Juhi Chawla: She’s got that smile!

Sushmita Dutta

Ask any fan of Bollywood movies about the heroine with the best smile and a terrific comic sense and they would promptly say Juhi Chawla. Whether it was on the ramp or in the acting field, she set the screen on fire! Her extraordinary acting skills are incredible. She gave some fine performances in her career and vied for the top spot in Bollywood, giving tough competition to some of her contemporary divas like aMadhuri Dixit, Karisma Kapoor and Kajol. Juhi Chawla was born on 13th November, 1967 to Dr. S Chawla and Mona in Ludhiana, Punjab. She graduated from Sydenham College in Mumbai. But Juhi was meant to reach for the stars. In 1984, she took part in the Miss India contest and came out as the winner. She was crowned as Miss India and went on to represent the country at the Miss Universe pageant in Miami, USA. She could not win the crown but came back with the Best Costume Award. From beauty pageants, she slowly entered the big world of Bollywood. In 1986, she made her debut with the multi-starrer ‘Sultanat’. After that she did a few Kannada films but did not taste success. Then came the year 1988 and a movie that drove the youngistan of that generation completely mad- ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’. Juhi appeared as the lead opposite the chocolaty faced Aamir Khan. It was a instant hit and she was catapulted to the top slot of actresses overnight. After that there was simply no looking back. Juhi`s association with Aamir continued for a long time, and most of the times it was successful. Films like ‘Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke’ and ‘Ishq’ also turned out to be big hits. She also bagged the Filmfare Best Actress award for her role in ‘Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Mein’. Her work in this film was very well received. She also acted in quite a few Yashraj Banner films like ‘Chandni’, ‘Aaina’ and ‘Darr’. She then teamed up with Shah Rukh Khan to deliver hits like ‘Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman’, Darr’ and ‘Yes Boss’. But her association with SRK did not end. Juhi turned producer along with Shah Rukh with a company called Dreamz Unlimited. They together produced movies like ‘Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani’ and ‘Asoka’- both of which bombed badly at the box office. But their third venture, ‘Chalte Chalte’ got them success. She got married to an industrialist Jai Mehta and settled down. But after a gap of few years, she came back to what she was best at- acting. But this time we saw her in more critically acclaimed films like ‘3 Deewarein’, ‘My Brother Nikhil’, ‘Bas Ek Pal’, ‘Swami’ etc. In, ‘My Brother Nikhil’, critics thought it was her best performance till date. She also won the Star Screen Award Best Supporting Actress for her role in ‘3 Deewarein’. Juhi Chawla is the co-owner of the Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders in partnership with Shah Rukh Khan`s company Red Chillies Entertainment. Now she is the proud mother of two kids and has a bagful of fantastic films in her kitty. Whenever we shall speak of a talented actress with a million dollar smile, the name of Juhi Chawla will always crop up. We hope to see a number of wonderful performances from her in the future.