna and Tina Munim ,and a super hit film Pyar Jhukta Nahin in 1985 with Mithun Chakraborty and the couple paired together for many more films . Kolhapure was a much established star when she did a film with the then new comer Anil Kapoor for the film ‘ Woh 7 Din’ in 1983. The film was a super hit again and helped Anil Kapoor cement his position in the industry . She did a few more films like Pyar Kiya Hai Pyar Karenge, Pyar Ke Kabil, Bolo Raam, Karmayogi and Mai and during this time she had got married and decided to quit the film industry and settled down to a family and raise her son. After her son grew up she decided to once again come back to the film Industry and started with the Marathi films . Manthan: Ek Amrut Pyala and Chimani Pakhare were a huge success and she earned her Screen Award as the Best Marathi Actress . In 2006 she appeared in the horror film Eight shani and in 2011 she made her foray into the Malayalam films with V.K. Prakash’s Karmayogi. Kolhapure, besides the popular film Souten with Kaka ( Rajesh Khanna), had a popular on-screen chemistry with the then Superstar. Some of their hit films were Naya Kadam in 1984, Insaaf Main Karoonga in 1985, Bewafai in the same year followed by Thodisi Bewafaii in 1980 wherein she plays his son’s girlfriend. In the small screen she was considered for the role of Tulsi Virani in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi after Smriti Irani had joined politics and was leaving the project but later the role was continued to be played by Gautami Kapoor. Padmini Kolhapure appeared in the Mere Bachpan with Helen in 2008 and did some stage shows with her brother in law Shakti Kapoor. Her last film was with Rajkumar Santoshi in the film ‘ Phata Poster Nikla Hero’ .