Fragrance of Yesteryears: Poonam Dhillon

Poonam Dhillon was born on 18^th April 1962 to an aeronautical engineer father and a principal mother. Her journey in the film industry begun at the tender age of 16, after winning the title of Miss Young India in the prestigious Femina Miss India pageant. Spotted by the late Yash Chopra, she entered the industry by performing to a song in the film Trishul in 1978. The following year, she gained her Bollywood debut in the movie Noorie, playing the title role, directed by Chopra again. For the same, she earned her very first Filmfare Award for Best Actress.

There has been no stopping her since then. One after another, she appeared in various successfully movies throughout the late 1900s, including Red Rose, Dard, Baseraa, Sawaal, Qayamat, Yeh Vaada Raha, Nishaan, Zamana, Aman, to name a few. It has been noted that she has worked with the evergreen actor Rajesh Khanna the most, having co-starred in six movies together. While her career was at its peak in 1980s and 1990s, she has done five more movies in the 2000s. Dil Bole Hadippa! and Miley Na Miley Hum are two of the movies where she played the role of mother to the male lead.

Not only did Dhillon impressively put her foot forth in the Bollywood industry, she also appeared in regional movies, such as Yuddha Kaanda (Kannada) and Ishtam (Telugu). She has also worked for the Bengali movie industry and ventured out into Hindi Theater as well, presenting her skills in The Perfect Husband, The Perfect Wife, Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi and U Turn. The Perfect Husband won the best comedy play in 2005.

While she is a remarkable actress, she is also quite active in raising awareness for social causes. Some of her work include AIDS awareness, drug awareness, and organ donation. Having done her MBA in International Business alongside acting, she marks herself as a prominent speaker at SAARC business summit in the two states of Kathmandu and Delhi. For the same, she was also appointed cultural ambassador. Her other speaking events include the Mind Mine event and the Save & Empower the Girl Child event with Lilavati Hospital in Bandra, Mumbai.

As her appearance in Bollywood decreased, she entered the TV industry in 2000s, having done 6 shows already. In 2009, Poonam appeared in the reality TV show Big Boss on Colors TV as a contestant in its season 3, marking her entrance in the TV industry. Having won many hearts once again, she finished as the runner up.

Currently, she plays the female lead in the Sony TV show Ekk Nayi Pehchan alongside Krystle Dsouza. While it is a drama, it is admirable that she continues to spread the message of women empowerment through her works in all aspects!

Author: Khushi P.

Editors: Gunia M.

Graphics: Gurprit K.