Meet actress, who won Miss Young India at 16, was forced to work in films, was a hit pair with Vinod Khanna; Her name is…

Once a top heroine of her time, she has romanced many superstars on screen, including Rishi Kapoor. She won the title of Miss India Young at the age of just 16 and went on to deliver dozens of hit films. Today, let’s take a look back at the journey of the actress’ film career. She never wanted to become an actress. But fate made her choose acting.

Born on 18 April 1962 in Kanpur, this actress’ father was an aeronautics engineer, and she grew up with three siblings. In 1977, she won the title of Miss India Young, which opened the doors to modelling for her. Though she never wanted to become an actress, however, her beauty soon graced the covers of several magazines. This led to her first film, Trishul. After the success of this film, she became a star in Bollywood. Then, in 1979, came the film Noori, which turned her into an overnight sensation. You must have guessed by now, we are talking about Poonam Dhillon.

Her on-screen pairing with Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Khanna and Sunny Deol was very popular. Following her debut in Kaala Patthar, she appeared in a string of hit films like Dard, Red Rose, Biwi-O-Biwi, Yeh Toh Kamaal Ho Gaya, Teri Meherbaniyan, Karma, Partition, Kasam, and Sohni Mahiwal, all of which performed well at the box office.

Poonam Dhillon also acted in regional language films in Bengali, Tamil, and Kannada, in addition to her Bollywood projects. Her film career as a leading lady spanned from Trishul in 1978 to Virodhi in 1992.

In 1988, Dhillon fell in love with filmmaker Ashok Thakeria and married him. The couple had a son, Anmol, and a daughter, Paloma. However, their marriage did not last long, and they divorced in 1997.

Poonam still shares a close friendship with Bollywood actresses Padmini Kolhapure and Rati Agnihotri.

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