Actress Ameeta

Born: 11 April 1940 (age 79 years), Kolkata

Ameeta, a beautiful yesteryear actress of Bollywood who acted in several super hit films of late 50's and 60's opposite eminent heroes like Dev Anand, Rajendra Kumar, Manoj Kumar etc,was born as Qamar Sultana on 11 April 1940 in Calcutta (now Kolkata) to actress Shakuntala Devi and Silvestar kolkay Ahmed. Show business ran in her family and well-known Pakistani actor Aslam Parvez was her maternal uncle. When she was aged one her father died and her mother moved to Bombay (now Mumbai) where young Qamar did her schooling.

A fan of Madhubala, Ameeta was enacting her idol's sword fight from the movie 'Baadal' when she caught the eye of Lekhraj Bhakhri who signed her for his movie Thokar. This was her debut film in a side role where she was credited as Jayjaywanti. Qamar's debut movie as heroine was a 1953 release Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1954), directed by Vijay Bhatt. The screen name Ameeta made its appearance in this movie. The film failed but Ameeta kept on working in films like Amar Kirtan, Badal Aur Bijli, Baaghi Sardar and Indrasabha.  In 1955 she acted opposite Dev Anand in the super hit film 'Munimji'. But her career took a positive turn when she worked with her idol Madhubala in Shirin Farhad (1956). She was then chosen for lead roles in Abhimaan and Zamana.

The turning point in Ameeta's career though came when she became the protégé of Filmistan Studios' owner Tolaram Jalan who produced Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957), as a vehicle for promoting Ameeta as a new star.

The film was a big success and this got her the female lead of Goonj Uthi Shehnai, a role originally intended for Asha Parekh. The film starred a then up-and-coming Rajendra Kumar and an exceptional music score went on to become one of the top-grossing films of 1959.

Although she fired up the careers of Shammi Kapoor and Rajendra Kumar with these hits, Ameeta could never capitalize on them and stardom never materialized. She acted opposite Bharat Bhushan in 'Sawan' in the year 59.

In 1961 'Teen Ustad' was another hit film of Ameeta in which Suresh was the hero. The film was directed by Nanabhai Bhatt. When comedian Mehboob produced 'Chhote Nawab' he cast Ameeta as the heroine of the film and the film was a big success. Manoj Kumar was her hero in the super hit film 'Piya Milan Ki Aas' in 61 and 'Ma Beta'in 62.

Further roles in multi-star films like Raakhi (1962) and the blockbuster Mere Mehboob (1963) did not help her career graph, even though she was nominated for a Filmfare award for the latter as Best Supporting Actress, and she now dropped to playing lead grade-B movies which though successful at the box office did not do much for her star status. By the mid-1960s she was playing negative and villainous characters in films like Rishte Naate (1965), and Aasra (1966). Worse still, she was seen in supporting roles to fledgling starlets Rajshree and Babita, in films like Around the World (1967) and Haseena Maan Jayegi (1968). After filming Haseena Maan Jayegi (1968) a disillusioned Ameeta left the film industry.

She came out of seclusion only once to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Cine & TV Artistes Association on 20 November 2005 and then disappeared again.

She is still remembered for her excellent performance in films like 'Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Munimji, Goonj Uthi Shehnai, Mere Mehboob etc.