Trivia

Name: Asha Parekh

Date of Birth: October 2, 1942

Birth Location: Bangalore, India

Nicknames: Jubilee Girl; Tomboy

• Gujarati
• An only child.
• Was enrolled in classical dance classes at a young age.
  
• Trained in Kathak
• Performed at stage shows
  
• Mother: Muslim
• Father: Hindu
• Famed film director Bimal Roy saw her at one of her concerts and cast her as a child artiste (age: ten) in Baap Beti (1954). The film was a failure.
  
• After a few roles as a child star, she quit to continue her education.
  
• Director Vijay Bhatt fired her from his film Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959), claiming she wasn't star material. Asha was sixteen years-old at the time.
  
• Almost immediately, film producer S. Mukherjee and writer-director Nasir Hussain cast her in Dil Dekhe Dekho (1959) as a heroine alongside one of the reigning stars of the time: Shammi Kapoor.
• The film was a hit and resulted in the beginning of Asha's ever-expanding successful career.
• Shammi Kapoor became her favorite hero in films and one of her dearest friends.
  
• She became Nasir Hussains muse, who would later cast her in six more films.
  
• Teesri Manzil (1966) became the biggest hit of the legendary Shammi/Asha duo.
• Contrary to what other actresses demanded at the time, Asha Parekh easily compensated for non-actors, such as Biswajeet and Joy Mukherjee, while holding her own alongside much bigger names, such as Ashok Kumar.
  
• Directors and audiences knew from early on that she had a genuine acting talent.
• Along with her fame came a few jealous cases by other actresses such as Simi Garewal (who claimed that Asha attempted to cut her part out in Do Badan (1966). Tensions soon calmed down when Simi went on to win the award for Best Supporting Actress) and Aruna Irani (who allegedly made the same claim concerning the hit film Caravan (1971), later to come out as the one who "was played in her own game" when Asha claimed that Aruna had more songs/videos in the film that she, the protagonist of the film, did. The same was true with regards to Laxmi Chhaya in Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971).
  
• She was credited the title of "Jubilee Girl" for her continous string of box-office hits.
• She starred in the very first western film in the history of Hindi Cinema: Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971), alongside the handsome hunk Dharmendra, dashing Vinod Khanna, and the lovely and feisty Laxmi Chhaya.
  
• Won the Best Actress Filmfare Award for Kati Patang (1970).
• Mumtaz, one of the top actresses of the '70s who single-handedly progressed from a supporting actress to a top-notch heroine, claimed that she should have received the award for her performance in Dev Anand's Tere Mere Sapne (1970).
• Although she was hitting the heights of her career, she left to do various dance shows abroad, turning down later-known acclaimed hits, such as G.P. Sippy/Ramesh Sippy's Seeta aur Geeta (1972), who would later make a star out of Hema Malini: my personal favorite actress and the superstar of the '70s. It was said that after Asha turned down the role, Ramesh approached Mumtaz for the role, who later turned it down due to financial reasons (rumor has it that she didn't agree with the amount she were to be paid with).
• During later interviews, Asha said that from the roles that she had turned down due to her absence from the film industry, Seeta aur Geeta was one of the films she would have had the utmost pleasure of completing.
• When she returned, she noticed that new names, such as Hema Malini, Sharmila Tagore, Jaya Bhaduri, Zeenat Aman, etc., were now ruling the world of Hindi film heroines.
• She indulged herself in various charity works, later having a Santa Cruz hospital named after herself (which she "gifted" to her parents for supporting her in all of her endeavors).
  
• She lived with her parents in her beautiful seaside bungalow, whose innovative design was said to be famous to the travellers as it drew tons of attention.
• Her famous performance of dance ballets, such as "Chauladevi", won her acclaim.
• She did many supporting roles, garnering Filmfare nominations for Udhar Ka SindoorMain Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki (1978). (1976) and Raj Khosla's massive hit:
• She permanently gave up acting in 1995.
• She found a new passion directing television serials, such as the highly-acclaimed Kora Kagaz.
• Her acting accomplishments were never forgotten, as she won the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002 (other recepients included '50's and '60's legendary icon Dev Anand).
• After her mother's death, she sold her bungalow and moved to a smaller place, taking care of her ailing father who later passed away, too.
• She never married nor had any relations with her male co-stars.
• She once claimed that the reason could have been due her reputation of being unapproachable, which probably intimidated men.
• In her later years, she said that she did have a longtime boyfriend and was quoted saying "it was nice while it lasted."
• These days, Asha devotes most of her time to humanitarian issues and directing television shows.
• She has a production company named "Akruti."
• Owns a dance company called "Kara Bhavan," which has produced many skilled and talented dancers.
• Today, Asha is ecstatic over the fact that she has fans from all over the globe.
• Was the top heroine from 1959-1973.
• Claimed to love playing pranks on her co-stars.
• Called Shammi Kapoor "chacha," (uncle) while he called her "bhatiji" (niece).
• Her personal favorite films are Do Badan (1966), Chirag (1969), Kati Patang (1970), Pagla Kahin Ka (1970) and Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki (1978).
• Her favorite song is 'Jayiye Aap Kahaan Jaayenge' from the film Mere Sanam (1965).
• In addition to Nasir Hussain, seven major directors cast Asha more than once due to her immense talent, beauty, and professionalism: Pramod Chakravorthy, Vijay Anand, Raj Khosla, Raghunath Jhalani, Mohan Segal, Shakti Samanta, and J.P. Dutta.
• From 1998 to 2001, Asha was the first woman in history to be appointed as the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification ("film censor board") for which she received no salary but plenty of controversy, because she requested that many films be censored.
• She was the president of the Cine Artistes' Association from 1994-2000, and later said that it was time consuming, difficult, and ultimately a "thankless job."
• She is the treasurer of the Cine Artists' Welfare Association Trust(CINTA), which is a home for many film and television artistes fallen on bad days.
• Was recognized as the first Gujarati to become a superstar in Hindi films, and at the height of her fame, she paid tribute to her Gujarati heritage by starring in her first Gujarati film, Akhand Saubhagyarati (1963), which became a big hit. Coincidentally, the title "Akhand Saubhagyarati" would be used for a Gujarati television serial that Asha produced in 2005.
• Asha claims that she starred in a "very sweet film" with Shashi Kapoor titled Sweetheart,(1970) directed by Suraj Prakash and written by Brij Katyal, but it was never released. (She also appeared in another unreleased film Jaane Janna in the 1980s, where she had a supporting role.)
• She claims to be a bad cook and doesn't like salads because they remind her of diets.
• She said that although it is difficult to be a woman director in the television industry, she has no problem commanding respect from everyone on the set when she is shooting television serials.
• When Asha was shooting for films, she would always carry her food from home. Her heroes Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, and Rajesh Khanna looked forward to eating her fried fish and Goan fish curry.
• In 2006, Asha said that she and the other 1960's stars were living lives of self-imposed seclusion and solitude. To remedy the situation, she, Sadhana, Nanda, Waheeda Rehman, Shammi, and Vyjayanthimala meet regularly at each other's homes to chat, catch up with old times, have lunch, or watch a movie. Asha has urged other retired performers to do the same before it's too late as nothing is more therapeutic in life than companionship.
• She received the 7th International Indian Film Academy Award for outstanding achievement in Indian cinema on June 16, 2006 in Dubai. She was chosen unanimously by the advisory board for her status as an industry icon, and for her career as actress, producer, director, and also having been the first female chairperson of the Indian film censor board.
• She received two Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2007: One from the Fifth Annual Pune International Film Festival in India, and the other from the Ninth Annual Bollywood Awards in New York, USA.