Full Name Mushtar Jehan Occupation Actress | Years active 1947–1983 | |
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Movies Sargam, Dilruba, Shehnai, Sajan, Betaab Similar PL Santoshi, C Ramchandra, Kishore Sahu, Kidar Sharma, Sahir Ludhianvi | ||
Rehana (real name Mushtar Jehan) was an Indian and Pakistani film actress. She was born in Bombay, British India.
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Early career
After doing dancing roles and small roles in film like K. L. Saigal-Suraiya starrer Tadbir, she got her major break in Hum Ek Hain (1946 film), which was incidentally Dev Anand first film. Sajan (1947 film) had Rehana in the female lead, and following the success of this film, as well as Shehnai (1947), she became an "overnight star". From 1948-1951 was the best phase of her career as she did a variety of films paired opposite most of the top heroes of that time like Prem Adib in Actress (1948), with Raj Kapoor in Sunehre Din (1949) and Sargam (1950 film), with Dev Anand in Dilruba (1950), with Shyam in Nirdosh (1950) and Surajmukhi (1950), with Shekhar in Ada (1951) and with Premnath Sagai (1951). Two of her biggest hits from these were Sargam (1950 film) and Sagai (1951).
After 1952 her career sharply went on the decline as films like Rangeeli (1952), Chham Chhama Chham, Hazar Raatein (1953) and Samrat (1954) all sank at the box-office. With her career on the decline in India, Rehana migrated to Pakistan with the hope of continuing her career there.
Controversies
She is regarded as Hindi cinema’s first ‘jhatka queen’. Whether it was her infamous "lesbian act" with Nigar Sultana in Sunehre Din (1949), or the famous bath scene in Dilruba (1950), Rehana stayed in the news. Shin Sinaki Boobla Boo (1952) became the first film to be banned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting because of its low moral tone.
In 2010 Rehana's family filed a case against film producer Ekta Kapoor and director Milan Luthria, at the Allahabad High Court and the legal notice says that the filmmaker has used the name Rehana without her consent in the film Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai and it has maligned her image.