Amrita Singh

Amrita Singh (born 9 February 1958) is an Indian film and television actress.

Singh was born into a Sikh family. She is the daughter of Rukhsana Sultana, who was a political activist and army officer Shivinder Singh Virk from a feudal family. Through her paternal grandmother Mohinder Kaur, Amrita is the great-granddaughter of Sobha Singh, OBE, of Hadali, Sargodha, one of the builders of New Delhi, and the great-niece of the late novelist Khushwant Singh.

Her maternal grandmother Zarina Khan was the elder sister of actress Begum Para. The latter is the mother of actor Ayub Khan. The two sisters were daughters of Mian Ehsan Ul Haque, who came from a landowning family and was the Chief Justice in the princely state of Bikaner, northern Rajasthan. Her mother Rukhsana Sultana's father was a Punjabi Hindu, Group Captain Madan Mohan Bimbet. Zarina took her daughter with her after the marriage failed and the child was renamed Rukhsana Sultana and raised a Muslim. She inherited most of Ehsan Ul Haque's property.

Singh attended Modern School in New Delhi and is fluent in English, Punjabi and Hindi languages.

1983–1993

Singh made her Bollywood debut in 1983 with Betaab, an immensely successful film in which she was paired with Sunny Deol. This was quickly followed by a succession of hits, such as: Sunny in 1984, Mard (which was the biggest hit of that year) and Saaheb in 1985, Chameli Ki Shaadi and Naam in 1986 and Khudgarz in 1987. Singh made a successful pair in several films not only with Sunny Deol and Sanjay Dutt, but also with Anil Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan, two leading actors of the 1980s.

As well as playing leading roles, she also played supporting negative roles in films such as Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (1992) and Aaina (1993). She also won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for the latter. These successes did not dissuade her from her resolve to retire into family life and she quit acting after 1993.

2002–present

Singh returned to acting in 2002 with the film 23rd March 1931: Shaheed, in which she played the mother of Bhagat Singh (played by Bobby Deol). She joined the television industry with Ekta Kapoor’s family drama Kavyanjali aired on Star Plus in 2005. Singh was seen in a negative role in the show that soon gained immense popularity. Later that year, she won acclaim for her performance in yet another negative role for the film Kalyug.

In 2007, Singh played the role of gangster Maya Dolas' mother, Ratnaprabha Dolas, in the Sanjay Gupta film Shootout at Lokhandwala, directed by Apoorva Lakhia. Vivek Oberoi played the role of Maya. Later on she appeared in the anthology film Dus Kahaniyaan, where she appeared in the short story Poornmasi.

Continuing her acting journey, Singh played in the film Kajraare in 2010 and also appeared in Aurangzeb under the Yash Raj Films banner where she was paired with Jackie Shroff after almost two decades. In 2014 she was seen in the film 2 States produced by Dharma Productions portraying the role of co-actor Arjun Kapoor's mother. The film released on 18 April 2014.

In 1991, Singh married film actor Saif Ali Khan in an Islamic wedding ceremony and converted to Islam before marriage. Twelve years younger than her, Khan is the son of former Indian test cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, the ninth Nawab of Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore. In 1993, Amrita gave up acting for a family life with her husband. Together they have two children, a daughter named Sara Ali Khan (born September 1993) and a son named Ibrahim Ali Khan (born October 2001). After thirteen years of marriage, they divorced in 2004.

• Kavyanjali as Nitya Nanda

• 1994: Won, Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Aaina
• 2005: Won, Indian Telly Award For Best Actress in a Negative Role (Jury) for Kavyanjali
• 2006: Won, Star Parivaar Award for Favorite Khalnayak for Kavyanjali
• 2006: Nominated, Filmfare Best Villain Award for Kalyug
• 2014: Nominated: Stardust Award for Best Supporting Actress for 2 States
• 2015: Nominated: Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for 2 States