Reena Roy (born Saira Ali) is an Indian actress. She made her film debut as a teenager with B R Ishara's Zaroorat (1972), but gained wider public recognition with Jaise Ko Taisa (1973) and the romance-action film Zakhmee (1975). In 1976, Roy entered the top league after starring in two of the biggest box-office hits, the action thriller Kalicharan and the horror-fantasy film Nagin. She consolidated her position at the top with Vishwanath (1978) and Aasha (1980).
Roy won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama Apnapan (1977), but declined it due to categorical issues. Her success nevertheless continued throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s when she featured in several notable films including the horror film Jaani Dushman (1979), the dramas Aasha (1980), Arpan (1983) and Asha Jyoti (1984), multi starrer Naseeb (1981) and the romantic comedy Sanam Teri Kasam (1982).
In 1983, Roy married cricketer Mohsin Khan and announced a sabbatical. She shifted to Pakistan with her husband and gave birth to their daughter, Jannat, better known as Sanam Khan. She returned to India in 1992 after divorcing Khan.
Roy made a comeback in Hindi cinema with the drama Aadmi Khilona Hai (1993). She acted in a few supporting roles notably Ajay (1996), Gair (1999) and Refugee (2000). Thereafter she has primarily focused on raising her daughter, and made the occasional appearance on television, the most recently being Indian Idol. Along with her sister Barkha, Roy also runs an acting school.
Personal life and background Roy was born Saira Ali, the third daughter of Sadiq Ali, a small-time actor and Sharda Rai, who acted in film Bawre Nain and later produced the film Gunehgar Kaun. She has three siblings who all disowned their father after the parents divorced. Her mother renamed all the four children after the divorce. Roy was initially renamed Roopa Rai, which was changed to "Reena Roy" by the producer of her first film, Zaroorat. Roy started acting in films in her teens. She disputed reports that her decision to enter films was to financially support her mother and siblings.
Roy has two sisters, Barkha and Anju and a brother, Raja. Following a highly-publicised love affair with Shatrughan Sinha, in 1983, Roy decided to quit the film industry and marry Pakistani cricketer Mohsin Khan. The couple later divorced; Roy found it difficult to adjust with Khan's flamboyant lifestyle. Roy had initially lost custody of their daughter Sanam.
Career Debut and breakthrough (1970–76) Roy is regarded as one of the most beautiful actress of Indian cinema, Roy made her acting debut in 1971 when director B. R. Ishara opposite Danny Denzongpa in Nayi Duniya Naye Log, though the film's release was delayed until 1973. Ishara subsequently offered her the lead in Zaroorat, a role she hesitated to take because of its risqué subject matter. Released in 1972, the film underperformed at the box office, but Roy's sensual performance drew attention. Her early roles traded largely on her sex appeal, notably in Jaise Ko Taisa (1973), remembered for its rain-dance number "Ab Ke Sawan Mein Jee Dare" and in the supporting part she played in the hit Zakhmee (1975), both of which brought her wider offers.
Roy's breakout came with Subhash Ghai's directorial debut Kalicharan (1976). Expectations were low going in, Ghai was a failed actor, and Shatrughan Sinha, cast against type as the hero, was best known for villainous roles but the film became a surprise commercial success, launching both actors to stardom and pairing them as a popular on-screen and off-screen duo.
The following family drama Udhar Ka Sindur, opposite Jeetendra, was also well received. Her career was cemented by Rajkumar Kohli's thriller Nagin, in which she played the title role alongside an ensemble that included Sunil Dutt, Jeetendra, Rekha and Mumtaz; the film was both a commercial hit and a critical success. Analyzing the film, writer Meheli Sen commented, "Reena Roy as the Nagin is unabashed in her sexuality; [...] she embodies a kind of feral sexuality that remains remarkable in its directness." Roy earned her first Filmfare Award for Best Actress nomination at the 24th Filmfare Awards. Box Office India published that she has established herself as one of Hindi cinema's leading actresses between Kalicharan and Nagin.
