Meet actress who was rejected by Kamal Amrohi, Meena Kumari made her top actress, changed religion to get married, revived her career at 36, her name is..., son is..

There are many lucky actresses of today's era, like Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepika Padukone, who are getting the role of lead actress even after marriage. But this was not the case in this industry years ago. One such lead actress of the 70s, Anjana Mumtaz, is a witness to this. Born in January 1941, it was not easy for this veteran actress to get work after marriage and having children, which is why she had to get into supporting roles. Anjana Mumtaz, who considers Hindi cinema's legendary actress Meena Kumari as her idol, is now well-known for her supporting roles in over a hundred Hindi, Marathi, and Gujarati-language films.

Many might remember Anjana Mumtaz in the role of a mother in many films and TV serials, however, there was a time when she was a lead actress. When Anjana Mumtaz was young, she used to dance brilliantly. Seeing her dance talent, her mother got her trained in classical dance. In an interview given to Doordarshan, Anjana Mumtaz once said that she was a fan of Meena Kumari. Once she met Meena Kumari, and she told Anjana Mumtaz that you would definitely become an actress, but study hard now. After hearing such a thing from Meena Kumari, Anjana Mumtaz decided to make a career in acting.

Anjana Mumtaz, who had an interest in dance and acting, was not interested in studies at all. She passed her matriculation with great difficulty. One day, Anjana Mumtaz came to know that the shooting of the film Pakeezah was going on. She went to meet Meena Kumari on the set. Meena Kumari arranged her meeting with her husband, Kamal Amrohi. After initially rejecting her, Kamal Amrohi eventually gave her a role in his film Shankar Hussain, but this film took a long time to release, and even when it was released, Anjana Mumtaz was not a part of it. 

However, while working on the film Shankar Hussain, she got work as a lead actress in movies like Maa Ka Aanchal, Sambandh, and Mahua. Anjana Mumtaz worked as a lead actress in many Hindi films but did not get much success, so she turned to Marathi, Gujarati films, and her star shone there, and she became known as a star actress.

In 1978, Anjana Mumtaz, born Anjana Manjrekar, got married to Sajid Mumtaz. From here came a difficult time for Anjana. In those days, it was very difficult for a married actress to get work, so Anjana distanced herself from films and settled down in her household. They had a son, Ruslaan Mumtaz, who grew up and made a career in acting.

Anjana Mumtaz started her second innings of acting in 1986, at the age of 36. She got a lot of fame because of the famous Doordarshan serial, Buniyaad. After this, she never looked back. She started getting the role of a mother. Anjana became a famous supporting actress by playing the role of the mother of almost all the lead actors and actresses.