Leena Chandavarkar

Leena Chandavarkar (born 29 August 1950) is an Indian former actress who appeared in Bollywood movies as a leading actress and now appears in reality shows. She was one of the successful actresses of late 60s and early 70s alongside Mumtaz, Hema Malini, Rakhee, Rekha and later alongside Reena Roy, Moushumi Chatterjee and Jaya Bhaduri. She played leading heroine opposite almost all superstars during that era and was frequently paired opposite Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Jeetendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Vinod Khanna, Thespian Dilip Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Raaj Kumar.

Leena Chandavarkar
Leena Chandavarkar at the 4th Bharat Ratan Dr. Ambedkar Awards in 2014
Born (1950-08-29) 29 August 1950[1]
Dharawad, Karnataka, India
NationalityIndian
OccupationActress
Years active1968–1985
Spouse(s)
Siddharth Bandodkar
​
(
m. 1975; died 1976)
[2]
​
(
m. 1980; died 1987)
ChildrenSumit Kumar

Biography

Leena Chandavarkar was born to a Konkani Marathi speaking Army officer Sreenath Chandavarkar at Dharwad in Karnataka in 1950. She was supposed to debut with the film Maseeha (1967) opposite Sunil Dutt costarring Raaj Kumar and Mumtaz too under the direction of Sunil Dutt himself. The film got shelved and she made her debut under the direction of Sunil Dutt with the movie Man ka Meet in 1968. The movie was a hit and she became an overnight star. She was one of the topmost heroines in early 70s alongside Hema Malini and Mumtaz. She turned down roles like Kal Aaj aur Kal (1970) opposite Randhir Kapoor, Khilona (1970) opposite Sanjeev Kumar, Sharmilee (1971) opposite Shashi Kapoor, Kati Patang (1971) opposite Rajesh Khanna, Hanste Zakham (1973) opposite Navin Nischol, Jheel Ke Us Paar (1973) and Resham Ki Dori (1974) opposite Dharmendra, Khaan Dost(1976) opposite Shatrughan Sinha and Ganga Ki Saugandh (1978) opposite Amitabh Bachchan. The films she turned down went to Asha Parekh, Mumtaz, Babita, Rakhee and Rekha. A film with Dev Anand never saw the light of the day. She had an elder brother Anil Chandavarkar who married director Atmaram's daughter and has a daughter from the marriage. He committed suicide in 1985. She quit Bollywood after marriage with singing legend Kishore Kumar only to return for two movies later.[3]

Career

Leena Chandavarkar came into the limelight after finishing as one of the runners-up for the Fresh Face Competition organized across the country by Filmfare. Initially, she worked in advertisements but eventually ventured into films. She made her debut in Man Ka Meet for Sunil Dutt, and it was his wife Nargis who groomed her to be an actress. Between 1969 and 1979, Leena acted in many films. She was cast opposite many of popular heroes of that era. She gave one of her best performances in Mehboob Ki Mehndi with Rajesh Khanna in 1971.

Bairaag is another example where she acted with the great screen legend Dilip Kumar and a mighty star cast of Saira Bano, Prem Chopra and Helen.

She appeared as a guest judge for the first 2 episodes of "K for Kishore", a new reality TV singing show launched by Sony TV during December 2007. She is now appearing for the reality shows. She also penned some songs for Amit Kumar and Rajesh Bambal for a music album.

Personal life

She had an arranged marriage to her first husband, Siddharth Bandodkar, who came from a prominent Goan political family. He died from an accidental gunshot wound, a few days into the marriage, leaving Leena a widow at age 25.[4] A few years later, she married singing legend Kishore Kumar. Her father initially objected because Kumar had been married three times already, and was more than 20 years older than her, but he soon came around and welcomed Kumar into the family. She has a son with Kishore Kumar named Sumit Ganguly. Kishore died in 1987, leaving Leena once again a widow at age 37. She lives with her son Sumit, her step-son Amit, and his wife.

Filmography
YearMoviesRoleCo-StarNotes
1989 Mamta Ki Chhao Mein Leena Rai Rajesh Khanna
1985 Sarfarosh Sita Jeetendra
1980 Zalim Kiran Vinod Khanna
Pyar Ajnabi Hai Unreleased Kishore Kumar
1978 Daaku aur Jawan Seeta Vinod Khanna Semihit
Nalayak Seema Jeetendra
1977 Aafat Inspector Chhaya Navin Nischol
Aakhri Goli Suman Sunil Dutt
Naami Chor Dr.Leena Biswajit
Yaaron Ka Yaar Bindiya Shatrughan Sinha
1976 Bairaag Soniya Dilip Kumar
1975 Qaid Preet Vinod Khanna Hit
Jaggu Geeta Shatrughan Sinha
Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka Sonia Dharmendra
Apne Rang Hazaar Malti Sanjeev Kumar
1974 Bidaai Padma D. Das Jeetendra Superhit
Chor Chor Hema Vijay Anand
Manchali Leena Sanjeev Kumar Semihit
Imaan Imli Sanjeev Kumar
1973 Anhonee Dr. Rekha Sanjeev Kumar Semihit
Ek Kunwari Ek Kunwara Neela Rakesh Roshan
Honeymoon Madhu Bhargav Anil Dhawan
1972 Dil Ka Raja Geeta Raaj Kumar
1971 Rakhwala Chandni Dharmendra
Chingari Reshma Sanjay Khan
Preetam Sharan B. Sinha/Bindya Shammi Kapoor
Jaane-Anjaane Mala Shammi Kapoor
Main Sunder Hoon Radha Biswajit Semihit
Mehboob Ki Mehndi Shabana Rajesh Khanna
1970 Humjoli Ranibala Rai Jeetendra Superhit
Jawab Chanchal Jeetendra
Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi Sadhana Deepak Chaud Sanjay Khan
1968 Man Ka Meet Aarti Som Dutt Semihit
gollark: Ha, I finally made that work!
gollark: =tex 5.\frac{3}{2}
gollark: Hey, you could implement *hashtags*.
gollark: I'm imagining all the evil stuff I could make stuff do.
gollark: You could call it "5.15". Probably shouldn't. But could.

References
  1. "The hardships of Leena Chandavarkar". YouTube. 4 February 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  2. "After being widowed at the age of 25, Leena Chandavarkar married a 25-year-older singer". YouTube. 1 September 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  3. "Can't change one's destiny". Deccan Chronicle. 11 August 2011. Archived from the original on 15 August 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 April 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[1]

  1. "Leena Chandavarkar: Ram Jethmalani asked my permission before kissing me". 25 February 2015.
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