Kajal Kiran (born October 1958 as Sunita Kulkarni,
also credited as Kaajal Kiran) is a former
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n actress and model, who is known for her work in
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
films. Kiran made her debut starring in the film ''
Hum Kisise Kum Naheen
''Hum Kisise Kum Naheen'' () is a 1977 Indian musical drama film produced and directed by Nasir Hussain. It took the third top spot at the box office in 1977.
The film stars
Rishi Kapoor, Tariq Khan, Kaajal Kiran, Amjad Khan and Zeenat Aman ...
'' (1977) and promptly established herself as a stable actress in
Hindi cinema
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
, appearing in over 40 films over a career spanning 13 years.
Early life
Kiran was born and raised in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, to a middle class
Marathi family. She did her schooling at St. Joseph's High School, where she mainly studied physics and biology, following her original dream to become a doctor.
Career
Kiran made her film debut in 1977, when she was chosen by director
Nasir Hussain
Mohammad Nasir Hussain Khan (16 November 1926 — 13 March 2002), better known as Nasir Hussain, was an Indian film producer, director, and screenwriter. With a career spanning decades, Hussain has been credited as a major trendsetter in the ...
to play the lead in his romantic comedy ''
Hum Kisise Kum Naheen
''Hum Kisise Kum Naheen'' () is a 1977 Indian musical drama film produced and directed by Nasir Hussain. It took the third top spot at the box office in 1977.
The film stars
Rishi Kapoor, Tariq Khan, Kaajal Kiran, Amjad Khan and Zeenat Aman ...
'' as Kajal Kisharina, the heroine of
Rishi Kapoor
Rishi Raj Kapoor (4 September 1952 — 30 April 2020) was an Indian actor, film director and producer who worked in Hindi films
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry base ...
(later in the film, as the heroine of
Tariq
Tariq ( ar, طارق) is an Arabic word and given name.
Etymology
The word is derived from the Arabic verb , ('), meaning "to strike", and into the agentive conjugated doer form , ('), meaning "striker". It became popular as a name after Tariq ...
).
She also worked with actors and actresses
Amjad Khan and
Zeenat Aman
Zeenat Khan (born 19 November 1951), better known as Zeenat Aman, is an Indian actress and former fashion model. She first received recognition for her modelling work, and at the age of 19, went on to participate in beauty pageants, winning both ...
. The film ended up to be a major
box-office
A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is freq ...
success, hitting the third highest-grossing movie of the year. It was marked as a classic film, and gained a
cult following
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
. The role shot Kiran to stardom, marking her official debut in the film industry, with her receiving much fame.
Following the success of the film, Kiran had then pursued her career and continued acting. She'd soon began to get more movie offers, and in 1980 starred as the lead role in ''
Maang Bharo Sajana'' as Geeta Sinha, the heroine to
Jeetendra
Ravi Kapoor ( ; born 7 April 1942), known mononymously by his screen name Jeetendra, is an Indian actor who is known for his work in Hindi cinema. He also serves as the chairman of the Balaji Telefilms and Balaji Motion Pictures.
Early life ...
, who played a double role, and starred alongside
Rekha
Bhanurekha Ganesan (born 10 October 1954), better known by her stage name Rekha, is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Hindi films. Acknowledged as one of the finest actresses in Indian cinema, she has starred in more than 180 fil ...
and
Moushumi Chatterjee
Moushumi Chatterjee (born Indira Chattopadhyay) is an Indian actress who is recognised for her work in Hindi as well as Bengali cinema. She was one of the highest paid actresses in Hindi films during the 1970s. She joined the Bharatiya Janata ...
. The film turned to be a commercial success, turning to be the eighth highest-grossing film of its year. She also appeared in the
Ramsay Brothers
Ramsay Brothers is a pseudonym or brand name used for a family of Bollywood filmmakers, the sons and grandsons of F.U. Ramsay. They are famous for making the genre of horror films synonymous with the name "Ramsay Brothers."
