Prema Narayan (born 4 April 1955) is an Indian former actress, model, dancer and beauty pageant titleholder. She has acted in Hindi and Bengali cinema. She was the Femina Miss India World 1971, and represented India at Miss World 1971.

Early life

Prema Narayan was born in

Kalimpong Kalimpong is a town and the headquarters of an eponymous district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located at an average elevation of . The town is the headquarters of the Kalimpong district. The region comes under Gorkhaland Territo ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. She is the niece of actor Anita Guha.

Career

Prema Narayan was an English teacher in a convent school. Later she opted for modelling. In 1971, she participated in

Femina Miss India Miss India, also known as Femina Miss India, is a national beauty pageant in India that selects representatives to compete in the Miss World competition, one of the Big Four international beauty pageants. It is organized by ''Femina (India), F ...

contest and was crowned Femina Miss India World 1971. She represented India at Miss World 1971 but did not win. The same year she was appointed to represent India at Queen of the Pacific pageant held in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

where she was crowned 1st runner-up.

Acting career

She chose Bollywood after offers started coming her way after winning the

contest. Her performance in films such as '' Manzilein Aur Bhi Hain'' (1973) and '' Maa Bahen Aur Biwi'' (1973) were noticed. She did not restrict herself as a leading lady as she was mostly considered for dancer/vamp or supporting roles. She got recognition for her work on being nominated in 1976 in

Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress The Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a female actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role. Although the Filmfare ...

category for her performance as a sensuous village belle ''Dhanno'' in the Uttam Kumar-Sharmila Tagore film '' Amanush'' (1975). This role was a total deviation from her modern sex-symbol well-educated western image. Besides being noticed for her acting prowess she was also appreciated for her western-style dance numbers. She regularly featured in lower-grade horror films including ''Hotel'', ''Mangalsutra'', ''Saat Saal Baad'' and ''Ghabrahat''. Her last appearance was in ''Yeh Basti Badmashon Ki'' (1999).

Personal life

She is married to Rajiv, a lawyer. The couple has two adult sons.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

: '' Amanush'': Nominated

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Narayan, Prema 1955 births Living people Indian beauty pageant winners Miss World 1971 delegates Actresses in Hindi cinema Indian film actresses 20th-century Indian actresses Female models from West Bengal Actresses from West Bengal People from Kalimpong district