Stardom and establishment (1977–1985) In 1977, Roy won acclaim for playing Kamini, a woman who leaves her husband (Jeetendra) for a wealthier older man, in J. Om Prakash's Apnapan. Vijay Lokapally of The Hindu stated that Roy "lives the role" and rated her performance superior to those of Jeetendra and Sulakshana Pandit. However, when Roy won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 25th Filmfare Awards, she refused to accept it, arguing that her role was parallel to Pandit's. She reunited with Ghai in 1978 for the action film Vishwanath, again opposite Sinha, and with Kohli in 1979 for the horror hit Jaani Dushman; both films did well commercially. Regarding her performance in the latter, Film World remarked, "Roy is easy on the eye and acts with effortless ease in a role which demands nothing." She also starred alongside Sinha, her rumoured boyfriend at the time, in Rajkumar Kohli's successful Muqabla.
The 1980s brought Roy some of her biggest roles. Sau Din Saas Ke (1980), in which she played a rebellious daughter-in-law to Lalita Pawar, was only a modest earner but was praised critically. Far more successful was the musical Aasha (1980), opposite Jeetendra, which brought her a second Best Actress nomination at the 28th Filmfare Awards. She topped its top actresses list from 1972 to 1985, She appeared in Box Office India's "Top actresses "list 10 times, from 1976 to 1985 and topped the list one time (1980), having featured on it continuously since 1976. Her personal life also shifted around this time: her relationship with Sinha ended after he married in 1980, after which she focused more fully on her career.
In 1981, she appeared in Manmohan Desai's ensemble hit Naseeb, alongside Sinha, Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor and Hema Malini. India Today described the film as "enjoyable but terrible for your health", but Shahid Khan of Planet Bollywood commented that Roy nevertheless, "leaves a mark in her few dramatic scenes." Roy also appeared in a supporting role opposite debutant Sanjay Dutt and Tina Munim in Sunil Dutt's 1981 romantic action Rocky. By 1982 was one of the busiest actresses in the industry, appearing in thirteen releases that year alone, and worked with leading directors including Prakash Mehra, Raj Khosla and Sultan Ahmed. Her roles diversified considerably during this period: she played a reforming widow opposite Rajesh Khanna in Dhanwan (1981); a psychiatrist opposite Vinod Khanna in Jail Yatra (1981), a courtesan opposite Dharmendra in Naukar Biwi Ka (1983), and took a double role opposite Sanjeev Kumar in Ladies Tailor (1981). She also had prominent parts in multi-heroine films such as Prem Tapasya (1983) and Asha Jyoti (1984).
Roy's title roles in this period were mixed in fortune: Lakshmi (1982), in which she played a courtesan, failed commercially and disappointed her, but the same year's Sanam Teri Kasam, a musical comedy produced by her sister Barkha Roy and co-starring Kamal Haasan, was a hit. She continued to work steadily through the mid-1980s with films including Sultan Ahmed's drama Dharam Kanta (1982), J. Om Prakash 's drama Arpan (1983), T. Rama Rao's action Andha Kanoon (1983), and Rajkumar Kohli's action drama Raaj Tilak (1984), often playing self-sacrificing or virtuous women. Over her career, Roy and Jeetendra appeared together in 22 films, 17 of them as a romantic pair, including three she co-produced with him; Apnapan and Aasha. She and Sinha, meanwhile, had 9 hits from the 16 films they featured together.
In 1985 Roy went on a career break following her marriage to cricketer Mohsin Khan. Several films she had already completed were released over the next few years, including J. P. Dutta's Ghulami, B. S. Glaad's Hum Dono and Satpal's Do Waqt Ki Roti (1988).
