Born:
October 02, 1942
Birthplace: Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India
Trivia:
Is the only child of a middle-class Gujarati household of a Hindu father and a Muslim mother who had two miscarriages. Had enrolled in classical dance classes as a child and began performing on stage. Was cast by famed film director Bimal Roy at the tender age of ten in Maa (1952) after he saw her dance on stage. Was fired by director Vijay Bhatt from Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959) when she was 16 years old. Her first film as a heroine Dil Deke Dekho (1959) premiered on her 17th birthday. Her fame leveraged producers to hire her mother Sudha Parekh to design her costumes for most of the films that she starred in. Got her first break as a tragedienne when director Raj Khosla cast her in the film Do Badan (1966). Acted with Bengali star Uttam Kumar in a Hindi film titled Jhankar, which was shelved after a few days of filming. Was a grand marshal, along with Miss Universe 1994 Sushmita Sen in the 1994 India Day Parade in New York City. Wrote her memoir The Hit Girl (2017) that revealed her affair with Bollywood director Nasir Hussain who was already married to choreographer Ayesha Khan. The Asha Parekh Hospital in Mumbai is named after her, because of her many humanitarian contributions.