Prema Narayan (born 4 April 1955) is a former Model and

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

actress-dancer. 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, West Bengal. She is the niece of actor

Anita Guha Anita Guha (17 January 1932 – 20 June 2007) was an Indian actress who usually played mythological characters in films. She became known for playing the title role in ''Jai Santoshi Maa'' (1975). Previously, she had played Sita in other mytholo ...

Career

Prema Narayan was an English teacher in a convent school. Later she opted for modelling. In 1971, she participated in Femina Miss India 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 where she was crowned 1st runner-up.

Acting career

She chose Bollywood after offers started coming her way after winning the Femina Miss India contest. Her performance in films such as ''

Manzilein Aur Bhi Hain ''Manzilein Aur Bhi Hain'' ( Miles) is a 1974 Bollywood crime thriller film directed by Mahesh Bhatt, and starring Kabir Bedi, Prema Narayan and Gulshan Arora in lead roles. The rights of this film are now owned by Glamour Eyes Films. The dir ...

'' (1973) and ''

Maa Bahen Aur Biwi Maa Bahen Aur Biwi is a 1974 Bollywood drama film directed by Harbans Kumar. Cast *Kabir Bedi *Prema Narayan *Raj Kishore * David Abraham *Anjana *Jankidas *Tabassum *Tun Tun Tun Tun

'' (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 Filmfa ...

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 Ye () is a Chinese-language surname. It is listed 257th in the Song dynasty classic text '' Hundred Family Surnames'', and is the 43rd most common surname in China, with a population of 5.8 million as of 2008 and 2019. Ye is usually romanized a ...

'' (1999).

Personal life

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

Filmography

Awards & 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