History
The actual surn ...
horror film ''
Saboot
Saboot () is a 1980 Indian Hindi-language horror/thriller film directed by Shyam Ramsay and Tulsi Ramsay. It stars Navin Nischol, Kajal Kiran, Vidya Sinha, Vinod Mehra, Trilok Kapoor, Om Shivpuri and Prem Chopra.
Plot
Seth Dharamdas (Trilok Ka ...
'' in the same year, as Kaajal. In contrast to the success of her previous films, ''Saboot'' turned to underperform at the box-office, grossing merely ₹1.2 crore. She also made her first guest appearance as a dancer in the film ''
Morchha'', in the popular song "Ab Ki Baras." In 1981, Kiran then played the heroine to
Mithun Chakraborty
Mithun Chakraborty (born Gouranga Chakraborty; 16 June 1950) is an Indian actor, producer and politician who predominantly worked in Hindi and Bengali language films. He is a former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament. He is the recipient of three ...
in the spy-thriller film ''
Wardaat
''Wardat'' is a 1981 Hindi-language spy thriller film. The film is the sequel to ''Surakshaa''. Large locusts attack the farmers and farmlands resulting in hefty damages.
Plot
The Indian Government suspects that this is the work of some terroris ...
,'' and in the Bollywood-film ''
Hum Se Badkar Kaun
''Hum Se Badhkar Kaun'' is a 1981 Indian Hindi-language action film directed by Deepak Bahry, starring Mithun Chakraborty, Vijayendra Ghatge, Ranjeeta, Amjad Khan, Danny Denzongpa, Kajal Kiran and Ranjeet.
Plot
Radha lives a poor lifestyle w ...
''. The films were reported both as successful hits at the box-office, further boosting Kiran's credibility and career.
Kiran later starred in the Bollywood-action film ''
Hum Se Hai Zamana
''Hum Se Hai Zamana'' is a 1983 Indian Hindi-language film, directed and produced by Deepak Bahry. It stars Mithun Chakraborty, Danny Denzongpa, Amjad Khan as lead heroes and Zeenat Aman, Kim, Kajal Kiran as their heroines respectively. Ranjeet ...
'' in 1983 as Chutki, the heroine to
Amjad Khan. She'd once again worked with Mithun Chakraborty and
Zeenat Aman
Zeenat Khan (born 19 November 1951), better known as Zeenat Aman, is an Indian actress and former fashion model. She first received recognition for her modelling work, and at the age of 19, went on to participate in beauty pageants, winning both ...
, and worked with the actress
Kim
Kim or KIM may refer to:
Names
* Kim (given name)
* Kim (surname)
** Kim (Korean surname)
*** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties
**** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948
** Kim, Vietnamese f ...
and the actor
Danny Denzongpa
Tshering Phintso "Danny" Denzongpa (born 25 February 1948) is an Indian actor, singer and film director who primarily works in Hindi films. He has acted in over 190 films since 1971. In 2003, Denzongpa was awarded the Padma Shree, India's fourt ...
. In spite of the credible cast, the film was a
box-office bomb
A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
, but became popular later for its songs. In the same year, she had also starred in the feature-film
''Karate'' as Geeta, working again alongside Mithun, and in the feature-film ''
Lalach''. Both films were box-office failures. The year before, she'd starred in
Kannada-film Sahasa Simha
''Sahasa Simha'' () is a 1982 Indian Kannada-language action crime thriller film directed by Joe Simon and produced by M. Pandurangan and M. Ramalingam. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Kajal Kiran, Rajya Lakshmi and Vajramuni. The film has music ...
, her first movie to be in a language other than
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
.
Kiran continued to work in films, hitting mainly average grossers and failures. However, Kiran was able to bounce back. In 1984, she starred in the
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
film ''
Uyarangalil
''Uyarangalil'' () is a 1984 Indian Malayalam-language thriller film directed by I. V. Sasi and written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair. It stars Mohanlal, Nedumudi Venu, Rahman, Ratheesh, Kajal Kiran and Swapna, . The music for the film was provided ...
