Hema Malini Turns 78: The Actress Who Played Twins and Won Only Once for It

Balle Balle Radio™ Entertainment Desk

Hema Malini turns 78 on 16 October 2026, having been born on the same date in 1948 in Ammankudi, in what was then Madras Province.

Throughout her filmography, Malini earned eleven Filmfare Best Actress nominations, securing the award on a single occasion, for a dual role as separated twins who swap identities in Seeta Aur Geeta in 1972. According to published film records, that single win came in a career that also saw her named to Box Office India’s Top Actress list sixteen times between 1970 and 1985, topping the list eleven of those years.

Malini’s screen career began far from Hindi cinema, with a 1963 debut in the Tamil film Idhu Sathiyam. Her first lead role came five years later, opposite Raj Kapoor in Sapno Ka Saudagar. She was promoted early on using the Dream Girl label, a tag that later became the title of a 1977 film she starred in.

Beyond acting, Malini moved into direction and production, making Dil Aashna Hai in 1992 with Divya Bharti and Shah Rukh Khan, and Mohini in 1995, which featured her niece Madhoo. She also directed three television productions for Doordarshan. In 2000, she became the first woman to chair the National Film Development Corporation, the same year she received the Padma Shri and a Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.

Her training outside film includes classical dance: Malini trained in Bharatanatyam and went on to study Kuchipudi and Mohiniattam dance forms, and she runs the Natya Vihar Kalakendra dance school. In 2024, she performed as Sita in a stage retelling of the Ramayana staged for the Ram Mandir inauguration in Ayodhya.

According to career records, Malini was recognised again in 2019 with a Filmfare Special Award marking fifty years of work in cinema, and in 2021 received the Indian Film Personality of the Year Award at the International Film Festival of India.

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