Vidya Sinha, who lit up so many Basu Chatterjee’s rom-coms in the 1970s and 1980s, is no more.
She breathed her last in a hospital in Mumbai on August 15.
The last years were not kind to this pretty, quiet and dignified actress, reports Subhash K Jha.
The heroine's roles had died out long ago and Vidya had switched to television where she played matronly characters in serials like Kkavyanjali, Qubool Hai and Ishq Ka Rang Safed.
But even the serials soon stopped coming her way.
In 2009, Vidya had filed a police complaint against her second husband, Netaji Bhimrao Sulunkhe, accusing him of torture and extortion. She won a long court battle in 2011 for maintenance.
Vidya had a short but glorious innings as a leading lady.
With the formidable B R Chopra, she did the memorable marital comedy Pati Patni Aur Woh as well as the disastrous love triangles Karm and Mukti (produced by B R Chopra and directed by Chopra’s son-in-law, Raj Tilak).
But it was Basu Chatterjee who brought Vidya fame.
Chatterjee introduced Vidya in the art-house hit, Rajnigandha, in 1974 and followed it up with another success, Chhoti Si Baat.
It's these two films that she is most remembered for.
Vidya also starred in Basuda's like Tumhare Liye (featuring her Pati Patni Aur Woh leading man, Sanjeev Kumar) and Safed Jhooth.
She worked with the biggest of directors during her brief spell of stardom in the 1970s, including Gulzar (Kitaab and Meera).
But, somehow, her career never took off in a big way.
Vidya once confessed she never took her career seriously. But the truth is the reverse. Her career never took her seriously.
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