Happy Birthday Deepika Padukone

Deepika Padukone was born in 1986. On January 5th (5 days before me!).

Deepika Padukone // Om Shanti Om

After completing a successful few years in the world of modelling, she entered films in 2006 with Aishwarya in the Kannada language. The following year in 2007 she made her big Bollywood debut with the King himself Shah Rukh Khan in the biggest hit of the year that was Om Shanti Om. Not only did she get nominated for Best Actress (losing to Kareena Kapoor) she won all the Best Female Debut awards, beating Sonam Kapoor whose debut Saawariya released on the same day.

Making huge waves with OSO she bagged several top banner films and continued to score hits in the following few years: Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), Love Aaj Kal (2009), Housefull (2010). But it wasn't until 2012 that she was finally taken seriously as an actress with the release of the smash hit Cocktail. 

Deepika Padukone // Love Aaj Kal

Leading up to the release of Cocktail, however, Deepika's last few films didn't do too well and she seemed to be fading. In the second half of 2010 post the successful Housefull, all 3 of her big releases didn't create any buzz (Lafangey Parindey, Break Ke Baad, Khelein Hum Jee Kaan Sey). In her two releases in 2011 Aarakshan and Desi Boyz she didn't have much to do but look the part. There was also the minor controversy over her appearance in the title song of Dum Maaro Dum which many thought was a poorly done remake of the 70s classic with it's vulgar lyrics. See below:

The theory that one film can change everything was proven in this case, as following Cocktail's mega success and several Best Actress award nominations Deepika delivered a record breaking 2013 with 4 big hits.

Deepika Padukone // Cocktail

In 2013 she seemed to be everywhere. From magazine covers to award shows. And in her films she covered all bases. From playing sexy siren Alina in action/thriller Race 2 to the geek-turned-chic Naina in the romantic drama Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. And from the straight-talking Meenalochini in comedy Chennai Express to Sanjay Leela Bhansali's epic love story Ram-Leela.

Deepika Padukone // Ram-Leela

2014 saw more success with the critically acclaimed Finding Fanny and the box office success Happy New Year. She might not have had an outstanding performance last year but with her upcoming releases she will most likely bounce right back.

Today she is considered the #1 heroine of Bollywood. Her upcoming projects include Piku where she will play the title role, Tamasha co-starring Ranbir Kapoor and Bajiao Mastani co-starring Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra - where she again plays the title role.

Here's wishing the graceful diva a very Happy Birthday x

Happy Birthday Vidya Balan

Vidya Balan was born January 1st 1978.

She made her Bollywood debut in 2005 with the critically acclaimed Parineeta - which won her several Best Debut awards.

Vidya Balan // Parineeta

After a few years of good performances in bad films she finally hit her stride in 2009 with her performance in Paa which won her the Best Actress award. She followed this with several award-winning performances in Ishqiya (2010), No One Killed Jessica (2011) and the huge hit Dirty Picture (2011).

Vidya Balan // The Dirty Picture

2012 was another great year for her as Kahaani was a runaway success at the box office and got her a ton of awards to add to her collection.

Vidya Balan // Kahaani

2013 and 2014 may not have seen her deliver any big hits but she has been appreciated nonetheless in her roles in Ghanchakkar, Shaadi Ke Side Effects and Bobby Jasoos.

Vidya Balan // Ghanchakkar

Vidya will next be seen in Hamari Adhuri Kahani which is due out in June 2015.

Here's wishing Vidya Balan a very Happy Birthday x

Happy Birthday Madhuri Dixit

Madhuri Dixit | Ek Do Teen

The Queen B celebrates her 45th birthday today. Her career has spanned almost 30 years and she remains the most graceful and talented actress of all-time. See her soon in her upcoming films: Dedh Ishqiya and Gulab Gang.

Anushka Sharma - Happy Birthday

Anushka Sharma was born on 1st May 1988. She made her debut with none other than Shah Rukh Khan in Yrf's Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. She went on  to be nominated in all major award shows. Although she was disappointed to lose all but one of them to Asin whose film Ghajini was also a major success that same year.

She had nothing to worry about however as she had signed a three-film deal with Yash Raj Films. The follow-up to her debut Badmaash Company didn't set the world alight but she was notices for her hot new image.

Later on in the year came the smash hit Band Baaja Baaraat with Ranveer Singh which catapulted the couple into super stardom. The film earned Anu a further nomination at Filmfare for Best Actress and won her the same award at IIFA Toronto 2011.

