Lillete Dubey

Lillete Dubey
Dubey in 2012
Born	(1953-09-07) 7 September 1953 Pune, Maharashtra, India[1]
Ethnicity	Sindhi
Occupation	actress, director
Children	Neha Dubey Ira Dubey

Lillete Dubey (born 7 September 1953) is an Indian actress who has worked in theatre, television and Bollywood films.^[2]

Early life

Dubey was born in Pune as Lillete kiswani to a Sindhi Hindu family. Her father, Govind Kiswani, was an engineer who worked with Indian Railways, and her mother, Leela, was a gynaecologist.^[3][4] The widespread belief that Dubey is a Christian or of mixed-race parentage is totally incorrect. Her father wanted to give her a "modern" sounding name, and came up with "Lillete" as a faux-French derivation of her mother's name, Leela, with the intended meaning being "little Leela." Dubey, however, never liked her name "from day one." ^[5]

Dubey is the eldest of three siblings. She has a sister, Lushin (named after Ilyushin, a Russian aircraft), and a brother, Patanjali, named in honour of the ancient rishi who compiled the Yoga Sutras. Lushin is the wife of Pradeep Dubey, a noted academic.

Career

Dubey has appeared in numerous movies, including Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding co-starring Nasiruddin Shah, Kal Ho Naa Ho, which starred Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan and Jaya Bachchan, Baghban alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Bow Barracks Forever alongside her daughter Neha Dubey, and Housefull alongside Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone.

Dubey also played a role in the British film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which starred Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, and Bill Nighy.

Dubey is also an acclaimed theatre director, television and film artist, and was part of the Theatre Action Group in Delhi.^[6]

Dubey has directed a number of plays, most notable being Mahesh Dattani's Dance Like a Man, which is the longest running play in English, having completed 497 shows across the world, including a two-week run on the Broadway.

Personal life

Dubey has been married to Ravi Dubey, the senior vice president of corporate communications at Tata Group, since 1978. The couple have two daughters, Neha and Ira, both of whom have played a variety of small and supporting roles in theatre, film and television. Additionally, Neha is a psychiatrist with an independent practice in Mumbai.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

• Lillete Dubey at the Internet Movie Database