Happy Birthday Hema Malini: A look at Dream Girl's illustrious career

New Delhi: The 'Dream Girl' of Bollywood, Hema Malini, is celebrating her 69th birthday today.Reportedly, on the special occasion, the first full-length biography of the veteran actress, also a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Parliamentarian, will be launched.Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lauded Hema Malini's cinematic brilliance in the foreword of the book

Over the years, the diva has been entertaining us with her acting and dancing skills.Born on October 16, 1948 in Jeeyapuram, Tiruchirappalli district, Madras, Malini was the third child born of a Tamil-speaking family to her mother Jaya Lakshmi Chakravarti, a film producer, and VSR Chakravarti.After performing as a dancer in a 1961 regional movie, she was rejected by Tamil Director, CV Sridhar, during 1964 when she first attempted to act, on the grounds that she was too thin to be the heroine in Venniradai and the role went to Venniradai Nirmala.

Her first main role in a movie came in 1968s `Sapno Ka Saudagar`, where she was cast alongside Raj Kapoor.The actress went on to star in close to 155 movies. She has also produced and directed two movies, and also directed a TV serial.Malini got married to Dharmendra on August 21, 1979, and have two children, Bollywood actress Esha Deol and Ahana Deol.She was conferred the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2000 and has won two Filmfare awards - Best Actress for Seeta aur Geeta in 1973 and Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993.

From 2003 to 2009, the actress was elected to the Rajya Sabha, as a representative of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and in 2014, she was elected to the Lok Sabha.