Film Actresses (Encyclopedia of Bollywood)

All humans long to be part of the tinsel world (cinema); and women desire more than men to become actresses before the camera. The presented book is a collection of all famous actresses of Bollywood who gave a new meaning to Indian cinema over the decades.

You can find the names of Devika Rani Roerich, Zubeida, Nimmi and other actresses of the yore who set the ball rolling in Mumbai. You can also find the names of Katrina Kaif, Karishma Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, the current Bollywood beauties, who are carrying forward the old legacy of Indian cinema.

The details of actresses have been collected after painful research. The author, Renu Saran, has done a great job indeed! Our valued readers would be impressed by family details too.

There are nearly 250 pages in this book. The total number of actresses featured in it is 179.

It is a must-read for all Bollywood fans. General readers would also find it an excellent book for entertaining themselves.

Mumbai Film Industry or 'Bollywood' as it is informally called is one of the busiest film industries of the world. Actresses are one of the major pillars of film making and it is the choice of the actresses that sets the tone for the movie and determines its eventual success or failure.

When we look at the Bollywood film industry, there are certain names which we would not like to forget. Bollywood has produced some of the finest actresses that international cinema has ever witnessed. There have been many actors in the Hindi cinema right from the Black and White era to the present who have captured the hearts of millions of movie lovers with their endearing acting styles.

In olden days Devika Rani Roerich, Suraiya and Zubeida enthralled the audience with their acting. Then came the era when actresses like Nirupa Roy, Kamini Kaushal and Fearless Nadia reigned over silver screen. Then came the time when actresses like Waheeda Rahman, Vyjyantimala, Asha Parekh and Nargis ruled over silver screen.

Other actresses also performed up to their capacity.

Time changed, so did the mood of the cinema. Actresses like SharmilaTagore, Mumtaz and Hema Malini entered the scene with their own qualities and mannerism and became superhit heroines in Bollywood. The beauty of Hema Malini fetched the title 'Dream Girl' for her. Time by time actresses from south also made their entry to Bollywood.

In late 80s and early 90s the mood again changed and it was Sridevi, Jayaprada and Madhuri Dixit who dominated the screen.

Lately came the entire new generation of heroines who crowned as beauty queens-Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai, Lara Dutta, Priyanka Chopra and Diya Mirza are the front runners.

Lalita Pawar, Manorama, Shashikala and Bindu etc set new trends as vamps while Uma Devi (Tun Tun), Aruna Irani took comedy to new heights.

Achala Sachdev, Zohra Sehgal, Dina Pathak, Nirupa Roy Kiron Kher and many other ladies performed as character artists. Combined with the other stars they give Bollywood the status of an industry.

In this book, I have tried my best to provide readers the latest, up-to-date and authentic information about most of the known and lesser known actresses of Bollywood. Also in the book are many of the actresses of bygone era the present generation is not familiar with.

This is not just a book but a research work. The sources of information are different-newspapers, magazines, film posters, friends and relatives, persons close to film industry and certainly the Internet.

If learned readers find any type of factual mistakes they are welcome to bring the same to mine or the publisher's notice. The mistakes will get corrected in the upcoming editions of the book.

Lastly, if readers have any information about any of the actress not covered in this book are invited to send the relevant information direct to the publisher. We will try to incorporate them at appropriate time.

So, let's enter into the colourful world of Bollywood actresses.

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