Reena Roy

Claim Page

Reena Roy was the third daughter of a Muslim Father and a Hindu mother. Her parents were divorced after her birth. She has three siblings. Two sisters and a brother. She had taken a decision to enter films due to the financial constraints in her family and to support her mother and her siblings due to which she started acting in the Bollywood industry in her early teens. She came from a broken home of separated parents.

Reena Roy married the Pakistani Cricketer Mohsin Khan and has a daughter named Sanam. However they couple divorced a few years back and she had almost lost the custody of her daughter until her ex-husband re-married and she was able to get the custody of her daughter who now lives with her. Reena Roy was a leading lady of Hindi films from the period 1972 to 1985 . Her off screen relationship with Shatrughan Sinha ended in 1979.

Reena Roy’s career started with B. R Ishara’s Nai Duniya Naye Log in 1973 with Danny Denzongpa who was also a newcomer but the film got shelved and the director B. R Ishara once again cast her in the film Zaroorat with the new comer Vijay Arora . The film went on to be a superhit. Reena Roy was called the ‘ Zaroorat ‘ girl . She did not get films and offers coming her way so had a break soon after the release of her first film . Then came her role in the film Jaise Ko Taisa in 1973 with Jeetendra and she became popular for her song number which was a rain soaked dance ‘ Abke Sawan’ . She became a sensation overnight and got many more offers and went on to do more films like Jangal Mein Mangal, Rani Aur Lalpari, Madhosh , Goonj and Umar Qaid but none of these films created impact on her acting skills no did the films do well.. In mid 70’s she got better films to do , Zakhmee in 1975 and Kalicharan in 1976 established her as one of the best actresses and the films did extremely well at the box office, making her popular among the film makers and director as well as her audience. When Kalicharan was being made there was not much expectation as a failed actor Shatrughan Sinha was making his first role as Lead hero after playing villainous roles in his earlier films and it was also one of Subhash Ghai’s first film after a series of flops in his earlier directorial attempts. But the film became a super hit and Reena Roy as Shatrughan Sinha’s love interest , created an onscreen chemistry making them both one of the most popular star pair. The pair went on to many more films together. Gaining popularity from this film she got another major role in a multistar cast as the deadly Nagin for the film Nagin wherein she avenges the death of her snake husband and murders five leading male stars. The film was a super hit with the songs also getting very popular and Reena Roy received her first Filmfare nomination for this film for Best Actress and was on the top actress in Hindi films. Raj Kumar Kohli worked with Reena after the success of Nagin to bring out some of the greatest multi starring blockbuster films such as Jaani Dushman, Muqabla , both in 1979 and Raaj Tilak and 1984. Reena Roy and Shatrughan Sinha together teamed as one of the most famous star pairs on the screen and went on to do more films after Kalicharan and delivered hits after hits completing 9 successful films as a lead pair. She also paired with Jeetendra for 17 films which were marital dramas like Badaltey Ristey in 1978, Pyaasa Sawan in 1982 that set her to a new level of success. Jeetendra-Reena Roy paired romantically and produced some of the greatest hits together. Apnapan, in 1977, Aasha in 1980 and Arpan in 1983 were some of Reena’s turning point in the film career .Her dance on the song lyrics of ‘ Shisha Ho Ya Dil’ in the film Aasha immortalized her as an icon in the film industry. Her role in the film Apnapan as Supporting Actress won her the Award for the Best Supporting Actress by Filmfare Awards. She is said to have rejected the award saying she was the lead actress and not the supporting actress as the film also had Sulakshana Pandit in the lead role. The film on the base story of Kramer vs Kramer glorified Reena Roy with her popularity in this film. After the box office success of Aasha for which the actress received her second filmfare nominations for Best Actress, Reena Roy was at her prime as leading lady in demand in the Indian film industry . she teamed up with Rajesh Khanna in four films which were all super hits . Some of her memorable roles were in Dhanwan in 1981, Naukar Biwi Ka in 1983 with Dharmendra and Jail Yatra with Vinod Khanna. Reena Roy worked with top directors like Prakash Mehra, Raj Khosla and Sultan Ahmad with all whom she did some crucial roles. She also worked with Shashi Kapoor and was one of the stiff completion for her was Hema Malini who was on the No.1 position in the 1980’s but it is said Reena Roy not only replaced Hema Malini but also Zeenat Aman as one of the highest paid actress between 1981 and 1985. In 1982 Reena Roy had thirteen releases and was in a demanding position . She did films like Prem Tapasya in 1983, Asha Jyoti in 1984 which were emotional melodramas. She was a versatile actress and she danced well effortlessly and no matter what the story was she gave her best performance whether it was a serious film or a classic she was brilliant in her performance. Some of her films were Rocky in 1981 and Hathkadi in 1982, Karishma as the glamorous and sophisticated model , Dharam Kanta that showed her in the role of a seductive village belle and in Ladies Tailor with Sanjeev Kumar in a double role with an extraordinary performance that fetched her further popularity . Reena Roy then went on to be at the peak of her career with the desire to do more films that were women oriented in films like Sau Din Saas Ke , Bezubaan , Lakshmi , Sanam Teri Kasam which was produced by her sister Barkha Roy. When the actress was at the pinnacle of her stardom was when Reena Roy decided to quit the film industry to marry the Pakistani Cricekter Mohsin Khan. Her last film was with Rajesh Khanna, for the film Asha Jyoti and Hum Dono and she completed the film Inteha in 1984. Some of the films that were released after her marriage were Ghulami and Hum Dono. After a long break with her marriage , the actress returned to Bollywood in 1993 in a pivotal role in Aadmi Khilona Hai which saw a much matured Reena Roy and she went on to act in 9 more films till the year 2000 , except for her film Gair in 1999 none of her films were successful.This was also the period when Reena Roy had her personal share of problems with her husband Mohsin Khan and the divorce and she was fighting over the custody of her daughter. Reena Roy’s most recent appearance was in J.P. Dutta’s film Refugee in 2000.