Amrita Singh

Amrita Singh

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Amrita Singh
Amrita Singh & Sara Ali Khan at Shaadi By Marriott showcase (08) (cropped).jpg
Singh in 2017
Born
Amrita Singh Virk

9 February 1958 (age 62)
Hadali, West Pakistan
OccupationActress
Years active1983–1993
2002—present
Spouse(s)
(m. 1991; div. 2004)
Children2 (Sara and Ibrahim)

Amrita Singh (born 9 February 1958)[1] is an Indian actress. Through her films like Betaab and Mard, she gained popularity and became a well known and popular actress in the 1980s. She took a break from acting in the early 1990s for a decade and returned to acting in 2002, occasionally playing supporting roles. She also made her debut on television in 2005. Amrita keeps a low public profile and gives few interviews.

Early life[edit source]

Amrita Singh was born in HadaliWest Pakistan to a Punjabi Muslim mother Rukhsana Sultana[2] and a Punjabi Sikh father, army officer Shivinder Singh Virk, from a feudal family.[3] Her mother was a political associate of Sanjay Gandhi during the Indian Emergency in the 1970s, who gained notoriety for leading Sanjay Gandhi's sterilisation campaign in Muslim areas of Old Delhi.[4][5][6][7] [8] Through her paternal grandmother Mohinder Kaur, Amrita is the great-granddaughter of Sobha Singh, one of the builders of New Delhi, and the great-niece of the late novelist Khushwant Singh. The actress Begum Para is her great-aunt and her husband was Nasir Khan, who is the brother of Dilip Kumar. Actor Ayub Khan is her second cousin.[2] Virk was a childhood friend of Shahrukh Khan. Their mothers often worked together in the Old Delhi area and Singh attended the same school as Khan's sister, Shahnaz.[9]

Singh attended Modern School in New Delhi and is fluent in English, Punjabi and Hindi.[10]

Career[edit source]

1983–1993[edit source]

Singh made her Bollywood debut in 1983 with Betaab, an immensely successful film in which she was paired with Sunny Deol. This was quickly followed by a succession of hits, such as Sunny in 1984, Mard (which was the biggest hit of that year) and Saaheb in 1985, Chameli Ki Shaadi and Naam in 1986, Khudgarz in 1987, And Waaris 1988. and Singh made a successful pair in several films, not only with Sunny DeolSanjay Dutt, and Raj Babbar, but also with Anil Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan, two leading actors of the 1980s.[11] As well as playing leading roles, she also played supporting negative roles in films such as Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (1992) and Aaina (1993). She also won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for the latter. Her comic timings are still remembered. She decided to retire into family life and quit acting after her appearance in the 1993 film Rang.

2002–present[edit source]

Singh returned to acting in 2002 with the film 23rd March 1931: Shaheed, in which she played the mother of Bhagat Singh (played by Bobby Deol). She joined the television industry with Ekta Kapoor's family drama Kavyanjali, aired on Star Plus in 2005. Singh was seen in a negative role in the show, that soon gained immense popularity.[12] Later that year, she won acclaim for her performance in yet another negative role for the film Kalyug. In 2007, Singh played the role of gangster Maya Dolas' mother, Ratnaprabha Dolas, in the Sanjay Gupta film Shootout at Lokhandwala, directed by Apoorva Lakhia. Vivek Oberoi played the role of Maya Dolas. Later on she appeared in the anthology film Dus Kahaniyaan, where she appeared in the short story Poornmasi.

Continuing her acting journey, Singh played in the film Kajraare in 2010, and also appeared in Aurangzeb under the Yash Raj Films banner, where she was paired with Jackie Shroff after almost two decades.[13] In 2014, she was seen in the film 2 States, produced by Dharma Productions, portraying the role of co-actor Arjun Kapoor's mother. The film released on 18 April 2014.[14] In 2016, she appeared in Flying Jat playing Tiger Shroff's mother and recently in 2017 she appeared in the acclaimed drama Hindi Medium. She played the Principal's role for a glance. She was recently seen in Sujoy Ghosh's Badla, released on 8 March 2019. She played the role of Rani Kaur.

Personal life[edit source]

Singh married actor Saif Ali Khan in January 1991. Singh, who was raised as a Sikh, converted to Islam before marriage and the couple had an Islamic wedding.[15] Twelve years younger than her, Khan is the son of former Indian test cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, the ninth Nawab of Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore and is a member of the royal family of the erstwhile Bhopal State and Pataudi State . Despite controversies, they remained married. She gave up acting after her marriage to Khan. After thirteen years of marriage, the couple divorced in 2004.[16]

Their only daughter Sara Ali Khan was born on 12 August 1995.[17] and son Nawab Ibrahim Ali Khan on 5 March 2001. Sara graduated from Columbia University and their son Ibrahim Ali Khan is studying in England. Ibrahim was a child actor in the movie Tashan. Sara Ali Khan made her debut in the movie Kedarnath in 2018.

Filmography[edit source]

YearTitleRoleOther notes
1983BetaabRoma (Dingy)
1984SunnyAmrita
DuniyaRoma Verma
1985SaahebNatasha 'Nikki'
MardRuby
1986Mera DharamDurga Thakur
Chameli Ki ShaadiChameli
Kala Dhanda Goray LogMrs. Ramola Gauri Shankar / Pooja
KaramdaataPinky
NaamRita
1987Naam O NishanVanisha
KhudgarzMrs. Sinha
ThikanaShaila
1988MulzimMala
KabzaaRita
TamachaMaria
ShukriyaaNeema
WaarisShibo
Charnon Ki SaugandhKanchan Singh
AgneeTara
1989Sachai Ki TaqatMrs. Ram Singh
HathyarSuman
Galiyon Ka BadshahCameo
IlaakaSub-Inspector Neha Singh
BatwaraRoopa
ToofanPickpocketer
JaadugarMona
1990Veeru dadaMeena
Karishma Kali KaaParvati
Maut Ke Farishtey
Aag Ka Dariya
KroadhMatki
CIDMeghna Saxena
1991Sadhu SantMeena Kapoor
Paap Ki AandhiReshma
Dharam SankatMadhu
AkaylaSapna
Rupaye Dus KarodAarthi Saxena
Pyaar Ka SaayaMaya Gangadhami
1992Raju Ban Gaya GentlemanSapna L. Chhabria
SuryavanshiPrincess Suryalekha
Kal Ki AwazPrincipal Nahim Bilgrami
Dil Aashna HaiRaj
1993AainaRoma MathurFilmfare Best Supporting Actress Award
RangIndu
200223rd March 1931: ShaheedVidya
2005KalyugSimi Roy
2007Shootout at LokhandwalaMom (Aai)
Dus KahaniyaanMalaPooranmasi (story)
2010KajraareZohra Baano
2013AurangzebNeena Wadhwa
20142 StatesKavita MalhotraNominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award
2016A Flying JattMrs. Dhillon
2017Hindi MediumPrincipal Lodha
2019BadlaRani KaurNominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award

Television[edit source]

Awards and nominations[edit source]

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