Bollywood Journalist
Actresses who played nautch girls in Hindi films
- 1/9
Waheeda Rehman (Pyaasa): Waheeda Rehman garnered applause for playing a sex worker Gulabo in Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa.
- 2/9
Sharmila Tagore ( Mausam): Sharmila Tagore’s roles in Gulzar’s ‘Mausam’ is one of the best performances of the actress till date. She even won a National Award for the role. Sharmila Tagore played a double role of Mother and daughter in the film opposite Sanjeev Kumar.
- 3/9
Priya Rajvansh (Hanste Zakhm): Priya Rajvansh played the character of Chanda a prostitute who falls in love with the hero Navin Nischol. The film was later remade as ‘Mitti Aur Sona’ in 1989.
- 4/9
Zeenat Aman (Manoranjan): Zeena Aman played a high class call girl who falls in love with a havaldar played by Sanjeev Kumar who tries to reform her. It was actor Shammi Kapoor’s debut directorial venture and was a remake of the famous 1963 Hollywood musical hit ‘Irma La Douce’.
- 5/9
Shabana Azmi (Mandi): Shabana Azmi played Rukmini Bai the madam of a brothel in Shyam Benegal’s 1984 film Mandi. It is considered one of Shabana’s terrific performances. The film was a satirical take on politics and prostitution and was based on classic Urdu short story Aanandi by writer Ghulam Abbas. Smita Patil played her daughter in the film.
- 6/9
Meenakshi Seshadari (Allahrakha): Meenakshi Seshadri played a sex worker in this Ketan Desai’s directorial debut Allahrakha. The film starred Jackie Shroff and Dimple in the lead and was a love triangle. It was Meenakshi Seshadri’s most memorable performances in her career. However the film was not such a huge success at the box office.
- 7/9
Rekha (Aastha): Rekha portrayed the role of Mansi, a housewife who is married to Om Puri but finds it difficult to make both ends meet to keep her household running. She is forced into prostitution to fulfill the needs of her family in this film. The film is directed by Basu Bhattacharya.
- 8/9
Namrata Shirodkar (Vaastav): Namrata Shirodkar played Sonia, a prostitute who falls in love with Raghunath, a gangster played by Sanjay Dutt. The crime drama was directed by Mahesh Manjrekar.
- 9/9
Manisha Koirala (Market): Manisha Koirala played a sex worker in a brothel at Hyderabad in Market a film directed by Jai Prakash.
Vidya Balan will be seen reprising the role of a madam of a brothel in Srijit Mukherji’s forthcoming movie Begum Jaan. This is one of the most talked about films of Vidya Balan. We take a look at actresses who played prostitutes on screen.