The 2011 award season also brought another success with the Akshay Kumar starrer Patiala House doing well. Anu's styling in this film was fantastic and she acted very well as a London chick.

The end of last year saw her team up once again with Ranveer in Ladies Vs. Ricky Bahl. Her upcoming movies include Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola with Imran Khan and an untitled venture directed by Yash Chopra with Katrina Kaif and Shahrukh Khan.

UBD Birthdays: Poonam Dhillon

Poonam Dhillon turns 50

Poonam Dhillon was born in 1962 and celebrates her 50th birthday today. She started her career in the late 70s at the age of 18, and went on to work with some of the biggest and best directors of that era such as Yash Chopra, Subhash Ghai + P. Bharathiraja. She went on to act in several hit films such as Trishul [1978], Noorie [1979], Yeh Vaada Raha [1982], Sohni Mahiwal [1984], Tawaif [1985], Karma [1986] and Sone Pe Suhaaga [1988]. She took a break in 1992 and returned for a short while in 1997, especially for her friend and fellow UBD Sridevi's last film Judaai [1997]. Taking another hiatus, she decided to make a comeback in Yash Raj Films produced Dil Bole Hadippa! [2009]. Let's hope her career continues to go from strength to strength.

UBD Birthdays: Suchitra Sen

Suchitra Sen | Birthday Diva

Born as Rama Dasgupta on 6th April 1931, this legend of cinema had an unusual career. She started acting after marriage and the birth of her only child, Moon Moon Sen, who would later also become an actress herself.

Soon after entering into films she made it to the top and became the ultimate bong beauty of her generation. Even until today her films are popular on satellite television and her on-screen pairing with Uttam Kumar made them one of the most popular couples of Bengali cinema. Her career lasted well into the 70s, making her successful in 3 decades.

In 1963 she became the first Indian actress to be recognised internationally when she won an award at Moscow Film Festival.

Suchitra is best known for her roles in films like 'Devdas' [1955], 'Musafir' 1957], 'Bombai Ka Baboo' [1960], 'Sarhad' [1960], 'Mamta' [1966], 'Aandhi' [1975] - the latter for which she was nominated as Best Actress at the Filmfare Awards.

She was known for being choosy with her scripts and turned down acclaimed directors such as Raj Kapoor and Satyajit Ray at the peak of her career. And retired in 1978.

Today, the diva enjoys spending her time out of the spotlight, and allegedly refused a Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2005. Her two grand-daughters Raima Sen and Riya Sen are the next generation of stars having worked in acclaimed movies themselves.

Here's wishing Suchitra Sen a very warm Birthday wish :)

Follow Raima Sen on Twitter @RaimaSen

Grand-daughter Raima Sen

Shahrukh Khan - Happy Birthday

Birthday Boy | SRK

Okay I know he's not a diva but he's worked with all the best ones of the last 20 years since his debut in 1992, and it is his birthday so I make an exception. Whether it be Madhuri, Sridevi, Kajol or Juhi. Karisma, Aishwarya, Preity or Rani... SRK had it all covered. He's even worked with Rekha, Hema, Shabana, Jaya and of course the current bevvy of heroines Kareena, Priyanka, Anushka, Deepika.

Here is is shaking a leg with some of the most stunning beauties of Bollywood in "Om Shanti Om" (2007). Happy Birthday Shahrukh! UBDs in the video: Kajol, Karisma Kapoor, Rekha, Shabana Azmi, Juhi Chawla, Tabu, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukherji, Priyanka Chopra, Vidya Balan, Shilpa Shetty, Urmila Matondkar, Malaika Arora, Amrita Arora.

Aishwarya Rai - Happy Birthday

Birthday Girl | Aishwarya Rai

Wishing the beautiful Aishwarya Rai a very Happy Birthday. The global superstar celebrates her 38th birthday today. She debuted in Bollywood in 1997 with "Aur Pyar Ho Gaya" and went on to star in several blockbusters and bagged several awards for performance in films like "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" (1999), "Taal" (1999), "Devdas" (2002), "Raincoat" (2004), "Guzaarish" (2010) as well as starring in several international projects inclusing "Bride And Prejudice" (2004) and "The Pink Panther" (2009). The former Miss World 1994 is also expecting her first child with heartthrob husband Abhishek Bachchan early next year. Wishing her all the best with her personal and professional life.

Let's take a look at Ash in one of her iconic song-dances. Taken from the 2002 smash hit "Devdas".

