Vidya Sinha

Vidya Sinha (born 15 November 1947, Mumbai) is an Indian actress who has acted in Bollywood films, most known for Rajnigandha (1974) and Chhoti Si Baat (1975). She began modelling and acting at the age of 18. Her first movie was Raja Kaka opposite Kiran Kumar. However, fame came to her through a low-budget, alternative cinema break-away hit Rajnigandha, directed by her mentor Basu Chatterjee. The movie, although having none of the trappings of a typical Bollywood blockbuster, was a major box office success. This was followed by many more small-budget art-house films like Choti Si Baat (1975), and later by more mainstream, bigger budget Bollywood productions like Pati Patni Aur Woh (1977). She is known for her pleasant roles in various movies she acted during her active career life. Sinha was born on 15 November 1947 in Mumbai. Her father, Rana Pratap SIngh, was an Indian film producer. She married Venkateshwaran Iyer in 1968, when Vidya was 21, with the blessings of parents. It was after all this, and with her husband's encouragement and support, that Vidya stepped into films after she was offered the part of an ordinary middle-class girl. Her first film, Rajnigandha, released in 1974, was an unexpected runaway hit. It was a low-budget, no-frills film, shot in an urban middle-class milieu; the heroine, Vidya, belonged to exactly this stratum and totally looked the part. After the success of this film, Vidya did roles of the same type in several other films over a period of 12 years. By the mid-1980s, this type of role was no longer feasible in the Hindi film industry and Vidya was unwilling to shed her clothes and do indecent films. She winded down her film work and finally called it a day by 1986. Her daughter, Janhavi, was born in 1989. The next few years were spent in taking care of Janhavi, as well as, her ailing husband. Mr. Iyer died in 1996. With her daughter's encouragement, Vidya gradually returned to acting, working in TV serials like Bahu Rani (2000), Hum Do Hain Na, Bhabhi, Kavyanjali (2004), etc. Viya is currently seen in the hit Zee TV show, Qubool Hai. Her last film appearance was in Salman Khan's Bodyguard.