Mandakini (actress)

Mandakini
Mandakini in 2012
Born
Yasmeen Joseph

Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India
Other namesMandakini Joseph Thakur
OccupationActress
Years active1985–1996
Notable workRam Teri Ganga Maili
SpouseKagyur T. Rinpoche Thakur
Children1

Yasmeen Joseph Thakur, (née Joseph) professionally credited as Mandakini, is an Indian former actress. She is best remembered for her lead role in the 1985 popular film Ram Teri Ganga Maili.

Early life

Mandakini was born in Meerut as Yasmeen Joseph to a British father and a Kashmiri mother.[citation needed] At the young age of 16, she was discovered by film director Raj Kapoor and given the screen name "Mandakini".[1]

Film career

Mandakini got her first movie in the Hindi film industry when she was cast in the lead role in the 1985 movie Ram Teri Ganga Maili by film producer-director Raj Kapoor opposite his youngest son Rajiv Kapoor.[2] The film was a blockbuster, and it earned Mandakini a Filmfare nomination as Best Actress.[3] She caused a stir after she was seen partially nude in two sequences of the film.[4]

She then acted in a few more successful films, such as Dance Dance with Mithun Chakraborty, Kahan Hai Kanoon with Aditya Pancholi and Pyaar Karke Dekho with Govinda, but could not recreate the success of her first movie. The actress decided to bid adieu to the Bollywood industry after her 1996 film Zordaar.[5]

Personal life

Mandakini married a former Buddhist monk, Dr. Kagyur T. Rinpoche Thakur, and embraced Buddhism.[6] Her husband had gained fame in childhood as the baby featured in Murphy Radio advertisements in the 1970s and 1980s. The couple have a son named Rabbil and a daughter Rabze Innaya. After embracing Buddhism and becoming a follower of the Dalai Lama, Mandakini started running classes in Tibetan yoga, while her husband runs a Tibetan Herbal Centre.[7]

In the early 1990s, she was briefly linked to gangster Dawood Ibrahim, when she was seen with the gangster in Dubai.[8][9] While she admitted to meeting him, Mandakini strongly denied the rumours of any affair with him".[10]

Filmography

Year Title Role Other notes
1985 Mera Saathi Shanti
Ram Teri Ganga Maili Ganga
1986 Simhasanam Visha Kanya Telugu film
Om
Jeeva Nalini
Aag Aur Shola Usha
Jaal Madhu
Mazloom Meena
1987 Apne Apne Ila
Loha Seema
Pyaar Karke Dekho Urvashi
Bhargava Ramudu Roja Telugu
Dance Dance Janita
Hawalaat Leela
Param Dharam Bijli
1988 Pyaar Mohabbat
Jeete Hain Shaan Se Julie
Shoorveer Meena
Commando Asha Malhotra
Hum To Chale Pardes
Maar Dhaad
Maalamaal Honey
Tezaab Nikita (special appearance)
Agnee Ayushi
1989 Naag Nagin Ichchadhari Nagin Chandni
Kahan Hai Kanoon
Aakhri Baazi Rita
Jung Baaz Sangeeta Mathur/Neena Ninjo
Na-Insaafi Kamli
Hisaab Khoon Ka Preet K. Kaushal
Desh Ke Dushman Anita Madan
Ladaai Geeta Verma
1990 Sheshnaag
Shandaar Anita Chaurasia
Naya Khoon Dr. Seema
Jaan-E-Wafa
Dushman Laxmi
Pyar Ke Naam Qurbaan Gauri
Taqdeer Ka Tamasha Rajni
Andha Bichar Special Bengali film with Mithun
1991 Antarer Bhalobasha Jhilik Bengali film with Tapas Paul
Deshwasi Maryada Shivpal Singh
1992 Pyaar Ka Saudagar Shalini Arun Verma
Naach Govinda Naach
1994 Mayadari Mosagadu Telugu film
1996 Zordaar Neha

References

  1. ^ "Happy Birthday Mandakini 7 lesser-known facts about the Ram Teri Ganga Maili actor". 30 July 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Happy Birthday Mandakini 7 lesser-known facts about the Ram Teri Ganga Maili actor". 30 July 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Filmfare Awards" (PDF). p. 71. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
  4. ^ "Top 10 hottest waterfall women in B'wood!".
  5. ^ "Mandakini the Ram Teri Ganga Maili actor". 30 July 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  6. ^ Ramachandran, Sanskriti (2 August 2021). "Mandakini to make a comeback". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Meet Mandakini, the spiritual guide". The Times of India. 14 November 2005. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  8. ^ Gangadhar, V (1 November 2002). "The price of fortune". The Hindu. N. Ram. Archived from the original on 17 January 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
  9. ^ "I'm not Dawood's moll: Mandakini". 24 February 2005.
  10. ^ Walia, Nona. "Mandakini: 'I know Dawood but I'm not his woman'".
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