Parveen Babi 4 April β 20 January was an Indian actress and model. Recognized for her roles in Hindi films throughout the s and early s, [5] Babi was known for her "glamorous" acting style, and was one of the highest-paid actresses.
Babi made her acting debut with the film Charitra , and received recognition for her role as Neela in the drama film Majboor In , she was the first Bollywood star to appear on the cover of Time magazine. Babi's personal life has been well-documented by the media; she had remained unmarried after a string of relationships with Kabir Bedi , Danny Denzongpa and Mahesh Bhatt. She was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia , where she came to attention following various incidents due to her mental health, as well as diabetes.
On 20 January , Babi died of multiple organ failure. She was the only child in a noble Junagadh-based family who belonged to the Khilji Babi tribe of Pashtuns known as the Pathans of Gujarat that had long settled in Gujarat.
Parveen Babi's modelling career began in and was quickly followed by her film debut with the film Charitra , opposite cricketer Salim Durrani. Babi first received recognition for her role as Neela in the drama film Majboor She had her breakthrough starring as a prostitute , Anita, in the action crime - drama film Deewaar , which attained a cult following , and helped established her as a leading lady.
She starred opposite Amitabh Bachchan in eight films, all hits or super-hits. Later in her career, she had also appeared in off-beat films such as Vinod Pande's Yeh Nazdeekiyan , playing the "other woman" opposite Marc Zuber , and Dil Akhir Dil Hai , opposite Naseeruddin Shah. Her career peaked at the time when most heroines were engulfed in Indian attributes and Babi was one among the few actresses whose attire was completely westernised and this provided her a certain latitude many other contemporary female artists were denied in India's heavily male-dominated and misogynistic cinematic fiefdom.
