Meet the actress who initially wanted to be a singer and started her career as a child artiste at the age of 6.
Many actors like Sridevi, Hrithik Roshan, and Aamir Khan, started their journey as child artiste and later became superstars. One such woman who initially wanted to become a singer became the top actress in Hindi cinema.
The actress we are talking about was discovered by a director while she was performing in her school. Though she grew up dreaming of being a singer, she went on to be the top actress of her 60s and gave several hits with superstars like Dev Anand and Dharmendra. She is none other than Mala Sinha.
Mala Sinha was born as Alda and her friends at school in Kolkata used to tease her by calling her Dalda (a brand of vegetable oil), so she changed her name to Baby Nazma on getting her first assignment as a child artiste. Later on, as an adult actor, she changed her name to Mala Sinha.
In 1952, a noted Bengali director Ardhendu Bose saw her acting in a school play and took permission from her father to cast her as a heroine in his Bengali film Roshanara which marked her cinematic debut at the age of 6. She then starred in several Bengali films like Jai Vaishno Devi followed by Shri Krishan Leela, Jog Biyog, and Dhooli. Her first Hindi film was Badshah opposite Pradeep Kumar, then came Ekadashi, a mythological film opposite Trilok Kapoor and both failed to perform well at the box office.
After a string of flops, she finally had a string of hits in the 1950s opposite Pradeep Kumar such as Fashion (1957), Detective (1958), and Duniya Na Mane (1959). However, Guru Dutt's Pyaasa became a turning point for Mala. After this, she starred in films like Phir Subah Hogi and Yash Chopra's directorial debut Dhool Ka Phool which elevated her into a major dramatic star.
The actress also used to sing for All India Radio, but she never did Playback singing. Mala Sinha has worked with every big star in her career like Dharmendra, Manoj Kumar, Sanjay Khan, Rajesh Khanna, and Amitabh Bachchan, and gave hits like Badshah, Naya Zamana, Ek Gaon Ki Kahani, Chandan, Phir Subah Hogi, Parvarish, Ujala to Main Nasha Mein Hoon. She not only became the top actress of the late 50s early 60s and 70s, but she was also the highest-paid actress of her era.
In 1978, when Mala Sinha was at the peak of her career, her home was raided by Income Tax officials and they found Rs 12 lakh from the wall of her bathroom. Mala Sinha reportedly told the IT officials that the money was hidden in the wall by her father. However, when the case went to court, Mala Sinha left everyone in shock when she told the court that she had earned the money through prostitution. This statement sent shock waves in the film industry and it ruined Mala Sinha’s career.
While Mala Sinha ruled the industry for a long time, her daughter Pratibha Sinha could not even come close to her mother's stardom. Pratibha was seen in one of the popular songs from Aamir Khan's film Raja Hindustani, Pardesi-Pardesi Jaana Nahi. Apart from this, she also appeared in many films. But she could not make her mark in Bollywood.
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 "Mala Sinha and Dharmendra")
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