Rehana Sultan

Summary

Rehana Sultan (born 19 November 1950[citation needed]) is an Indian actress best known for her debut role in the acclaimed 1970 film Dastak which won her the National Film Award for Best Actress. A graduate of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, she is also known for another bold role in the film Chetna (1970), which got her typecast thus ending her film career, despite its promising start.[1][2][3] She said "The sex in my films was not forced, but part of the narrative. Today, I feel these scenes are used for commercial reasons. All I can say is Babuda was ahead of his times."[4]

Rehana Sultan
Born (1950-11-19) 19 November 1950 (age 73)
Alma materFTII, Pune
OccupationActress
Years active1970–1992
SpouseB. R. Ishara
AwardsNational Award (Best Actress), 1971

Biography edit

Born and raised in Allahabad in a Baháʼí Faith family, she graduated from high school in 1967, and was selected in the same year to study acting at FTII.[5] After she graduated with a sexy role in Vishwanath Ayengar's diploma film Shadi Ki Pehli Salgirah (1967),[6] she got her break in a feature film in Rajinder Singh Bedi's Dastak (1970), making her the first actress from the Institute to land a lead role in the film industry.[7][8] She won the National Film Award for her role in that film. In the same year she also played the lead role in the film Chetna which was shot in 28 days along with the shooting of Dastak. That film was about the rehabilitation of prostitutes, and her role changed the portrayal of sex workers in Hindi cinema.[9]

Her avant-garde roles brought her success but limited her choices in future films. Some of her well known films include Haar Jeet (1972), Prem Parbat (1973) and the political satire Kissa Kursi Ka (1977). Vijay Anand's Hum Rahen Na Rahen (1984) in shich she costarred with Shabana Azmi was her last Hindi film in a lead role. She married writer-director B. R. Ishara, who had directed Chetna. She has also appeared in a Punjabi movie Putt Jattan De (1981) with Shatrughan Sinha.

Filmography edit

Year Film Role Notes
1970 Chetna Seema Bengal Film Journalists' Association Award for Best Actress (Hindi)
Dastak Salma Ahmed National Film Award for Best Actress[10]
1971 Padosi
Man Tera Tan Mera Jyoti
1972 Tanhai
Savera
Man Jaiye Suman
Haar Jeet Kamal
1973 Prem Parbat
Dil Ki Rahen
Bada Kabutar Rita
1974 Albeli
Khote Sikkay Rani / Paro
Ek Ladki Badnaam Si
1975 Yeh Sach Hai
Zindagi Aur Toofan Tara
1976 Sajjo Rani
1977 Agent Vinod Zarina
Ooparwala Jaane
1978 Nawab Sahib
Assignment Bombay
1979 Deen Aur Imaan
Aaj Ki Dhara
1980 Sister
Agent 009
1981 Jwala Daku Rambhabai
1982 Bedard
1983 Putt Jattan De Jagat Singh's wife Punjabi
Bandhan Kuchchey Dhaagon Ka Advocate Thakur
1984 Hum Rahe Na Hum Kalyani Sharma Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress
1985 Aakhri Chaal TV film
1992 Sooraj Mukhi Sandhya
2013 Inkaar[citation needed] Maya's mother

References edit

  1. ^ Rehana Sultan who was a trailblazing 'sexy actress' The Telegraph, 25 November 2005.
  2. ^ Anupama Chopra (28 September 2011). "Why Silk Smitha is Bollywood's favourite bad girl". NDTV Movies. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011.
  3. ^ "Rehana Sultan: The trail-blazing actress Bollywood forgot". BBC News. 20 March 2017.
  4. ^ Dubey, Bharati (6 August 2012). "Rehana Sultan: Bollywood's first 'bold actress' wants to act again". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  5. ^ Down the memory lane with Rehana Sultan[permanent dead link] movies.indiainfo.com, 29 October 2008.
  6. ^ The Sunday Standard, Bombay, India, 10 June 1973.
  7. ^ Charge of the FTII brigade Screen.
  8. ^ "Merits - FTII". Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
  9. ^ Fallen women in Bollywood films Times of India, 26 July 2004.
  10. ^ "The Illustrated Weekly of India". 92. 1971: 57. Retrieved 9 January 2013. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

External links edit