UBD Birthdays - Kareena Kapoor

Birthday girl - Kareena Kapoor

Bebo celebrates her 31st birthday today. She arrived in Bollywood as a fresh faced 19 year old in Refugee (2000) alongside fellow star kid Abhishek Bachchan who was also debuting in the fraternity.

After countless flops and bad movies she emerged as the Queen of Bollywood after quite a successful 2006 (Don, Omkara, 26 China Town, Chup Chup Ke) and a very succesful 2007 with the smash hit Jab We Met.

Currently she's working with the 5 Khans: SRK, Salman, Aamir, Imran and husband-to-be Saif Ali Khan.

The girls that debuted with her have long disappeared. Even the ones that came after her: Priyanka, Katrina, Deepika haven't been able to topple her from the throne.

Let's wish her all the success with her upcoming movie Ra.One which is breaking records with it's soundtrack already.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEBO!

Sridevi - UBD Birthdays

Birthday girl: Sridevi

Sridevi as a child star

Sree Amma Yanger was born August 13th 1963 and started acting at the age of four. She worked in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam as well as Hindi films and became a superstar before the age of 20. Today she is considered to be one of the greatest performers of all-time. She is known to her fans as "the last empress". She was the highest paid actress of her time and was known as the "female Amitabh Bachchan" in the press due to outshining her co-stars. Sri held the crown from the mid eighties to the early nineties. Her last release was 'Judaai' [1997] for which she was nominated for the Filmfare Best Actress Award for the 8th time in her career. She won the award twice: 'Chaalbaaz' [1989] and 'Lamhe' [1991] - playing dual roles in both. The diva is currently working on her comeback film titled 'English Vinglish' to be released mid-2012.

Sridevi in Himmatwala [1983]

Making her debut at the age of four in Tamil movie 'Kandan Karunai' playing the daughter of Gemini Ganesan (real life father of fellow UBD Rekha) - she went on to work throughout her pre-teens in many movies. At the age of 13 she got her first 'adult' film role in K. Balachander's 'Mondru Mudichu' [1976]. At the age of 15 Sri made her Hindi film debut with 'Solwa Saawan' [1978] which didn't fare too well at the box office. Sri went back south to concentrate on her other assignments but returned to Bollywood in 1983 with 'Himmatwala' - the film was a blockbuster. She followed this with more hits such as 'Tohfa', 'Mawaali' and 'Justice Chaudhury'. Her next release 'Sadma' earned her the first of many Best Actress nominations.

Sridevi in 'Chandni' [1989]

Sridevi was known more for her performances rather than the performance of her films. She continued to churn out spectacular acts throughout the 80s in hits such as 'Inquilaab' [1984], 'Masterji' [1985], 'Nagina' [1986], 'Mr. India' [1987], 'Ram Avtaar' [1988], 'Chaalbaaz' [1989] and Yash Chopra's 'Chandni' [1989].

Sridevi with Urmila in 'Judaai' [1997]

By the time the new decade started, Sri was the undisputed queen bee. She had zero competition. Jaya Prada, Dimple, Poonam, Padmini were all but gone. She was the first choice of every director and worked with the best of the best. Unfortunately some of her decision making let her down as she refused a role in 'Beta' which won the upcoming Madhuri Dixit much applause and awards. Unfortunately, as is usual in Bollywood, the bigger she got the less ideas the fiilm-makers had to cater to her talent. She continued to electrify the audiences with her performances in films such as 'Khuda Gawah' [1992], 'Gumrah [1993], 'Laadla' [1994], and 'Army' [1996].

Sridevi at the IIFA Awards 2011

Ever since her last movie almost 15 years ago, her fans have been waiting for her comeback eagerly. The time has finally come for this ultimate diva to return to the screen and set it on fire again. This may just be the most exciting comeback of all comebacks. Sri is currently shooting in North America and the film will co-star Amitabh Bachchan who she last worked with 20 years ago.

Ultimate Bollywood Divas would like to wish the lady a very happy birthday and all the best with the movie. Let's see a Sri at her best in her 1989 smash hit 'Chandni'

UBD Birthdays : Karisma Kapoor

Born June 25th 1974, this diva was born to reign. Two-time winner of the Filmfare Best Actress Award, she has also won in 2 other categories (Best Critics Actress, Best Supporting Actress). She also won a National Award for her supporting role in Yash Chopra's 1997 hit 'Dil To Pagal Hai'.

