Reena Roy

Reena Roy
Roy in 2018
Born	Saira Ali (1957-01-07) 7 January 1957 Bombay, Bombay State, India
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1972–1985, 1999–2000
Height	169 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Spouse	Mohsin Khan ​ ​ (m. 1983, divorced)​

Reena Roy (born 7 January 1957), is an Indian actress who has performed leading roles in many hindi films from 1972 to 1985 and was a leading actress of that era. She was one of the higher-paid actresses of her time, known for playing glamorous and female-oriented roles. She is the recipient of a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her performance in film Apnapan (1977), and has received nominations in the Filmfare Best Actress Award category for Nagin (1976) and Aasha (1980).

Personal life and background

Roy was born Saira Ali, the third daughter of Sadiq Ali, a small-time actor and Sharda Rai, who acted in film Bawre Nain and later produced the film Gunehgar Kaun. She has three siblings who all disowned their father after the parents divorced. Her mother renamed all the four children after the divorce. Roy was initially renamed Roopa Rai, which was changed to "Reena Roy" by the producer of her first film, Zaroorat. Roy started acting in films in her teens. She disputed reports that her decision to enter films was to financially support her mother and siblings.

Roy has two sisters, Barkha and Anju and a brother, Raja. Following a highly-publicised love affair with Shatrughan Sinha, in 1983, Roy decided to quit the film industry to marry Pakistani cricketer Mohsin Khan. The couple later divorced in the 1990s; Roy found it difficult to adjust with Khan's flamboyant lifestyle. Roy initially lost custody of her daughter Sanam, but after her ex-husband remarried, Roy regained custody.

Acting career

Debut and breakthrough (1970–76)

In 1971, Roy was cast by director B. R. Ishara in Nayi Duniya Naye Log opposite Danny Denzongpa, but the film was shelved and would not be released until 1973. Undeterred by the problems, Ishara offered Roy the leading role in his another directorial venture, Zaroorat. Roy was initially reluctant to select the project due to its risque subject and potentially controversial scenes, but agreed later. Zaroorat was theatrically released in 1972, failing at the box office, but Roy's sensual performance was noted by contrast. Roy's subsequent roles too focused on her sex appeal, such as in Jaise Ko Taisa (1973), which became known for the track "Ab Ke Sawan Mein Jee Dare" in which Roy and Jeetendra dance together in heavy rain. The film was a box-office hit, and along with another successful release, Zakhmee (1975), where she had a supporting role, prompted filmmakers to approach Roy with more significant films.

Roy's career-turning point came in 1976, when she featured alongside Shatrughan Sinha as the female lead in Subhash Ghai's action thriller Kalicharan. In a mixed review, The Illustrated Weekly of India lamented that Roy was used in the film for aesthetic purposes, but the film emerged as a major commercial success, turning Roy as well as Sinha into Bollywood stars. Roy gained further success playing a shape-shifting revengeful snake in Rajkumar Kohli's horror film Nagin, which featured an ensemble cast including Sunil Dutt, Jeetendra, Rekha and Mumtaz. Appreciated by critics, Nagin became the third highest-grossing production of the year. Analysing the film, writer Meheli Sen commented, "Reena Roy as the nagin is unabashed in her sexuality; [...] she embodies a kind of feral sexuality that remains remarkable in its directness." Roy also received a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Actress at the 24th Filmfare Awards. Box Office India published that Roy established herself as a leading actress of Bollywood with the success of Kalicharan and Nagin.

Bollywood stardom (1977–88)

In 1977, Roy garnered critical acclaim for playing Kamini, a "gold-digger" woman who abandons her husband (Jeetendra) for a much senior but richer man (Ifthekar) in J. Om Prakash's drama Apnapan. Vijay Lokapally of The Hindu stated that Roy "lives the role" and rated her performance superior to that of Jeetendra and Sulakshana Pandit. However, when Roy won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 25th Filmfare Awards, she refused to accept it, citing that her role was parallel to Pandit's. 1978 saw Roy collaborating with Subhash Ghai for the second time on the action film Vishwanath, opposite Sinha, and in the following year, she re-united with Rajkumar Kohli for the horror film Jaani Dushman (1979). Both the films emerged as box-office hits. Regarding her performance in the latter, Film World remarked, "Reena Roy is easy on the eye and acts with effortless ease in a role which demands nothing." 

In 1980, Roy appeared as a rebellious daughter-in-law of Lalita Pawar in Vijay Sadanah's melodrama Sau Din Saas Ke. Although the film only a moderate financial success, Roy's work was picked up by critics for praise. Her most significant release of the year was the drama Aasha (1980), alongside Jeetendra, in which she played the titular role. It was a blockbuster success, as was the 1981 release Naseeb, a "masala" film directed by Manmohan Desai, which featured Roy alongside an ensemble cast of Sinha, Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor and Hema Malini. India Today described the film as "enjoyable but terrible for your health", but Shahid Khan of Planet Bollywood commented that Roy nevertheless, "leaves a mark in her few dramatic scenes." The same year, Roy performed a parallel leading role besides debutante Sanjay Dutt and Tina Munim in Sunil Dutt's romance-action film Rocky (1981), which emerged as a financial success.

