Barkha Madan

QAMYAB – THE FORGOTTEN GEMS OF BOLLYWOOD

Qamyab is our humble tribute to all those lesser-known actors, one hit wonders and junior artists who we see umpteen times but don’t know about; beyond their faces. These actors have been an integral part of Bollywood but didn’t get their due. This series is our sincere attempt to put a name to these faces, familiarize them to our readers and celebrate their achievements in life – however big or small. We believe that every artist contributes in his/her own way to the cinema’s success. Qamyab will explore the unknown lives of such actors and artists as we believe even these forgotten gems of Bollywood deserve their due recognition today.

We all know how the 1994 Miss India pageant made overnight celebrities out of winners Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai, when they went on to become Miss Universe and Miss World, respectively. Both the ladies made it big in Bollywood and enjoyed a fruitful acting career for many years.

Not many know that one more young beauty participated in the same Miss India contest that year and won the title of Miss Tourism International 1994. She also followed the same path to Bollywood and delivered two big hits in succession. Yes, our forgotten gem this week is Barkha Madan, whose journey from glamour world to spiritual space will surely interest our readers.

Born on 9th August, 1974, in a Punjabi family, Barkha Madan had made a name for herself as a model before entering the Miss India contest at the age of just twenty years. Interestingly, apart from Aishwarya and Sushmita, her fellow contestants that year included Priya Gill, Shweta Menon and Jesse Randhawa.

Like most of these participants, Barkha also started getting movie offers and she made her Bollywood debut with Umesh Mehra’s musical actioner Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996), which had Akshay Kumar, Rekha and Raveena Tandon in lead roles. Barkha was cast in the role of a Canadian girl, who falls in love with Akshay’s onscreen brother played by newcomer Inder Kumar. The lovely duet ‘Tu waaqif nahin meri deewangi se’ was picturised on them.

Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi became a huge hit but its credit went to Akshay and Rekha. While Barkha’s performance was appreciated, her role was evidently cut short at the editing table.

Nevertheless, Barkha Madan got few more Hindi offers but she chose to be selective and rejected them all. Instead, she worked in an Indo-Dutch production Driving Miss Palmen (1996), which received a lot of critical acclaim.

For the next few years, Barkha struggled to get good roles in Bollywood. Her next big break came in 2003 when she was cast by the maverick filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma (RGV) in his horror flick Bhoot. Barkha played the pivotal role of a ghost called Manjeet, who haunts the new inhabitants of her house.

Bhoot was a critical as well as commercial success and Barkha Madan received a lot of appreciation for the titular role. Whenever her character appeared on screen, the audience would get goosebumps. People would recognise her on the streets and shout aloud “Manjeet”!! Surprisingly, no meaty film offers came to Barkha even after the success of Bhoot.

Sometime in 2009, Barkha Madan started her own production company called Golden Gate LLC to promote Indie art-house cinema. She produced two critically acclaimed movies under this banner: Soch Lo (2010) and Surkhaab (2012). Apart from producing, Barkha also acted in these films. Unfortunately, they bombed at the box office, which burnt a hole in her pocket.

On the television front, Barkha Madan appeared in noteworthy serials like 1857 Kranti (2002) (in which she played Rani Laxmibai), Nyaay (2000), Saat Phere – Saloni Ka Safar (2005) and Ghar Ek Sapnaa (2007).

By this time, Barkha Madan had got spiritually inclined to Buddhism, particularly the ideology of Dalai Lama. In 2012, she announced her decision to quit the film industry forever and become a Buddhist monk. She had her ordination from Sera Je Monastery, Karnataka under Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s supervision. Barkha is now called Ven. Gyalten Samten and lives her life as a Buddhist nun.

In one of her recent interviews, Barkha discussed about how she was always drawn towards spirituality, even as a youngster. She didn’t want a rebirth and go through the entire cycle of human existence from student till retirement again and again. She wanted inner peace and salvation in this birth itself and believes being a nun is the most important and right decision she ever made.

From a beauty queen to a Buddhist nun, her life can truly make for a bestseller novel!!