Dimple Kapadia, one of the finest actresses in the Indian cinema business, has enchanted audiences with her stunning appearance, diverse performances, and daring parts in films. She has had a successful career in both mainstream and parallel film, and she has a large and devoted fan base.
Dimple began as a teen star in 1973 alongside the late Rishi Kapoor in their debut film ‘Bobby.’ She was only 16 at the time, and she married superstar Rajesh Khanna even before ‘Bobby’ reached the big screen.
She subsequently took a break before returning to acting with a bang in 1985 with Ramesh Sippy’s film ‘Saagar.’ Since then, the actress has gone from strength to strength.
Dimple continues to experiment with her characters and slays them like a champ even now.
She appeared in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet,’ starring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson, at the age of 63. She also appeared in the web series ‘Tandav,’ and she is looking forward to the release of Ayan Mukherjee’s ‘Brahmastra,’ starring Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, and Abhishek Jain’s ‘Second Innings,’ starring Rajkummar Rao and Kriti Sanon.
As the actress celebrates her 65th birthday today, here are some of her finest cinematic performances:
Bobby
Dimple Kapadia’s debut film, Bobby, garnered her a lot of attention and stardom. Dimple Kapadia co-starred with Rishi Kapoor in the role of Bobby J. Braganza. The tale centers around the love story of Bobby and Raj, who come from different socioeconomic backgrounds. Nobody could dispute the connection between her and Rishi Kapoor, or the inventiveness of their performance. Despite her inexperience, Dimple was praised for her portrayal, which earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.
Ram Lakhan
Ram Lakhan was a tremendous success when it was released in 1989. This multi-starrer film, directed by Subhash Ghai, starred Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Dimple Kapadia, and Rakhee, among others.
Saagar
Dimple Kapadia played Mona D’Silva in Ramesh Sippy’s directorial movie Saagar, which was released in 1985. Rishi Kapoor and Kamal Haasan also had lead parts in the film. Dimple was none of these things when she appeared on film with Rishi Kapoor and Kamal Haasan. She was a mother of two, Twinkle Khanna and Rinke Khanna, and divorced from her husband Rajesh Khanna. Her performance earned her yet another Filmfare Best Actress award.
Kaash
Playing a wife and mother in ‘Kaash’, Dimple was cast opposite actor Jackie Shroff who was in the role of a fading film star. It showed a woman struggling to make sense of her failing marriage, desire for a career, separation from her husband and finally reconciling as the couple discovers their son has cancer.
Batwara
In the 1989 film Batwara, Dimple Kapadia played Jinda. Dharmendra and Vinod Khanna both played the lead parts in the film.
Lekin
Dimple was nominated for a Filmfare Award for Best Female Actor for her performance in ‘Lekin.’ She played Reva, a ghost trapped in a time warp halfway between the realms of the living and the dead. Gulzar wrote and directed the film.
Dil Chahta Hai
In 2001, young Farhan Akhtar, in his debut film, ‘Dil Chahta Hai’, cast her in a supporting role. Essentially a slick tale, telling the story of urban Indian youth, Dimple was cast as an older woman, who finds herself as the object of affection of one of the film’s three heroes. Her portrayal of a middle-aged alcoholic woman and a divorcee, who is not allowed to meet her daughter was received well. In one of her interviews, she even termed her character in the film as ‘one role to die for’.
A Thursday
A Thursday, starring Yami Gautam, Neha Dhupia, Dimple Kapadia, and Atul Kulkarni, was released in 2022. Dimple Kapadia, who plays Prime Minister Maya Rajguru, delivered an outstanding performance that drew much praise.