'' as Devi Menon, starring alongside
Mohanlal
Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeare ...
,
Nedumudi Venu
Kesavan Venugopal (22 May 1948 – 11 October 2021), better known by his stage name Nedumudi Venu, was an Indian actor and screenwriter from Kerala, who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 500 films, primarily in Ma ...
, and
Rahman
Rahman (Arabic: or ) may refer to:
*Rahman, one of the names of God in Islam
*Ar-Rahman, the 55th sura of the Qur'an
People
*Rahman (name), an Arabic male personal name
**Short form of Abd al-Rahman
*Rahman (actor) (born 1967), Indian actor
*Rah ...
. The film was her second time she starred in a Malayalam film, with her starring in the film ''
Chakkarayumma
''Chakkarayumma'' is a 1984 Indian Malayalam film, directed by Sajan and produced by Jagan Appachan. The film stars Madhu, Srividya, Mammootty and Jagathy Sreekumar in the lead roles. The film has musical score by Shyam. The film was remade in T ...
'' earlier that year. With ''Chakkarayumma'' being a commercial disappointment along with a number of her films previously flopping, Kiran's career began to fluctuate. ''Uryangalil'' turned to be a critical box-office hit,
and was declared a
cult classic
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
and a superhit film.
In the next year, Kiran had made guest and
cameo appearances in a few films, including ''
Andar Baahar
''Andar Bahaar'' ( en, Inside and Outside, italic=yes) is a 1984 Hindi-language action film. Produced By Romu Sippy and directed by Raj N. Sippy, the film is a remake of the 1982 Hollywood film ''48 Hrs.''. The film stars Anil Kapoor, Jackie Sh ...
'', in which she'd worked with Danny Denzongpa and Kim once again. She was cast in the lead role in the
Tamil language
Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pudu ...
film
''Bandham'', along
Sivaji Ganesan
Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Ga ...
. In spite of the film being a box-office failure, it helped Kiran show her versatility. Later that year, she then was cast as Banu in the film ''
Aandhi-Toofan
''Aandhi-Toofan'' is a 1985 Indian Hindi-language film directed by B.Subhash, starring Shashi Kapoor, Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Mithun Chakraborty, Meenakshi Sheshadri and Danny Denzongpa.
Plot
Notorious biker-gangster Balvir (Danny D ...
'', along
Hema Malini
Hema Malini (born 16 October 1948) is an Indian actress, director, producer, and politician. She is primarily known for her work in Hindi films. Known for starring in both comic and dramatic roles, she is one of the most popular and successful ...
and the late
Shashi Kapoor
Shashi Kapoor (pronounced əʃi kəpuːɾ (born Balbir Raj Kapoor; 18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017) was an Indian actor and film producer who is best known for his work in Hindi films. A recipient of several accolades, including four Nation ...
. The film had turned to be one of the highest-grossing films of the year, and was a commercial hit at the box-office, further helping Kiran's career.
In 1986, Kiran's first role of the year was in the supporting character Savitri, starring with the late actress
Sridevi
Shree Amma Yanger Ayyappan (13 August 1963 – 24 February 2018), professionally credited with her stage name Sridevi, was an Indian actress who worked in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada language films. Cited as the "First Female ...
and once again starring with Jeetendra in the film ''
Ghar Sansar
''Ghar Sansar'' () is a 1986 Indian Hindi-language drama (film and television), drama film, produced by Vimal Kumar under the Shivam Chitrya banner and directed by K. Bapaiah, K. Bapayya. It stars Jeetendra, Sridevi and music composed by Rajes ...
''. The film was a success at the box-office, and turned to be one of the highest-grossing films of that year. She starred in two other films that year, ''Daku Bijlee'' and as Shobha in ''Inteqam Ki Aag'', in which both turned out to be commercial disappointments.
