Archana Joglekar

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.

Over the years, many Marathi actors have significantly contributed to Bollywood right from Varsha Usgaonkar, Ashwini Bhave and Kishori Shahane in the ’90s to Sonali Kulkarni in the 2000s and more recently, Sai Tamhankar and Amruta Khanvilkar. These Marathi heroines have played lead roles in Hindi cinema though some of them couldn’t replicate their regional success.

One more Marathi actress from the bygone era, who didn’t get many lead roles in Hindi but is still remembered for her striking beauty is Archana Joglekar. Besides acting, Archana is also a professional classical dancer.

For those who still can’t recollect her, here’s a punchline from the ’80s – ‘Shaadi aur tumse kabhi nahi’. Yes, the famous Pan Pasand candy advertisement on Doordarshan will certainly serve as an instant connect to Archana Joglekar. This ten second commercial had Archana playing a haughty girl who rudely rejects a marriage proposal initially. But after having Pan Pasand, she willingly agrees to marry. This ad was played on TV regularly and made Archana Joglekar a household name.

Archana was born on 1st March 1965 in a Maharashtrian family in Mumbai. Her father’s name was Anant Joglekar while mother was called Guru Smt. Asha Joglekar, who is the founder of Archana Nrityalaya and a well-known Kathak dancer.

Archana Joglekar completed her graduation and later, studied law from D.G. Ruparel College, Matunga where she participated in many plays and events. Inheriting her mother’s talent, Archana started training in classical dance in her teens. She had a fair complexion with beautiful eyes which made youngsters go crazy after her in college days.

Her charming looks and dance expertise got her an easy ticket to Marathi movies. Archana made her acting debut with Khichdi (1985) at a very young age. The film was a multistarrer with many big names from Marathi industry like Ashok Saraf, Ranjana, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Jayshree Gadkar and Shreeram Lagoo. Archana Joglekar was introduced alongside newcomer Shekhar Naik. Both played the second lead and Archana also got an opportunity to showcase her dancing skills on the big screen by performing on the song ‘Premasaathi jhukle khaali dharnivar aakash’.

Two years later in 1987, Archana made her Bollywood debut with Mardon Mein Mard in which she played the lead role. This film turned out to be a box office disaster and almost put her career in a quandary. The same year, Archana appeared in a supporting role in the family drama Sansar where she was paired opposite Shekhar Suman. Sansar gave her ample recognition as she played the sister to the lead hero Raj Babbar. However, the film’s commercial success got her typecasted in sister or sister-in-law type roles

Archana went on to play similar roles like Jeetendra’s sister in Aag Se Khelenge (1989), Shatrughan Sinha’s villainous sister-in-law in Billoo Badshah (1989) and superstar Rajnikanth’s wife and Aamir Khan’s sister-in-law in the much-delayed Aatank Hi Aatank (1995). She also played the lead opposite the Tarzan of Bollywood – Hemant Birje- in two films Mardangi (1989) and Maa Kasam Badla Loonga (1990). Though she complimented Hemant’s macho “Tarzan” physique with her Jane like beauty, these films bombed badly at the box office. Her few Hindi films in the ’90s like Baat Hai Pyar Ki (1991) and Akansha (1993) also sank without a trace.

Despite the lukewarm response in Bollywood, Archana was luckily finding success in Marathi Cinema with movies like Rangat Sangat (1988) alongside Laxmikant Berde, Ramesh Bhatkar, Uday Tikekar and Ashok Shinde in which she played a terminally ill patient. Nivdung (1989) was another successful film featuring Archana, where she was cast as an aspiring actress with two hit songs ‘Tu theva tashi’ and ‘Kehva tari pahate ultun ratra geli’ picturised on her.

Her biggest Marathi hit came in 1990 – Sachin Pilgaonkar’s multistarrer comedy – Eka Peksha Ek in which Sachin presented her in a never before glamorous avatar. It is said that during its theatrical release, Archana visited Plaza cinema, Dadar multiple times to gauge the audience reaction. The following year, she got another hit in the suspense thriller Anapekshit (1991) with Ashok Saraf and Nitish Bharadwaj as her co-stars.

Archana Joglekar tried her hand in TV serials as well and the popular Chunauti (1987) got her a lot of appreciation. She was later seen in serials like Karmabhoomi, Phoolwanti, Kissa Shanti Ka and Chaahat Aur Nafrat. Archana also acted in Bengali and Oriya Cinema during this period. Some of her movies there are Suna Chadhei (1988), Jibansangee (1990) and Stree (1998).

While shooting for Stree in Orissa, an unfortunate incident took place with Archana Joglekar. After the shoot, she was in her make-up room when a stranger entered and tried to molest her. Though he was arrested the next day, it took thirteen long years for Archana to get justice.

In Bollywood, Aatank Hi Aatank was her final and last significant release in which she had a pivotal role. The film, directed by Dilip Shankar, was an unofficial adaptation of the Hollywood classic The Godfather (1972) but due to an outdated screenplay and a delayed release, bombed badly at the box office. While the movie affected Archana’s professional career, it benefitted her personally as she got married to its director Dilip Shankar and later in the late ’90s, both shifted to New Jersey, USA.

In 2001, Archana opened the branch of Archana Nrityalaya in America and over the years, has received multiple awards and recognition for the same. Archana Joglekar achieved far bigger success in the field of dancing than acting. She was honoured with titles ‘Shringar Mani’ by Sur Shringar Sansad and ‘Nritya Bharati’ by Hindi Sahitya Parishad for her significant contribution towards Kathak. She has performed at all prestigious music and dance festivals in India as well as globally. She is also the first Kathak dancer to perform at The Elephanta Festival, Mumbai and probably, the only Indian classical dancer to perform at the Reykjavik art festival in Iceland.

In 2008, Archana Joglekar visited Mumbai after a long time and met many of her co-stars and friends from the film industry. She expressed a desire to return to acting but that took close to four years with the film titled Married 2 America (2012), which was her comeback vehicle. This film, directed by her husband Dilip Shankar, had Archana in the lead role of a NRI woman who comes to India to search for her missing husband.

Married 2 America was her first Hindi release after almost seventeen years but unfortunately, suffered from poor promotion and distribution and was released at limited theatres in one or two shows only which resulted in a complete box office washout.

Today, Archana Joglekar is running Archana Nrityalaya successfully and shuffles between New Jersey and Mumbai for her performances during art festivals. Her recent visit to the city was in January 2023 when she attended the birthday bash of showman Subhash Ghai and was spotted with big names like Rakesh Roshan, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and Salman Khan.

Due to her immense contribution in field of arts, she is known as Guru Pandita Archana Joglekar. Her passion for dance remains intact!!