Birthday Greetings to Reena Roy, one of the most sought-after actresses of 1970s and 1980s in Hindi cinema, who turned 62 years today.

Veteran actor Reena Roy, who struck to fame with films like Kaalicharan, Ngin, Apnapan, Aasha, and Vishwanath was unarguably one of the most popular female actors of her times.

She started her career in films while she was in her teens with B R Ishara’s Nayi Duniya Naye Log (1973) which could not be released for some time. He then made another film Zaroorat (1972) with Reena Roy, Danny Denzongpa and Vijay Arora, all three newcomers. It was a bold film for its times and though Reena Roy got noticed she did not get good roles for some time. Her films Jungle Mein Mangal (1972), Madhosh (1974), Goonj (1974), Umar Qaid (1975) and Rani Aur Lalpari (1975) did moderately well.

But Roy’s big break came with Jaise Ko Taisa (1973) opposite Jeetendra. The song “Abke sawan” which featured dance in the rain went on to become quite popular.

Then in 1976, she worked in Subhash Ghai’s directorial debut Kalicharan starring Shatrughan Sinha opposite her. The film was a surprise Hit and gave her the much-needed break. This led to Zakhmee (1975) and Rajkumar Kohli’s Nagin (1976) with Sunil Dutt. The film was a huge hit and established Reena as one of the top actresses of the time in league with Rekha, Zeenat Aman, Parveen Babi, and Rakhee.

Reena started to climb the ladder of success further and she worked with Jeetendra in more than a dozen films and gave several hits and super hits including Badaltey Rishte (1978) and Pyaasa Sawan (1982). Their films Apnapan (1977), Aasha (1980) and Arpan (1983) were classics that are known for great performances by Reena Roy in challenging roles and won her critical appreciation.1982 marked a significant year in her career as Reena had thirteen releases back to back which ruled the box-office collections. During this time, she got the opportunity to work with famous actors like Rajesh Khanna, Sanjeev Kumar, Dharmendra, and Amitabh Bachchan.

She proved herself to be a versatile actress with different films that included Jaani Dushman (1979), Muqabla (1979), Badle Ki Aag (1982), Naseeb (1981), Ladies Tailor (1981), Rocky (1981), Dhanwan (1981), Haathkadi (1982), Lakshmi (1982), Bezubaan (1982), Sanam Teri Kasam (1982), Dharam Kanta (1982) and Raaj Tilak (1984).

In 1983, Reena Roy decided to quit films and married Pakistani cricketer Mohsin Khan. They couldn’t stay together for long though and got divorced. Reena has a daughter named Sanam Khan.

She made her comeback in films with Aadmi Khilona Hai (1993) and did a couple of films thereafter. Her last appearance was in the film Refugee (2000).

She started an acting school with her sister Barkha Roy which has been running since 2004.