Meet one of the leading actresses of the mid-1980s and 1990s, Farah Naaz Hashmi, who made her acting debut under YRF but left acting due to personal reasons. Here's her interesting story!
Farah Naaz Hashmi, commonly known as Farah Naaz is right up there with the most beautiful actresses in the history of Indian cinema. Whether we talk about her innocent eyes, mesmerising smile or her style quotient, she was termed a '90s beauty' back in the good old days. Farah Naaz is currently living a peaceful life with her husband, Sumeet Saigal, who is a former actor and producer.
Every now and then, we see Farah Naaz's pictures doing rounds on social media, as she looks graceful even at the age of 55, reminding everyone of the time when she was almost every Indian man's crush. Back in the mid-1980s and 1990s, she was the name that was on almost every director's lips. While there are no ifs and buts about her beauty, it's an undeniable fact that Farah Naaz achieved all the success in her professional career because of her exceptional acting.
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The iconic actress, Farah Naaz Hashmi has given many iconic performances in timeless films and even to this day, she serves as an inspiration for young aspiring actresses across the country. Talking about how the iconic actress of yesteryear looks now, we often come across her pictures on Instagram that speak volumes about her beauty and grace. For instance, a picture of Farah Naaz with her husband, Sumeet Saigal, from recent years proves that she is ageing like a fine wine.
Before we head to Farah Naaz Hashmi's professional journey as an actress in the Hindi cinema or talk about her two marriages, let's talk about her family background. The iconic actress was born in a Hyderabadi Muslim family on December 9, 1968. Three years after her birth, Farah was promoted to 'elder sister' after the birth of her younger sister, Tabu, who went on to become one of the greatest actresses of Indian cinema. Unfortunately, when they were mere kids, their parents, Jamal Ali Hashmi and Rizwana parted ways due to personal reasons.
Talking about Farah Naaz Hashmi's paternal family, her grandfather, Mohammed Ahsan was a renowned mathematics professor, and her grandmother was a professor of English literature. Moving on to her maternal side, both her grandfather and grandmother were retired professors, who ran a school after their retirement. Farah's mother, Rizwana was also a school teacher. However, not everyone is aware of the fact that Rizwana and legendary actress, Shabana Azmi are cousin-sisters. As a result, Farah and Tabu are nieces of Shabana Azmi.
Farah Naaz made her acting debut in Yash Chopra's film, Faasle, at the age of 17 in 1985. In her debut movie under the Yash Raj Films, she was cast opposite Mahendra Kapoor's son, Rohan Kapoor. Although the film was a complete disaster at the box office, but it still managed to introduce Farah to many directors and producers. In the following year (1986), Farah appeared in three films, Palay Khan, Naseeb Apna Apna, and Love 86, which was a start to her illustrious career in Hindi cinema.
In the coming years, she worked with legendary actors like Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Rishi Kapoor, Vinod Khanna, Mithun Chakraborty, Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor, Raj Babbar, Govinda, Aamir Khan, Rahul Roy, Kumar Gaurav, Sunny Deol, and many more. Some of the best movies of Farah Naaz, which still hold a special place in the hearts of her fans include Imaandaar, Marte Dam Tak, Who Phir Aayegi, Yateem, Baap Numbri Beta Dus Numbri, Begunaah, Sautela Bhai, Pati Patni Aur Tawaif, Khuda Gawah, Amar Prem, Hulchul, and the list goes on.
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Once, in an old interview with the Filmfare Magazine back in 1988, Farah Naaz revealed that she used to cut her veins with a blade whenever she found herself in an argument with her sister, Tabu, her mother, Rizwana, and others. Revealing the reason behind this shocking practice, Farah admitted that she had done it more than twice and explained that she used to do it in order to divert her attention from the problem. She said:
"I am not doing this to kill myself. No one dies by cutting their wrists. I know my family won't let me die. But it's like whenever my mom or my sister says something to me that I can't stand, I do it. Trust me I have no idea what I'm doing or where I'm getting the blade from. And it doesn't hurt as much when I cut my vein. Actually by doing this, I diverted my attention from the problem that was bothering me so much. This is my way of annoying them. They won't know if I kill myself, but whenever they see my wounds like this, they will know that they hurt me."
One of the most common rumours that used to fill media corridors back in the 90s about Farah Naaz was her anger issues. There were tons of stories about how Farah Naaz's anger took a heavy toll on her acting career in Hindi cinema. According to multiple media reports, when Farah Naaz was working with Chunky Pandey in the film, Kasam Vardi Ki in 1989, the latter cracked a joke that didn't go well with the actress. As per reports, she didn't hesitate to slap her co-star, Chunky Pandey, on the sets and reportedly even threatened to kill him in an interview. The incident created a stir in the film industry and damaged Farah's reputation as a professional actor to a major extent.
Well, Chunky Pandey wasn't the only one that irked Farah Naaz, as in the same year, she shamed Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit publicly and even threatened him to beat. The incident happened after Anil and Farah's film, Rakhwala flopped at the box office, and reports were rife that the former wanted to replace Farah with Madhuri Dixit. When Farah learnt about these reports, she threatened the pair publicly, and after this incident, her reputation hit a new low.
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Apart from Farah Naaz's alleged anger issues, it was her turbulent marriage with Vindu Dara Singh which reportedly played a major role in the downfall of her career. The ex-couple met in the 90s, and after forming a bond, they got married in 1996. Farah and Vindu welcomed their first child, a baby boy, in 1997 and named him Fateh Randhawa. Unfortunately, after just six years of their marriage, it was in 2003 when they parted ways. As per multiple reports, Vindu and Farah's respective egos paved the way for their divorce.
After her tragic divorce from Vindu Dara Singh, Farah Naaz gave love another chance when she met television actor, Sumeet Saigal in 2003. The couple fell in love instantly and decided to spend the rest of their lives together. In the same year, they took the plunge and are leading a happy married life. While Farah Naaz's previous marriage was with Vindu Dara Singh, her second husband, Sumeet was also previously married to Shaheen Banu. Sumeet and Shaheen got married in 1990, and in 1997, they welcomed a daughter, Sayyeshaa, but parted ways in 2003. For the unversed, Sumeet and Shaheen's daughter, Sayyeshaa is now a renowned actress in South Indian cinema.
When Farah Naaz was dealing with all these ups and downs in her personal life, she couldn't focus on her professional career, and her competitors took advantage of it. With so many young actresses making their debut in Hindi cinema and existing divas grabbing back-to-back projects, it was an era of cut-throat competition in the film industry, which became too much of a hurdle for Farah. Also, her inclination to have a happy family life with her husband, Sumeet Saigal, reportedly convinced her to bid farewell to the world of glam and glitz. Well, no matter what, Farah Naaz will forever be remembered as one of the most loved actresses of the 90s.
What are your thoughts on Farah Naaz Hashmi's personal and professional lives? Do you think she had the potential to be one of the greatest actresses in Indian cinema? Let us know.
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