Currently in the process of readying a comeback after leaving films to take care of her babies in 2004. She will next be seen in the Vikram Bhatt thriller "Dangerous Ishq" - due next year.

Let's celebrate her birthday by watching one of her most memorable 90s songs from 'Hero No.1' (1997).

UBD Birthdays : Amrita Rao

Born 17 June 1981, Amrita started her career as a model and then later debuted with 2002's 'Ab Ke Baras'.

Amrita Rao as Payal in 'Ishq Vishk' (2003)

But her breakthrough role came the following year with 'Ishq Vishk' (2003) - also marking the debut of Shahid Kapoor. Her portrayal of a love-struck teenager named Payal earned her the Best Female Debut Awards at both Filmfare, Stardust, Sansui and IIFA, as well as nominations at Zee Cine and Star Screen.

Amrita Rao as Sanjana in 'Main Hoon Na' (2004)

The following year saw further success with the back-to-back hits 'Main Hoon Na' + 'Masti' as well as the average 'Deewar'. This wasn't to last as her next few flicks didn't do the business at the box office. But this was about to change, as in November 2006 the Rajshri-produced 'Vivah' was released and became a huge success. Her pairing once again with Shahid Kapoor was praised and her performance playing a timid beauty named Poonam was well appreciated.

Amrita Rao as Poonam in 'Vivah' (2006)

2007 saw a special appearance in 'Heyy Baby' as well as a Telugu venture. 2008 also failed to do much for her career with 2 further disappointments, however this was turned around with the release of the critically acclaimed 'Welcome To Sajjanpur' - which also done big numbers at the box office.

Amrita Rao as Kamla in 'Welcome To Sajjanpur' (2007)

Her next releases 'Shortkut', 'Life Partner' + 'Victory' in 2009 and 'Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai' in 2010, well the less said about them the better. Her latest release 'Love U Mr. Kalakaar' bombed too. Amrita really needs to take control of her career now. We have seen her give great performances. We have seen her get critical acclaim, numerous awards and hit films, but she needs to concentrate now.

Today on her birthday let's celebrate by watching a song from her biggest hit 'Main Hoon Na':

UBD Birthdays - Padmini

Padmini

Born June 12th 1932, Padmini became a star in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi language cinema.

Along with her siblings Lalitha and Ragini, they became known as the 'Travancore Sisters' in the press in the 1950s.

Making her debut in the 1948 film 'Kalpana' and working continously for the next 30 odd years, she earned herself a Filmfare nomination for Best Actress with Radhu Karmakar's 1959 hit opposite Raj Kapoor 'Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai' and a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for her performance in 'Kaajal' (1965).

In 1977 she opened the 'Padmini School of Fine Arts' - an Indian classical dance school in New Jersey, United States, which today is one of the largest institutions of it's kind in North America.

Now on her birthday let's celebrate by watching her famous dance-off with Vyjayanthimala.

Wishing Sonam Kapoor A Happy Birthday

Sonam Kapoor: The leading lady in Bollywood when it comes to fashion and style.

Sona started her career shadowing Sanjay Leela-Bhansali whilst he shot his epic 'Black' throughout 2004. She then made her debut with the same director in 2007 with 'Saawariya' alongside fellow star son Ranbir Kapoor.

Although she made her mark with her first film, all the glory (and awards) were taken by Deepika Padukone who incidentally debuted the same Friday with the box-office smash hit 'Om Shanti Om'. And since that day, their so-called "rivalry" has kept them in the gossip columns.

Today she has come a very long way. She has had her share of hits and misses. And last month she wowed audiences worldwide with her stunning appearance at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Currently she is working on 'Players' alongside fellow UBD Bipasha Basu which is due later this year; and 'Mausum' opposite Shahid Kapoor which has wrapped it's schedule and will open in cinemas September 9th.

On her 26th birthday, let's celebrate by enjoying one of her finest moments so far: Masakali.

Madhuri Dixit - Happy Birthday

Madhuri Dixit | Birthday Girl

 
May 15th is the birthday of the most beautiful, gracious and talented leading lady of Hindi cinema: Madhuri Dixit.

This year Mads turns 44. We wish her all the best and hope she signs a film soon. 2011 has been a great year for her with the mega successful stint as judge on Jhalak Dikhlaja and the many many awards bestowed upon her.


Let's celebrate by watching one of her many magical songs. This one is taken from her earlier days 'Ram Lakhan' [1989]: