Jasmin

QAMYAB – THE FORGOTTEN GEMS OF BOLLYWOOD

After the astounding success of Bombay Talkies – The glory of Mumbai single screen cinemas, writer duo Sumeet Nadkarni and Alex Almeida are back with a new series 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.

It is our belief that every artist contributes in his/her own way to the cinema’s success and that is why we remember a Ramlal or Sambha as much as Jai-Veeru from Sholay (1975). 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.

Hope our esteemed readers love and enjoy Qamyab as much as our previous endeavours.

Today, we will cover an actress who worked in just three films in her entire career and yet left her undiminishing mark on the ’80s movie audience. Yes, we are referring to Jasmin or Jasmine Dhunna who attained an overnight star status with Ramsay Brothers’ horror hit Veerana (1988) but unfortunately, could never capitalise on its success.

Born and brought up in Mumbai, Jasmin was a sixteen-year-old school girl with celluloid dreams in her eye when she met producer- director N.D. Kothari. The director cast her in his movie Sarkari Mehman which released in 1979. The teenage Jasmin was paired with macho Vinod Khanna but despite her sincere performance, the movie couldn’t succeed at the box office.

A lull period ensued which Jasmin utilised to complete her education. In 1983, N.D. Kothari approached Jasmin again for his next film which was originally titled Talaaq but later its name was changed to Divorce. Divorce starred Jasmin along with Vijayendra Ghatge and Sharmila Tagore. It was a tearjerker family drama which released in 1984 in midst of Jeetendra and Amitabh Bachchan action potboilers and thus, went unnoticed.

Jasmin had no offers in hand and she did some modelling assignments to stay afloat. Lady luck knocked her door in form of Ramsay Brothers who were keen to cast her as a beautiful witch in their horror movie titled Veerana. It will surprise you that Jasmin was not there in the original cast of Veerana and got added only after the movie underwent a casting change. Ramsay Brothers explained the role to her and put a condition before she signed on the dotted line. The condition was she would need to expose a lot. Jasmin accepted the offer and Veerana was completed within a few months but unfortunately, got stuck with the censor board for close to three years and finally made it to the theatres only in the summer of 1988.

With an abundance of horror and skin show, the film became a box office super hit with audience going gaga over Jasmin. The lady truly excelled in her seductive role and her sex scene with Vijay Arora became the talk of the town!!

It was expected that Veerana’s success would be a one-way ticket to stardom for Jasmin but unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. The pretty actress was flooded with calls from underworld and things started getting worse by the day…

Unable to handle the pressure, Jasmin took the tough call of leaving Bollywood permanently and migrated to America. She completely cut herself off from the industry and till date, no one knows where exactly she is.

Her fans were fed multiple rumours by the media. Some said she passed away in America after a terminal illness. Some claimed to have spotted her as a Yoga teacher in Jordan. Recently, news emerged that she is very much in Mumbai and is living a reclusive life at her Yari Road flat. Whatever may be the truth, Jasmin has kept herself out of the public eye and wants it that way. We should respect her stand.

Veerana has attained cult status today and Jasmin will always be remembered for it. Wish she hadn’t quit so soon…