Top News

Mumbai: Famous actress Waheeda Rehman is celebrating her 88th birthday today, 3rd February 2026. She is known for the unique characters she played in films like Kaagaz Ke Phool, Pyaasa and Guide, and her acting career has yielded many significant hits.

Today on her special day, let us know how she started her acting career and how she got her first lead role with veteran Indian actor and politician NT Rama Rao.

How did you start your acting career?

In an old interview, Waheeda Rehman told that she is from Madras and her father was a municipal commissioner. He told that he liked singing and dancing since childhood. Due to this, she later started formally training in dance. Being from South India, she had an interest in Bharatanatyam, and practiced the dance extensively.

Waheeda also told that she used to perform on stage as a hobby, and through these exhibitions she got the opportunity to participate in films.

How did you enter films?

Talking about his film journey, he said, ‘One day my father’s friend, who was a producer of Telugu films, came to our house and proposed me to work in a film. At that time my father said that I am still very young and my studies are also incomplete. However, his friends insisted a lot.

Waheeda also said, ‘When I was about 13-14 years old, my father passed away. After that I started requesting his mother, she said, ‘It is just a dance. If I can dance on stage, wouldn’t it be right to dance in a film? Ultimately his mother agreed.

How did you get the lead role with NT Rama Rao?

She made her debut in Telugu film as a dancer. He told that fortunately that film performed very well. It was the 1955 film ‘Rojulu Marayi’, directed by Tapi Chanakya. This film starred Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Sowkar Janaki in lead roles.

After the success of her first film, Waheeda Rehman got her first break as a lead actress in the 1955 film ‘Jayasimha’ opposite NT Rama Rao. After this, she met Guru Dutt in Hyderabad and then moved to Mumbai, where she gained recognition as a great actress.