Sabbatical and later work (1992—present) Roy returned to acting in 1992, taking a supporting role as a sister-in-law in Aadmi Khilona Hai (1993) but was unable to recapture her earlier success. Her final film role came in J. P. Dutta's Refugee (2000). She then moved into television, appearing in the seria Eena Meena Deeka produced by her sister Barkha; after it ended, the sisters opened an acting school together in 2004. Roy has also been involved in political campaigning for the Indian National Congress.
Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1972 Zaroorat Anju Milap Rani 'Chalava'/Rukmani Jangal Mein Mangal Leela1973 Nai Duniya Naye Log Sandhya Jaise Ko Taisa Roopa1974 Madhosh Minal Goonj Meena1975 Vardaan Lata Umar QaidReena Rani Aur Lalpari Lalpari Apne Dushman Reshma (Reshu) Zakhmee Nisha Ganguly1976 Sangram Poonam Gumrah Reena Barood Sapna—Bakshi's Assistant Nagin Nagin (female serpent) Kalicharan Sapna Mathur Udhar Ka Sindur Rekha1977 Zamaanat Reshma Taxi Taxie Neelam Sat Sri Akal Shree Paapi Aasha Jagriti Barkha Daku Aur Mahatma Kiran Apnapan Kamini Agarwal Jadu Tona Varsha Jay Vejay Maharani Ambika1978 Karmayogi Kiran Daku Aur Jawan Ganga Chor Ho To Aisa Champa Vishwanath Soni Aakhri DakuChampa Badalte Rishtey Savitri Devi Bhookh Bina1979 Muqabla Laxmi Heera-Moti Neelam Gautam Govinda Dancer Jaani DushmanReshma 1980 KhanjarNisha/Preeti Yari Dushmani Pammi Sau Din Saas Ke Durga Ganga Aur Suraj Poonam Kashish Docter Seema Aasha Asha Be-Reham Kiran Jwalamukhi Anju1981 Vilayati Babu Billo Dushman Dost Naseeb Julie Ladies Tailor Niqat Rocky Lajwanti/Hirabai Dhanwan Asha Pyaasa Sawan Manorama Jail Yatra Shanu1982 Main Intequam Loonga Mala Bajpai Lakshmi Lakshmi Kachche Heere Rani Jeeo Aur Jeene Do Renu Do Ustad Roopa Dard Ka Rishta Asha Baghavat Channo Hathkadi Rosie Sanam Teri Kasam Nisha Badle Ki Aag Geeta Insaan Sona Dharm Kanta Bijli Deedar-E-Yaar Qawalli Singer Bezubaan Kalpana1983 Andhaa Kanoon Meena Srivastav Arpan Shobha Prem Tapasya Devi Naukar Biwi Ka Sandhya1984 Yaadon Ki Zanjeer Usha Raaj Tilak Madhumati Maati Maangey Khoon Sharda Asha Jyoti Jyoti Inteha Anita Karishmaa Nisha1985 Kali Basti Lajjo Ghulami Moran Ek Chitthi Pyar Bhari Aarti Saxena Hum Dono Rani 1986 Mangal Dada Lakshmi1987 Faqeer Badshah Dancer1988 Dharam Shatru Renu Do Waqt Ki Roti Shalini/Shalu1993 Bedardi Preeti Saxena Aadmi Khilona Hai Ganga Verma1995 Policewala Gunda Sudha Janam Kundli Rita Mehra Kalyug Ke Avtaar Reena1996 Smuggler Usha Rajkumar Rani Maa Ajay Durga1997 Jeena O Shaan Se Lata1999 Gair Sharda Oberoi2000 Refugee Amina Mohammad
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Film Result 1977Filmfare Awards Best Actress Nagin 1979Filmfare Awards Best Supporting Actress Apnapan 1981Filmfare Awards Best Actress Aasha
References
External links
https://web.archive.org/web/20010508162759/http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Cinema/2623/reena.html Hindustan Times http://www.parinda.com/profile/994/reena-roy