Zarina Wahab is an Indian actress who predominantly worked in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

films. Known for critically acclaimed roles in ''

Chitchor ''Chitchor'' () is a 1976 Indian Hindi-language romantic musical film, written and directed by Basu Chatterjee. The film is a Rajshri Productions film produced by Tarachand Barjatya. It is based on a Bengali story, ''Chittachakor'' by Subod ...

'' and '' Gopal Krishna'' in

and

Malayalam cinema Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam, Malayalam language, primarily spoken in Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands. It encompasses both th ...

with films like '' Madanolsavam'', '' Chamaram'', ''Palangal'' and ''

Adaminte Makan Abu ''Adaminte Makan Abu'' () is a 2011 Indian Malayalam-language social drama film written, directed and co-produced by Salim Ahamed. It stars Salim Kumar and Zarina Wahab, with Mukesh, Kalabhavan Mani, Suraj Venjarammoodu, and Nedumudi Ve ...

''.

Early life

Wahab was born in

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

. She is fluent in her mother tongue Telugu, in addition to

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

and English. She was trained at

Film and Television Institute of India The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is a film institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India and aided by the Central Government of India. ...

(FTII), Pune. Wahab has three sisters and one brother.

Career

After receiving negative feedback about her appearance from film producer

Raj Kapoor Raj Kapoor (; born as Shrishti Nath Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influen ...

, Wahab worked on her appearance and attended film parties and events. She eventually got noticed and was cast in films. She was usually cast as the middle-class girl after her first leading role in

Basu Chatterjee Basu Chatterjee (10 January 1927 – 4 June 2020) was an Indian film director and screenwriter in Hindi Cinema. Through the 1970s and 1980s, he became associated with what came to be known as middle cinema or middle-of-the-road cinema filmmaker ...

's ''

Chit Chor ''Chitchor'' () is a 1976 Indian Hindi-language romantic musical film, written and directed by Basu Chatterjee. The film is a Rajshri Productions film produced by Tarachand Barjatya. It is based on a Bengali story, ''Chittachakor'' by Subod ...

'' (1976) in movies like ''Agar'', ''Jazbaat'', ''Sawan Ko Aane Do'', and ''Raees Zada''. She was nominated for a

Filmfare Award The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Time ...

in the Best Actress category for '' Gharonda'' (1977).1st Filmfare Awards 1953
. Deep750.googlepages.com. Retrieved 29 September 2012. She has acted in many

, Telugu,

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

, films. Wahab made a comeback to

films with ''

Calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A calendar date, date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is ...

'', in 2009 and has continued to act in Malayalam movies. She is still remembered for her role in the critically acclaimed ''

''. She also appeared in ''

My Name Is Khan ''My Name Is Khan'' is a 2010 social action drama film directed by Karan Johar and co-written by Shibani Bathija and Niranjan Iyengar. It stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in the lead roles, and is a co-production between India, the United St ...

'' as the mother of Rizwan Khan (

Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as the "Padishah, Baadshah of Bollywood" and "King Khan", he has Shah Rukh K ...

's character). Wahab currently plays older roles in television serials.

Personal life

Wahab met actor Aditya Pancholi on the sets of ''Kalank Ka Tika''. They married in 1986 and have a daughter, Sana and a son, Sooraj. News of their turbulent marriage, her husband's temper and rumors of infidelity have been in the gossip columns. Wahab's daughter is an actress. Her son, Suraj, was arrested in June 2013, in connection with the death of Jiah Khan. He made his Bollywood debut with Sunil Shetty's daughter Athiya Shetty in 2015 in the movie ''

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

''. in 2024, She defended her husband and her son during controversies.

Filmography

Feature films

Television series

Web series

Awards and nominations

* Nominated–

Filmfare Award for Best Actress The Filmfare Award for Best Actress is given by '' Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise the female performer who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role. The award was first given in ...

(1977) for '' Gharonda''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wahab, Zarina 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses from Mumbai Actresses from Visakhapatnam Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Hindi television Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Female models from Andhra Pradesh Film and Television Institute of India alumni Indian actresses Indian television actresses Living people Telugu actresses Year of birth missing (living people)