In the year following, Kiran only starred in one film. She starred as Saroj in the film ''
Muqaddar Ka Faisla
''Muqaddar Ka Faisla'' () is a 1987 Hindi action film directed by Prakash Mehra and produced by Yash Johar. It stars Raaj Kumar, Raakhee, Raj Babbar, Meenakshi Sheshadri, Tina Munim in pivotal roles. Bappi Lahiri has composed the music for t ...
'' with
Raaj Kumar
Raaj Kumar (born Kulbhushan Pandit; 8 October 1926 3 July 1996) was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi films. He appeared in the Oscar-nominated 1957 film ''Mother India'' and starred in over 70 Hindi films in a career that spanned over four ...
and
Rakhee
''Rakhi'' or ''Rakhee'' is a 2006 Indian Telugu-language masala film directed by Krishna Vamsi and starring Jr. NTR, Ileana D'Cruz and Charmme Kaur. Suhasini, Sarath Babu, Chandra Mohan, Brahmaji, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Saranya Ponvannan, Brahm ...
. The film was a failure at the box office. The majority of her films in this period turned to be box-office bombs, which led to Kiran's career begin to heavily fluctuate. Eventually, Kiran retired the film industry in 1990, in order to focus on her marriage with her spouse. Kiran's last five films, ''Deewane'', ''
Qurbani Rang Layegi'', ''
Rajoo Dada'', and ''
Aakhri Sanghursh
''Aakhri Sanghursh'' is a Hindi action film of Bollywood directed by Narendra Bedi and produced by G. M. Patel. The film stars Vijayendra Ghatge, Kajal Kiran, Mukesh Khanna in the key roles. This film was made in 1982 and was ready to be release ...
,'' were released in the years following her retirement.
She maintained her popularity by being part of
Vikram Aur Betaal
''Vikram Aur Betaal'' is an Indian television series that aired on DD National in 1985 & re-telecast in 1988 after the hit Series Ramayan. The series contained stories from Indian stories. The concept of the program was based on ''Baital Pa ...
serial from 1985 to 1988.
Contract misconception
While Kiran was shooting for ''Hum Kisise Kum Naheen'', the director,
Nasir Hussain
Mohammad Nasir Hussain Khan (16 November 1926 — 13 March 2002), better known as Nasir Hussain, was an Indian film producer, director, and screenwriter. With a career spanning decades, Hussain has been credited as a major trendsetter in the ...
, had told her not to sign any further films until after the film was released, and the results were seen. Due to this, other directors and producers had not approached her for films due to them being under the belief that a contract had been in place between Kiran and Hussain.
She'd lost chances for films such as
''Balika Badhu'' and ''
Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se
''Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se'' ( hi, अँखियों के झरोखे से, lit=Through the eyelashes) is a 1978 Indian Hindi language Drama (film and television), drama film, starring Ranjeeta and Sachin (actor), Sachin and direc ...
'', which went on to be critically and commercially successful.
Kiran never commented or discussed on the misunderstandings.
Personal life
Kiran kept a low profile throughout her career, and never revealed much of her private life.
Kiran later married to a spouse whose identity she did not disclose,
and promptly moved to the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
following her retirement in 1990.
Since her retirement, she has not been seen in public. It has been reported that Kiran now has two children.
Filmography
Kiran appeared in a total of 44 films from 1977 to 1990.
See also
*
List of Indian film actresses
This is an alphabetical list of notable Indian film actresses.
A
* Aaditi Pohankar
* Aahana Kumra
* Aakanksha Singh
* Aamna Sharif
* Aanchal Munjal
* Aarathi
* Aarti Agarwal
* Aarti Chhabria
* Aashka Goradia
* Abhirami
* Adah Shar ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiran, Kajal
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Indian film actresses
Actresses from Mumbai
Actresses in Malayalam cinema
Living people
Actresses in Kannada cinema
Actresses in Tamil cinema
20th-century Indian actresses
1958 births