Dimple Kapadia( Born on 8 June 1957) was launched by Raj Kapoor at age 16, playing the title role in his teen romance Bobby (1973). She became a sensation after the release of the film. Bobby established her as a "cult figure" She became the youth fashion icon of India. The mini skirts and polka-dotted dresses she wore were often referred to as "Bobby Print"
Before the release of Bobby, she has already married that too the heartthrob of the nation Rajesh Khanna. She didn't work in any film after the release of Bobby. She made her comeback after 12 years with Ramesh Sippy's Sagar in 1985.
Despite long absences, Dimple Kapadia — who turns 64 today — has built an enviable body of work. In this blog we look into the roles she played in her career span of 48 years.
Bobby(1973)
The film became a trend-setter. It was wildly popular and widely imitated. It introduced to Bollywood the genre of teenage romance with a rich-versus-poor clash as a backdrop. Dimple played Bobby Braganza in this film. She was awarded The Best Heroine Award for this film. She acted with "natural ease and freshness". Rediff.com ranked her performance in Bobby as the fourth-best female debut of all-time in Hindi cinema: "An elfin little girl with big, lovely eyes, nobody quite portrayed innocence as memorably as Dimple in her first outing.
Sagar(1985)
It was a comeback film of Dimple after 12 years. It was a romantic drama film directed by Ramesh Sippy. The film stars Rishi Kapoor, Kamal Haasan, and Dimple Kapadia. She played Mona D'Silva who runs a small restaurant in Goa. She once again awarded The Best Actress for this film.
Kaash (1987)
The film written and directed by Mahesh Bhatt. Dimple Kapadia and Jackie Shroff starred as an estranged couple who, during a relentless legal battle over the custody of their only son, learn that the boy is suffering from brain tumour and reunite to spend the last months of his life as a family Dimple achieves the impossible. Bereft of her glitzy make-up, glamour and filmi mannerisms, she comes alive as never before: beautiful, sensitive and intense.
Lekin (1991)
The film was loosely based on the 1895 short story Kshudhit Pashaan Hungry Stones by Rabindranath Tagore, and directed by Gulzar. It stars Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Amjad Khan, Alok Nath, and Beena Banerjee. Dimple has often cited this role as a personal favorite and the pinnacle of her career and wished she had more screen time in the film. Her performance in it earned her a third Filmfare nomination
Rudali (1993)
The film is set in a small village in Rajasthan, India. It tells the story of a woman named Shanichari, who was abandoned by her mother shortly after her father's death. Bad fortune follows her throughout her life. The title is a reference to a custom in certain areas of Rajasthan where women of a lower caste are hired as professional mourners upon the death of upper-caste males. These women are referred to as a "rudaali" (roo-dah-lee), literally translated as "female weeper" or "weeping woman". Their job is to publicly express the grief of family members who are not permitted to display emotion due to social status. Dimple Kapadia won the National Film Award for Best Actress and the Filmfare Awards Best Performance Critics Award.
Dil Chahta Hai (2001)
Dimple plays a middle-aged, alcoholic interior designer battling loneliness and pining to be with her daughter, she (along with Akshaye Khanna’s Siddharth Sinha) provides the much-needed gravitas and depth to Farhan Akhtar’s breezy coming-of-age directorial debut. Kapadia told Filmfare that making the film was an enriching experience, and called her part "a role to die for"
