Waheeda Rehman

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Waheeda Rahman
Waheeda Rehman in Pyaasa (1957)
Born	1936 Hyderabad, India
Spouse(s)	Kamaljit Singh
Notable roles	Gulabo in Pyaasa Kamini in C.I.D. Shanti in Kaagaz Ke Phool Rosie/Nalini in Guide Jameela in Chaudhvin Ka Chand Jaba in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam Hira Bai Teesri Kasam

Waheeda Rehman (born May 14, 1936) is a famous Indian actress whose prime was in the late-1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Waheeda Rehman was born into a traditional Muslim family in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh in 1936. Her father, a DM, was posted all over the South. She had dreamt of becoming a doctor, but destiny willed otherwise and she could not undergo proper schooling, due to some infection in her lungs. She was trained in Bharatnatyam and, prodded by her helpful parents, hit the silver screen with the Telugu film Jaisimha (1955), followed by Rojulu Maraayi (1955). She lost her father at the age of twelve.

She was spotted by Guru Dutt in a song in a later film and was brought to Bombay and cast as a vamp in his production C.I.D. (1956), directed by Raj Khosla. After a few years of joining Hindi films, she lost her mother. After the success of C.I.D., she was given a leading role in Pyaasa (1957). It was at this point that she got involved in an unsuccessful love affair with director Guru Dutt. Their next venture together, Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), depicted the story of a successful director's fall from grace after he falls for his leading lady, and foreshadowed events in Guru Dutt's own life as well. Guru Dutt's marital status and her success in films outside his tore them apart personally and professionally, although they continued to work together in 1960's Chaudhvin Ka Chand. She completed Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) under some strain. They broke away from each other after the film's indifferent reception at the Berlin Film Festival in 1963. Guru Dutt committed suicide in 1964.

Her career continued throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Though she did some very good films after Guide (1965) and Neel Kamal (1968), some failed at the box office. At around this time, Kamaljit Singh (who starred opposite her in Shagun (1964)) proposed marriage. She accepted the proposal and they were married on April 27, 1974. After her marriage, she shifted to a farmhouse in Bangalore and took to farming. She bore two children named Sohail and Kashvi. On November 21, 2000 her husband died following a prolonged illness. She cut down her film assignments and moved back to her sea-facing bungalow in Bandra, Bombay where she lives currently.