Farah

She was one of the prominent actresses in Bollywood in the late 1980s and the mid-1990s. She was paired with Prosenjit Chatterjee in the 1989 Bengali movie Aamar Tumi. Farha's landmark films were Love 86 (1986), Naseeb Apna Apna (1986), Imaandaar (1987), Marte Dam Tak (1987), Woh Phir Aayegi (1988), Naqab (1989), Yateem (1988), Baap Numbri Beta Dus Numbri (1990), Begunaah (1991), Bhai Ho To Aisa (1995) and Sautela Bhai (1996). She also did three films with Rajesh Khanna. She retired from acting in 1996 after her first marriage, though she later did a few television serials. She has worked with almost all of the top actors of her time, including Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty, Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Raj Babbar, Govinda, Aditya Pancholi, Aamir Khan, Kumar Gaurav, and Rahul Roy.

• Birth Name — Farah Naaz Hashmi • Birthplace — Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India (now in Telangana, India) • Years Active — 1984–2005 • Occupation — Actress • Children — 1 (son) • Relatives — Tabbu (sister)

Farah was born to Jamal Ali Hashmi and Rizwana in a Hyderabadi family. Her parents divorced soon after. Her mother was a school-teacher and her maternal grandparents were retired professors who ran a school. Her grandfather, Mohammed Ahsan, was a professor of Mathematics, and her grandmother was a professor of English Literature. She is the niece of Shabana Azmi and Baba Azmi, and the elder sister of Tabu.

Farah made her debut in 1985 with Yash Chopra's Faasle opposite Mahendra Kapoor's son Rohan Kapoor. Although Faasle was a disaster, Farah got many other big offers such as Shakti Samanta's Palay Khan, K.C. Bokadia's Naseeb Apna Apna and Pran Lal Mehta's Love 86. She was part of hits such as Marte Dam Tak, Imaandaar, Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani, Diljalaa, Rakhwala, Woh Phir Aayegi, Veeru Dada, Baap Numbri Beta Dus Numbri and Begunaah. Her performance in the hit films – Woh Phir Aayegi and Begunaah were critically acclaimed. J.P. Dutta's Yateem got her critical acclaim, and it was one of her performance-oriented roles, along with films such as Hamara Khandaan, Kaarnama, Naqaab, Khatarnaak and Pati Patni Aur Tawaif, although they were commercial failures. In the 1990s, she worked with Aamir Khan in two films; Jawani Zindabad and Isi Ka Naam Zindagi, but both flopped at the box office. She was signed for Khuda Gawah and she shot for a few scenes, but due to delays in production, she was later replaced with Shilpa Shirodkar. However, till date, her role in Woh Phir Aayegi and Begunaah with Rajesh Khanna are considered her best performances. Around the same time, she married Dara Singh's son Vindu Dara Singh. Farah then started playing supporting roles in films such as Muqabla, Dhartiputra and Izzat Ki Roti. Muqabla was very successful, but later, her other films between 1993 and 1996 were not successful, though Sautela Bhai was a commercial hit and critically acclaimed. She later switched to television and did serials such as Amar Prem, Andaz, Ahaa (all three produced by Himesh Reshammiya), Vailayiti Babu, Angan, Ardhangini, Aurat Teri Yehi Kahani and Papa. Farah was also planning a mega serial called Taqdeer, but the project got shelved. She then acted in 2004 in Hulchul.

Farah married actor Vindu Dara Singh in 1996, with whom she has a son Fateh Randhawa (b. 1997). The couple divorced in 2002. She married actor Sumeet Saigal in 2003.