Meet only heroine whose name sold films, but was dismissed as 'not good actor'; not Aishwarya, Rekha, Madhuri or Sridevi

This actress, who worked with superstars like Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, and Amitabh Bachchan, ruled the 60s with consecutive blockbusters and became the jubilee girl of Bollywood. 

The actress we are talking about started working as a child artiste and later ruled the industry as lead heroine. She was the 'only heroine' whose name sold films. Even though the actress gave back-to-back blockbusters, she was criticised as 'not a good actor'. She is Asha Parekh. 

Asha Parekh started her career started her career as a child artist under the screen name Baby Asha Parekh with Bimal Roy's Maa and Baap Beti. However, she soon quit films to complete her schooling. She then decided to give acting a try at the age of 16, however, she was rejected by Vijay Bhatt. She then starred in Dil Deke Dekho (1959), opposite Shammi Kapoor, which made her a huge star.

This started her long association with Hussain who cast her as his heroine in six more films: Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai (1961), Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon (1963), Teesri Manzil (1966), Baharon Ke Sapne (1967), Pyar Ka Mausam (1969), and Caravan (1971). She was typecast as glamour girl/dancer/tomboy in most of her films until director Raj Khosla gave her a serious image by casting her in tragedienne roles in three of her favourite films; Do Badan (1966), Chirag (1969). 

Soon enough, Asha came to be branded as the ‘jubilee girl’, rolling out hits with every hero – from Joy Mukherjee (Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon, Love in Toyko), Biswajeet (Mere Sanam) to Shashi Kapoor (Pyar Ka Mausam) in the ’60s. “I won’t say I was lucky for my heroes. Rather I was lucky for my producers and distributors. I was the only heroine whose name sold films,” she told Filmfare. 

She further added, “Some critics wrote I was not a good actor. It hurt me. But Do Badan changed everything. Further Chirag and Main Tusli… proved that I was not as dumb as people thought I was.” She remains the highest-paid heroine of her time.

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