Mala Sinha turns 76, few facts about Bollywood's former heroine

New delhi, Nov11: During the Sixties, Mala Sinha was the heartthrob heroine of Bollywood. She ruled the hearts of millions of Indian young men. Mala Sinha has turned 76 today. The charm she had over over fans during that period is incomparable and her fans still swear by her.Those were the days when women used to go to cinema theatres carrying handkerchiefs with them, and used to weep when they saw their favourite heroines enduring hardships on the silver screen. Mala Sinha was one of those heroines.Those were the days when a mere smile on the lips of such matinee idols and a twinkle in their eye used to keep teenagers awake through the night.Let's take a look at the rise of this graceful actress who was just phenomenal in her acting.Mala Sinha was born into a Nepalese Christian family and named Alda. During her school days the actress was teased by her friends and was called as Dalda. Frustrated Mala changed her name to Mala.She played an innocent child artist in numerous Bengali films namely ‘Jog Biyog' and ‘Dhuli'. It wasn't too late for her to be noticed by a renowned film director Ardhendu Bose who saw her in a school play. Not wasting any time he approached her father and persuaded him to allow Mala to be the lead in his flick ‘Roshanara' in 1952.It was just the beginning for the lady. A couple of films later, Mala had to go to Bombay on a shoot, where she met Geeta Dutt, who introduced her to film director Kidar Sharma. Kidar readily cast her in his flick titled “Rangeen Raatein”. Later the actress finally made her debut in Hindi flick named ‘Baadshah' opposite Pradeep Kumar.Mala had a beautiful vocal. She sang for All India Radio but never took it as a career in Bollywood.In 1957, Guru Dutt came up with Pyaasa, the role was initially offered to the beautiful Madhubala but was later bagged by Mala Sinha, and it was a turning point for her career.The king of romance Yash Chopra made his Directorial Debut with the flick ‘Dhool Ka Phool' and offered Mala the lead role. The flick was a hit and there was no looking back for the lady.A series of hits came her way like - Parvarish, Phir Subah Hogi, Main Nashe Main Hoon, Love Marriage, Bahurani, Anpadh, Aasra, Dil Tera Deewana, Gumrah, Aankhen, Hariyali Aur Rasta and Himalaya Ki God Mein, among others.The legendary stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Sunil Dutt, and Sanjay Khan who were the newcomers during those periods worked with Mala Sinha. The actress never hesitated to share the screen with such young superstars.The actress found her love in the newcomer CP Lohani with whom she appeared in a Nepali flick called Maitighar. The two married soon thereafter and had a daughter named Pratibha.Her marriage can't keep her away from work as she starred opposite Uttam Kumar and the versatile Kishore Kumar. Age factor never became a hindrance, as she gracefully opted roles suited her and was last seen in 1994 “Zid”.Her beautiful daughter, Pratibha, tried her luck as an actress but could not repeat her mother's success.The actress was nominated several times for the best actress at numerous Award ceremonies, but Mala never won a single Filmfare award throughout her career. But in 2007, Star screen honoured her with the Lifetime Achievement award.Mala Sinha now lives in Mumbai with her husband. She will always be remembered as a versatile actress of all time. We wish her a very Happy Bitrthday.