Leena Chandavarkar | |
|---|---|
 Chandavarkar in 2014 | |
| Born | (1950-08-29)29 August 1950 (age 75)[1] Dharwad,Karnataka State, India |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1968–1989 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1[3] |
| Relatives |
|
Leena Chandavarkar (born 29 August 1950) is an Indian actress who appeared inHindi films as a leading actress and now appears in reality shows. She was active during the late 1960s and early 1970s. She played the leading heroine opposite almost all the notable Hindi film actors of that era and was frequently paired withRajesh Khanna,Dharmendra,Jeetendra,Sanjeev Kumar,Vinod Khanna,Shammi Kapoor,Dilip Kumar,Sunil Dutt, andRaaj Kumar.
Leena Chandavarkar was born to an army officer Sreenath Chandavarkar atDharwad inKarnataka in 1950.[citation needed] She was supposed to debut with the film Maseeha (1967) oppositeSunil Dutt costarringRaaj Kumar and Mumtaz too under the direction of Sunil Dutt himself. The film got shelved and she made her debut under the direction of Sunil Dutt with the movie Man ka Meet in 1968.[4] The movie was a hit and she became an overnight star. She was one of the topmost heroines in early 70s alongsideHema Malini andMumtaz. She had an elder brother Anil Chandavarkar who married directorAtma Ram's daughter and has a daughter from the marriage. He died by heart attack in 1985. She quit Bollywood after marriage with singing legendKishore Kumar only to return for two movies later.[5]
Chandavarkar came into the limelight after finishing as one of the runners-up for theFresh Face Competition organized across the country byFilmfare. Initially, she worked in advertisements but eventually ventured into films. She made her debut inMan Ka Meet forSunil Dutt, and it was his wifeNargis who groomed her to be an actress. Between 1969 and 1979, Leena acted in many films. She was cast opposite many of popular heroes of that era. She gave one of her best performances inMehboob Ki Mehndi withRajesh Khanna in 1971.[6]
Bairaag, in 1976, is another example where she acted withDilip Kumar and anensemble star cast ofSaira Bano,Prem Chopra andHelen.
She appeared as a guest judge for the first 2 episodes of "K for Kishore", a new reality TV singing show launched by Sony TV during December 2007. She is now appearing for the reality shows. She also penned some songs forAmit Kumar andRajesh Bambal for a music album.
She had an arranged marriage to her first husband, Siddharth Bandodkar, who came from a prominentGoan-Marathi political family.Shashikala Kakodkar, the elder sister of Siddharth, was then the Chief Minister ofGoa, Daman and Diu. Siddharth was the son ofDayanand Bandodkar, the first Chief Minister of Goa, Daman and Diu. Siddharth died from an accidental gunshot wound, a few days into the marriage, leaving Leena a widow at age 25.[7] A few years later, she married playback singerKishore Kumar. Her father initially objected because Kumar had been married three times already, and was more than 20 years older than her, but he soon came around and welcomed Kumar into the family.[8] She has a son with Kumar named Sumeet. Kumar died in 1987, leaving Leena once again a widow at age 37. She lives with her son Sumeet,[9] her step-sonAmit Kumar, and his wife.[citation needed]
