Mala Sinha

Mala Sinha

  • Birthday: 11. November 1936
  • Birthplace: Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
  • Awards: BFJA Award for Best Actress (1965) — Jahan Ara, BFJA Award for Best Actress (1966) — Himalaya Ki God Mein, Sikkim Samman Award by Government of Sikkim (2004), Felicitation by Government of Nepal (2005), Star Screen Lifetime Achievement Award (2007), Kelvinator GR8! Women Awards: Lifetime Achievement Award (2013), Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Awards: Phalke Icon Cine Artiste Award (2013)

Biography

Mala Sinha (born 11 November 1936 in Calcutta, India) is a Indian actress who has worked in Hindi, Bengali and Nepali films. Recognised for her talent and beauty, she went on to become a popular leading actress in Hindi films from the early 1950s until the late 1970s. Sinha has starred in over a hundred film productions: popular ones include Pyaasa (1957), Dhool Ka Phool (1959), Anpadh, Dil Tera Deewana ( both 1962), Gumrah (1963), Himalaya Ki God Mein (1965) and Aankhen (1968).

Sinha was born in Calcutta to a bangla speaking Indian Christian family of Nepali ethnicity. Her parents migrated to West Bengal from Madhesh of Nepal before she was born. They named her Alda. Her friends at school used to tease her by calling her Dalda (a brand of vegetable oil), so she changed her name to Mala. In her childhood she learnt dancing and singing.