In 1982, Roy had thirteen releases, including Sanam Teri Kasam, in which she starred as Kamal Haasan's love interest. The film was a hit throughout the country, achieving considerable success in cities as well. The same year she appeared in Jeeo Aur Jeene Do (1982) and Baghavat (1982), both opposite Dharmendra. This series of successful films continued in 1983 with Prakash's drama Arpan, also starring Jeetendra and Parveen Babi. Roy also appeared in T. Rama Rao's action film Andha Kanoon (1983) and the comedy Naukar Biwi Ka (1983) before announcing a sabbatical after marrying Mohsin Khan in the same year. In the following years, a number of Roy's previously completed films were released, notable ones being Kohli's epic Raaj Tilak (1984), Dasari Narayana Rao's melodrama Asha Jyoti (1984), J. P. Dutta's action-drama Ghulami (1985) and Satpal's drama Do Waqt Ki Roti (1988).

Sabbatical and sporadic work (1992—present)

Roy returned to Bollywood in 1992, in a mature supporting role as a sister-in-law ('bhabhi') in Aadmi Khilona Hai (1993) but could not repeat her success of the early days of her career. Her last film appearance was in J. P. Dutta's Refugee (2000). She has since turned to acting in television serials, such as "Eena Meena Deeka," produced by her sister Barkha. After the serial ended, the sisters opened an acting school in 2004. Roy has also campaigned for the Indian National Congress.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Language	Notes
1972	Zaroorat	Anju
	Milap	Rani 'Chalava'/Rukmani
	Jangal Mein Mangal	Leela
1973	Nai Duniya Naye Log	Sandhya
	Jaise Ko Taisa	Roopa
1974	Madhosh	Minal
	Goonj	Meena
1975	Vardaan	Lata
	Umar Qaid
	Rani Aur Lalpari	Lalpari
	Apne Dushman	Reshma 'Reshu'
	Zakhmee	Nisha Ganguly
1976	Sangram	Poonam
	Gumrah	Reena
	Barood	Sapna — Bakshi's Assistant
	Nagin	Nagin (female serpent)
	Kalicharan	sapna Mathur
	Udhar Ka Sindur	Rekha
1977	Zamaanat	Reshma
	Taxi Taxie	Neelam
	Sat Sri Akal	Shree
	Paapi	Aasha
	Jagriti	Barkha
	Daku Aur Mahatma	Kiran
	Apnapan	Kamini Agarwal
	Jadu Tona	Varsha
	Jay Vejay	Maharani Ambika
1978	Karmayogi	Kiran
	Daku Aur Jawan	Ganga
	Chor Ho To Aisa	Champa
	Vishwanath	Soni
	Aakhri Daku
	Badalte Rishtey	Savitri Devi
	Bhookh	Bina
1979	Muqabla	Laxmi 'lacho'
	Heera-Moti	Neelam
	Gautam Govinda	Dancer
	Jaani Dushman	Reshma
1980	Khanjar	Nisha/Preeti
	Billa
	Yari Dushmani	Pammi
	Sau Din Saas Ke	Durga
	Ganga Aur Suraj	Poonam
	Kashish (film)	Docter Seema
	Aasha	Asha
	Be-Reham	Kiran
	Jawalamukhi	Anju
1981	Vilayati Babu	Billo
	Dushman Dost
	Naseeb	Julie
	'Ladies Tailor	Niqat
	Rocky	Lajwanti/Hirabai
	Dhanwan (1981 film)	Asha
	Pyaasa Sawan	Manorama
	Jail Yatra	Shanu
1982	Main Intequam Loonga	Mala Bajpai
	Lakshmi	Lakshmi
	Kachche Heere	Rani
	Jeeo Aur Jeene Do	Renu
	Do Ustad	Roopa
	Dard Ka Rishta	Asha
	Baghavat	Channo
	Hathkadi	Rosie
	Sanam Teri Kasam	Nisha
	Badle Ki Aag	Geeta
	Insaan	Sona
	Dharm Kanta	Bijli
	Deedar-E-Yaar	Qawalli Singer
	Bezubaan	Kalpana
1983	Andhaa Kanoon	Meena Srivastav
	Arpan	Shobha
	Prem Tapasya	Devi
	Naukar Biwi Ka	Sandhya
1984	Yaadon Ki Zanjeer	Usha
	Raaj Tilak	Madhumati
	Maati Maangey Khoon	Sharda
	Asha Jyoti	Jyoti
	Inteha	Anita
	Karishmaa	Nisha
1985	Kali Basti	Lajjo — Gangaram's sister
	Ghulami	Moran
	Ek Chitthi Pyar Bhari	Aarti Saxena
	Hum Dono	Rani
1986	Mangal Dada	Lakshmi
1987	Faqeer Badshah	Dancer
1988	Dharam Shatru	Renu
	Do Waqt Ki Roti	Shalini aka Shalu
1993	Bedardi	Preeti N. Saxena
	Aadmi Khilona Hai	Ganga Verma
1995	Policewala Gunda	Sudha
	Janam Kundli	Rita R. Mehra
	Kalyug Ke Avtaar	Reena
1996	Smuggler	Usha
	Rajkumar	Rani Maa
	Ajay	Durga
1997	Jeena O Shaan Se	Lata
1999	Gair	Sharda Oberoi
2000	Refugee	Amina Mohammad

Awards and nominations

• Nominated — Filmfare Award for Best Actress — Nagin (1976)
• Won — Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award — Apnapan (1977)
• Nominated — Filmfare Award for Best Actress — Aasha (1980)

External links

• Reena Roy at IMDb
• Reena Roy at Bollywood Hungama
• https://web.archive.org/web/20010508162759/http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Cinema/2623/reena.html
• http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/specials/slideshows/80s/ReenaRoy.htm
• http://www.parinda.com/profile/994/reena-roy