Legendary actress Dimple Kapadia may have taken a big career break and at times been selective about her work, but that hasn’t taken away from the remarkable impact she has made on popular culture.
Whether it is her work in cinema, becoming a role model for single working mothers, breaking boundaries or her striking good looks, she is an icon who has been revered by different generations. She turns a year older on June 8 and celebrates her 66th birthday. Eastern Eye decided to mark the special occasion by presenting 10 magic moments from her life and career.
Bobby
Bobby (1973): The teenage Kapadia became an instant sensation with a winning debut in the romantic musical and turned into a pinup for a new generation. The highest grossing Bollywood film of that year also introduced teen romance into Hindi cinema, which would repeatedly be copied in subsequent decades. Such was her impact that shortly after Bobby was released, she married India’s most eligible bachelor and biggest movie star Rajesh Khanna.
Brave move: Having married as a teenager, she won admiration for being brave enough to walk away from a difficult marriage with her two daughters and become a young single working mother in her twenties. That courageous move won a lot of admiration, along with reconnecting her to acting and audiences demanding her return. She would further empower her daughters Twinkle and Rinke Khanna, who both pursued acting.
Saagar
Saagar (1985): The movie that confirmed Kapadia was back in the Bollywood big time was the multi-award-winning romantic drama, which would become India’s official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. She won a Filmfare Best Actress award and sent temperatures soaring with one particularly hot scene.
Lekin (1991): The mystery drama produced by legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar won universal acclaim and earned Kapadia a Filmfare Best Actress nomination. The slowburning story saw her deliver a stunning performance as a restless ghost in a movie, which won multiple awards. Kapadia has said that it was her all-time favourite character and Raveena Tandon later described it as a dream role rarely found in Hindi films.
Rudaali
Rudaali (1993): Kapadia headlined the artistic drama, which was the official Indian entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th Academy Awards. One of Kapadia’s career best performances earned her a prestigious National Award and Filmfare Critics award for Best Actress. It was named by many as that year’s best Hindi film, largely thanks to her great turn as a lonely and hardened woman, who works as a professional mourner.
Krantiveer (1994): The actress made a huge impact with her role of a journalist, who persuades an alcoholic, unemployed village man to be a champion of justice in this superb sleeper hit. She added real weight to the movie and was rewarded with a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress award. Her being a strong supporting actress, would largely define the second half of her career.
Dil Chahta Hai
Dil Chahta Hai (2001): Whether it was the dialogues, storyline, outfits, haircuts, urban setting or a young filmmaking team, the musical revolving around friendship and love introduced a lot of new elements into Hindi cinema. A big highlight was the crossgenerational love angle, driven by a dynamic performance by Kapadia as the artist who develops an unexpected bond with a much younger man.
Tenet
Being Cyrus (2006): She delivered a great performance in the English language black comedy and is brilliant as the neurotic, unfaithful wife, who embarks on an affair with a younger man. This would lead her to other stand-out turns in English language films like Finding Fanny (2014) and Tenet (2020).
Hollywood: The actress played a key role in mega-budget Hollywood film Tenet (2020). She won universal praise for the mindbending Christopher Nolan entertainer. One reviewer wrote that she quietly steals every scene she is in, as the arms dealer. She credited Tenet as being the project that restored her passion for film acting.
Web series: The actress made a stunning impact with her debut web series Tandav (2021). Although the Amazon Prime drama was embroiled in controversy, her performance as a power-hungry politician trying to undermine a rival showed just how great she is as an actress. She has made another winning appearance in newly released series Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo (2023) and has many more projects on the way. Kapadia continues to be unstoppable, and we celebrate that brilliance.
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