The Living Legend-Asha Parekh

Asha Parekh was born into a middle-class Gujarati household on October 2, 1942 in Mahuva, Bhavnagar district, Gujarat. Since Asha Parekh was an only child, she became the centre of her parents' lives. Her mother enrolled her in Indian classical dance classes at an early age and Asha excelled at dancing to the point where she performed at stage shows and private functions.

Asha Parekh started her career as a child artiste under the screen name Baby Asha Parekh in the film Aasmaan (1952). Famed film director Bimal Roy saw her dance at a stage function and cast her at the tender age of twelve in Baap Beti (1954). The film's failure disappointed her and even though she did a couple more child roles, she quit to resume her schooling. Asha Parekh was one of the top stars in Hindi films from 1959 to 1973 and is said to have starred in more hit films than any other actress.

At the age of 16 Asha Parekh decided to try acting again and make her debut as a heroine, but Asha was rejected from Vijay Bhatt's Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959) in favor of actress Ameeta, because the filmmaker claimed she was not star material. The very next day, film producer Subodh Mukherjee and writer-director Nasir Hussain cast her as the heroine in Dil Deke Dekho (1959) opposite Shammi Kapoor which made her a huge star.
Asha stopped acting in 1995 to pursue directing and producing television serials, but her acting accomplishments were not forgotten as she received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002.

Asha Parekh has continued to receive other Lifetime Achievement Awards: Kalakar Award in 2004; International Indian Film Academy Awards in 2006; Pune International Film Festival Award (2007); Ninth Annual Bollywood Award (2007) in Long Island, New York. Asha received the Living Legend Award from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry(FICCI).