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.
Some persons are multi-talented, who are able to switch their life goals taking alternate professions and making a mark on all fronts The actress we are taking up in our forgotten gems’ series today, needs no elaborate introduction. She is the pretty Priya Tendulkar also known as Rajani from the popular TV serial. Priya was born into a highly talented family and her life always revolved around arts and culture. Her father Vijay Tendulkar was the legendary playwright while her elder sister Sushma was a noted stage artiste.
Before taking up acting as her full-time profession, Priya Tendulkar dabbled in many jobs. She worked in a five-star hotel as a service reception, then as an air hostess, part time model and was even a Doordarshan newsreader for some time.
All the work she did before acting, were suited for her due her natural beauty. A question might be brewing in the minds of our readers as to why Priya switched over to acting… we will come to that.
Priya Tendulkar was born on 19th October, 1954 in Bombay (now Mumbai) to Vijay and Nirmala Tendulkar. Her other siblings were Raja, a cinematographer, Tanuja and of course Sushma Tendulkar, a stage actress.
Priya had obtained a degree in political science and was also a Diploma holder in painting. In 1969, she made her acting debut at the age of fifteen in the play Hayavadana directed by the famous director Satyadev Dubey alongside Kalpana Lajmi.
As aforementioned, Sushma Tendulkar was a well-known theatre actress but a failed relationship made her alcoholic. One morning, she didn’t turn up for her father’s play and Priya decided to step in to her shoes. As the saying goes, ‘Once an actor, always an actor’, Priya went on to work in many successful plays with her father like Anij, Shantata Court Chalu Aahe, Baby, Kamla, Kanyadaan, etc.
Priya was also doing part time modelling and in 1974, appeared in a popular sewing machine advertisement, Her big break in Bollywood came the same year with Shyam Benegal’s highly appreciated Ankur in which she appeared with two new upcoming talents – Shabana Azmi and Anant Nag. Unfortunately, Ankur couldn’t help her Bollywood career unlike her co-stars, who went on to become big names.
Priya continued doing plays with Vijay Tendulkar and by then, started receiving offers from the Marathi film industry. In the early ’80s, she appeared in many successful Marathi movies like Gondhalat Gondhal (1981), Mai Baap (198), Thorali Jaau (1983), Devta (1983), Mumbaicha Fauzdar (1984), Maherchi Manse (1984), etc. with established stars like Ravindra Mahajani, Ashok Saraf, Mahesh Kothare, Mohan Gokhale and Sachin Pilgaonkar.
Though Priya played the lead in most of these films, she also played characters with negative shades in a few of them, basically a joint family breaker. Interestingly in the film Thorali Jaau, she played an educated and progressive working woman, wherein her housemaid tells her that there is an increased demand for maids in high societies due to working women like her. This dialogue was added in the movie as it was the beginning of an era when educated married women would also give priority to work in order to support their family.
After a short successful stint in the Marathi Cinema, Priya Tendulkar decided to try her luck again in Bollywood in mid ’80s. However, it was a bit too late for her as she had already passed the age of thirty and getting lead roles at this age was out of question.
Nevertheless, Priya was lucky to get a lead role in a lesser-known movie Sasti Dulhan Mahenga Dulha (1986), which had Aditya Pancholi making his debut. Priya Tendulkar was paired opposite yesteryear baddie Mahesh Anand which remains his only lead role in Bollywood. The film turned out to be a box office disaster and virtually ended all hopes of main heroine roles for Priya. But something equally good was in store for her…
Noted director Basu Chatterjee was making a women-centric TV serial titled Rajani (1985), which dealt with various social issues like bureaucracy, corruption and laxity in Government offices and public utilities. The titular role was initially offered to Padmini Kolhapure, who also shot for the pilot episode. But she was extremely busy at that time and finding it difficult to shoot an episode per week, excused herself out.
The role of Rajani landed in Priya Tendulkar’s lap after Basu Chatterjee spotted her at a party. Her fight for social issues faced by the common man struck a chord with the viewers and Priya became a household name. People started referring to her as Rajani in real life and the character almost became her alter ego. In its second season, the serial also featured a then upcoming actor with Priya Tendulkar in one of the episodes. This guy was called Shah Rukh Khan and he went on to rule Bollywood in the decades to come.
After Rajani, Priya also worked as a social activist just like her character. She would openly speak on social issues in shows like Priya Tendulkar Talk Show and Zimmedar Kaun.
The success of Rajani opened the doors to Bollywood for Priya and she started getting offers for strong character roles. She went on to act in movies like Nasoor (1985), Besahara (1986), Majaal (1987), Naam-O-Nishan (1987) and Kaal Chakra (1988).
In the mid ’90s, she collaborated with noted director Rajiv Rai and worked in two of his super hits Mohra (1994) and Gupt (1997). She had a small role in Mohra as Naseeruddin Shah’s wife while in Gupt, she played mother to Bobby Deol and was one of the murder suspects in the film.
Around the same time, Priya played an important role in the Subhash Ghai production titled Trimurti (1995). Priya Tendulkar played a tough cop and a mother to the three heroes (or trimurti) – Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor and Shah Rukh Khan. Unfortunately, the much-hyped Trimurti turned out to be a colossal disaster and put her career in a quandary.
Fortunately for Priya, she had found luck with Balaji Telefilms first successful venture Hum Paanch (1995) on Zee TV. She was paired opposite her Marathi co-star Ashok Saraf as his dead wife, who speaks to him from her photo frame. She does not leave any chance to pull her husband’s leg but also supports his family whenever they are in need of help. The serial as well as her character received a lot of appreciation.
Priya further went on to do more serials like Yug (1996), Itihaas (1998) and Aahat (1996) but didn’t find as much success as Hum Paanch.
On the personal front, Priya was said to be engaged to her Ankur co-actor Anant Nag but the relationship didn’t last long. Later, She met Karan Razdan on the sets of Rajani. He played her supportive husband in the serial and was also the writer of this series. Karan Razdan has directed films like Hawas (2004), Girlfriend (2004), Umar (2006), Souten: The Other Woman (2006) and Eight – Shani (2006). He is best remembered as the arrogant dancer Sammy Oberoi, the professional rival of hero Mithun Chakraborty in the iconic blockbuster Disco Dancer (1982). Priya got married to Karan but their marriage ended up in a divorce after a few years.
In her final years, Priya Tendulkar was diagnosed with breast cancer but she fought bravely against the disease.
The period between 2001-2002 proved extremely difficult for her. Priya lost her mother Nirmala in 2001 followed by her brother Raja in early 2002. She was left distressed after back-to-back deaths in her family and led a lonely life. On 19th September, 2002, death came calling and she passed away in Prabhadevi, Mumbai after suffering a heart attack. The news of her death came as a shocker to many.
Priya’s last Hindi film was Rajiv Rai’s Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat (2001). Just before her death, she had penned a book of short stories titled Jyacha Tyacha Prashna. This book won the prestigious Damani Puraskar.
The multi-talented Priya Tendulkar has left this world long ago but continues to live as Rajani in the heart of her fans.
© 2024 chitravedh All rights reserved.
All images courtesy Internet
COMMENTS