Her beauty captured the hearts of millions, her acting ability was hailed by many.
The beautiful Waheeda Rehman has had a successful run in Hindi cinema, which started with the Guru Dutt venture CID. She never looked back. Guru Dutt was absolutely enamoured by her and he cast her in many of his hit films.
She is a wonderful dancer too. No-one can forget her dances in the film Guide, where she excelled in one of the most difficult roles in cinema.
Here are five films where her acting abilities won rave reviews:
Pyaasa (1957)
Cast: Guru Dutt, Mala Sinha, Waheeda Rehman, Johnny Walker, Rehman, Leela Mishra
Director: Guru Dutt
An unsuccessful poet Vijay (Dutt) struggles to sell his poems and mocked by both his brothers and publishers. However, he encounters a kind-hearted prostitute Gulabo (Waheeda) who decides to help him.
Then his former girlfriend Meena (Sinha) comes into his life, now married to a rich publisher (Rehman). He agrees to Gulabo that he would publish Vijay’s poems which are successful. But the publisher tried to exploit him.
Vijay in put away in an asylum also presumed dead. He loses faith humanity and gives up the fight and goes away with Gulabo. The film has wonderful songs.
Bees Saal Baad (1962)
Cast: Biswajeet, Waheeda Rehman, Asit Sen, Madan Puri, Manmohan Krishna
Director: Biren Nag
A swamp in a lonely area of a village, inhabited by an old man Ramlal (Manmohan) and niece Radha (Waheeda), becomes the focal point of this mystery tale.
A lustful Thakur rapes and kills a young girl. He is murdered and so is his son. It is believed that the ghost of the girl is killing the Thakur’s family. So the grandson Kumar (Biswajeet) comes to the village to solve the mystery.
And he knows he is next in the line. The film was a mega hit. Waheeda sizzles and the songs by Hemant Kumar have become immortal.
Mujhe Jeene Do (1963)
Cast: Waheeda Rehman, Sunil Dutt, Nirupa Roy, Rajendranath
Director: Moni Bhattarcharjee
Shot in the Chambal Valley, the film delves on the life of a fierce dacoit Jernail Singh (Dutt) who is transformed by the love of a courtesan Chameli (Waheeda) into a good human being.
The dacoit runs away with the courtesan and they get married and have a son. But the dacoit is being cornered by the police and he is sure to be captured. He immediately sends away his wife and son and is ready to face the police.
But Chameli lands at a place where the villagers are hostile towards the dacoit. Both Waheeda and Dutt give wonderful performances.
Teesri Kasam (1966)
Cast: Raj Kumar, Waheeda Rehman, Asit Sen, Ifthekar
Director: Basu Bhattacharya
A bullock-cart driver Hiraman (Kapoor) takes two vows based on his life and later is forced to take a third after he comes across a dancer Hirabai (Waheeda) and befriends her.
He has to take her to a village 40km away and he sings all along the way and thinks Hirabai is the epitome of purity and beauty.
That leads to complications as he tries to defend Hirabai against the harsh reality of her profession. This hurts Hiraman. Hirabai visits him and tells him the truth about what she is. The film has great songs.
Khamoshi (1969)
Cast: Waheeda Rehman, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Nazir Hussain, Deven Verma
Director: Asit Sen
Nurse Radha (Waheeda) falls in love with a patient Dev Kumar (Dharmendra) who leaves her and goes away. Heartbroken, the nurse decides not to fall for another patient.
However, a poet Arun (Khanna) is admitted for acute mania but the nurse refuses to tend him. Finally after much goading she agrees.
Again a bond begins to form between the two before the nurse gets admitted on her own hospital. But Arun vows to look after her. The cast sizzles throughout the movie.
- Mogambo Khush Hua! - July 13, 2019
- Five Spoofs To Make Your Day - July 7, 2019
- Have You Seen These Aamir Khan Classics? - June 29, 2019
