Reading Time: 5 minutes
Three famous Bollywood actors, Ajay Devgan, Parveen Babi, and Jeetendra have their birthdays in the first week of April. Smriti, a movie buff, profiles them, in the new column, Bollywood Birthdays. This column shall appear intermittently, as and when required, following the birthdays of the actors. This is the first of the three-part birthday bonanza, in April, from the silver screen. Watch this space keenly, exclusively in Different Truths.
We, at Different Truths, wish Happy Birthday to three renowned Bollywood actors, past and present. Along with the author, Smriti, we welcome the large family of DTians in extending birthday wishes to the actors, Ajay Devgan, Praveen Babi and Jeetendra. Please visit the Different Truths page on FB and post your personal birthday wishes to the actors. Kindly Like, Follow and Wish the celebrities on the link:https://www.facebook.com/differenttruths/. Watch out for the Bollywood Birthday Templates, which would be posted a day before their respective birthdays.
Ajay Devgan: Girls Swoon over the Versatile Actor
Born as Vishal Veeru Devgan on 2nd April, 1969, this tall lanky dark boy with droopy eyes, took the silver screen with a storm with his debut film, Phool Aur Kante. His introductory scene in the film, where he performs a split while balancing between two motorcycles had girls swooning over him. We know him by the name of Ajay Devgan. Since his debut, in 1991, this unconventionally handsome actor has come a long way. From getting Filmfare Award for his debut film he went on to win two National Awards for his films Zakhm and Shaheed Bhagat Singh.
He has many hit films to his credits, some pure Hindi masala films, some real serious cinema like Omkara, which won him critical acclaim. His pairing with director Rohit Shetty has given birth to a series of comedy films under the title of Golmaal and all films of the series have been blockbusters. He has shown his versatility in all genres be it action or comedy.
But it’s not just films that have kept him in news. This unconventional looking hero had heroines fighting over him. He had his shares of affairs but finally settled down with Kajol, an actress herself and daughter of the superstar of yesteryears, Tanuja.
At present, he owns a production house under which he directs his films and has got critical as well as public acclaim for films like Shivaay.
With many more good projects under his belt, this actor is going to entertain us for a long time and who is complaining as long as he keeps captivating us with his intense gaze and good comic timing.
Parveen Babi: Bold, Beautiful and Bohemian, an Enigma Forever!
In the year 1970, a gorgeous, tall, long legged girl lit up the silver screen in the movie Charitraheen, opposite a popular cricketer-turned-actor Salim Durrani. This girl, who was noticed for her boldness, beauty and bohemian lifestyle was Parveen Babi.
She was born on 4th April, 1949 to a noble family of Junagadh. She was the most impeccable face to have graced Bollywood in the 70s. She had a fairly successful career and gained more heights when she worked in some memorable movies with the then superstar Amitabh Bachchan, in films like Deewar, Amar Akbar Anthony, to name a few. She had her most glorious moment when, in 1976, the Times magazine published her photo on their cover page depicting her as the changing face of Bollywood and Bollywood actress.
At the peak of her career, she met Mahesh Bhatt, fell in love with him and started living with him. Sadly this relationship lasted too short. In just two years into the relationship, Parveen Babi started showing signs of deterioration in her mental health. After a fallout in this relationship, she suddenly disappeared from the public eye and reportedly shifted to the United States. She resurfaced after a gap of 10 long years with ponds of flesh on her slim sexy body with more hallucinations enslaving her mind. She also filed a petition charging several dignitaries for attempting to kill her, which, as expected, was dismissed by the court.
Mahesh Bhatt, in the meantime, made many films based on his relationship with Parveen Babi. Some like Arth did some justice to her. It was a semi-autobiographical film about Mahesh’s relationship with her. But the filmWoh Lamhe was a very poor portrayal of her, though Mahesh defended himself that he was trying to capture the emotional reflections of the time they had spent together. Sadly, Mahesh always depicted her as someone who was perpetually depressed and in suicidal state, whereas he portrayed himself like a knight in shining armour, who gives up everything to care for the star.
It’s really saddening that a person, who could so easily light up the screen with her magnetic charm was found dead, all alone, in her flat, in 2005, with the mystery surrounding her demise. She remained an enigma forever, in life and in death!
Jeetendra or Jumping Jack made a Style Statement in Bollywood
He is the “Jumping Jack” of Bollywood. Living in a chawl, with a family, who dealt in imitation jewellery, Ravi Kapoor aka Jeetendra debuted in Hindi film industry with Geet Gaya Pathron Ne. He did a few films, but his presence was felt only after the movie Farz, which was his first hit movie. He gave many hits after this, taking acting tips from his childhood friend Rajesh Khanna and also acting in some films with him.
His career reached new heights when he starred in big budget films produced by South Indian production houses and mostly paired with Sridevi and Jayaprada. His white tee-shirts and white shoes became his trademark and his frenzied dance moves earned him the title of Jumping Jack.
Jeetendra is not only remembered just for his dancing and white shoes but also for a string of affairs he has had, the most prominent one was with Hema Malini. This affair reached such an extent that the duo decided to marry despite the fact that for this Jeetendra had to ditch his girlfriend of a long time, Shobha. But the intervention of Dharmendra, who was madly in love with Hema Malini stopped the marriage and Jeetendra finally married Shobha and had two children from her.
Right now he is leading a retired life and enjoying the success of his daughter, Ekta Kapoor, in the T.V. industry and his son, Tushar Kapoor’s in the Hindi movies. Born on April 7, 1942, the veteran actor turns 75 later this week.
©Smriti Maheshwari
Photo from the internet.
#Bollywood #BollywoodBirthdays #HerosAndHeroines #ParveenBabi #Jeetendra #AjayDevgan #DifferentTruths
