Zarina Wahab

Early life

Wahab was born in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh into a Muslim family. She is fluent in Telugu (her mother tongue), Urdu, Hindi and English. She was trained at Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. Wahab has three sisters and one brother.

Career

After receiving negative feedback about her appearance from film producer Raj Kapoor, Wahab worked on her appearance and attended film parties and events. She eventually got noticed and was cast in films. She was usually cast as the middle-class, natural beauty. Wahab appeared in Basu Chatterjee's Chit Chor (1976). Apart from it, she worked in Amol Palekar-Vijayendra starrer 'Agar', followed by Raj Babbar starrer 'Zajbaat', Arun Govil starrer 'Sawan Ko Aane Do', Vikram Starrer 'Raees Zada' etc. She earned a Filmfare Award nomination as Best Actress for her role in Gharonda (1977). She has acted in Malayalam Telugu, Tamil, films.

Wahab made a comeback to Malayalam films with Calendar, in 2009. She has continued to act in Malayalam movies, most notably movies like Adaminte Makan Abu. She appeared in My Name Is Khan as the mother of Rizwan Khan (Shah Rukh Khan's character).

Wahab currently plays older roles in television serials.

Personal life

Wahab met actor Aditya Pancholi on the sets of Kalank Ka Tika. Pancholi is 6 years her junior. They married in 1986 and have a daughter, Sana and son Sooraj. News of their turbulent marriage, her husband's temper and rumors of infidelity have been in the gossip columns. Wahab's daughter is an actress. Her son, Suraj, was arrested in June, 2013, for aiding and abetting the suicide of his girlfriend, Jiah Khan. He made his Bollywood debut with Suniel Shettys daughter Athiya Shetty in 2015 in the movie Hero.

Television

Awards and nominations