Asha Parekh

In the early 1950s, James Burke shot actresses such as Begum Para and Madhubala for Life magazine that revealed to the world the magic of Hindi film stars. A decade later when Burke returned to Bombay, he found the perfect subject in Asha Parekh. 

Asha Parekh started her career as a child artist under the screen name Baby Asha Parekh. An accomplished dancer, Asha Parekh trained under Pandit Bansilal Bharati and it was at a stage function that she caught the eye of filmmaker Bimal Roy.

Bimal Roy cast a ten-year-old Asha Parekh in his film Maa (1952) and then repeated her in Baap Beti (1954).

Beautiful Cover Booklet from Caravan (1971)

At 16, Asha Parekh was all set to make her debut as a leading lady in Vijay Bhatt's Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959) but she lost out to Ameeta.

In under a week, Asha Parekh was cast by producer Sashadhar Mukherjee in Dil Deke Dekho (1959). The film also marked second collaboration between writer-director Nasir Hussain and actor Shammi Kapoor. It also made Asha Parekh an overnight sensation.

Known as a glamour girl, who could also dance like a goddess, Asha Parekh excelled at playing strong and well-etched women that had a mind of her own.

Asha Parekh was also a style icon who redefined the fashion trends of the 1960s in India.

Asha Parekh also featured in films made in Gujarati, her mother tongue, and also acted opposite Dharmendra and Dara Singh in Punjabi films such as Kankan De Ohle (1971) and Lambhardarni (1976) respectively.

In the 1980s, Asha Parekh's larger-than-life aura was still intact but her career somewhere echoed the iconic line from Billy Wilder's film, Sunset Boulevard (1950) – "it's the pictures that got small."

Today, Asha Parekh concentrates on her dance academy, Kara Bhavan, and the Asha Parekh Hospital in Santa Cruz, Mumbai, was named in her honour because of her many humanitarian contributions.