RIP Vidya Sinha: From Janeman Janeman to Rajnigandha Phool Tumhare, here are 5 songs to remember her by

Veteran Bollywood actor Vidya Sinha, known for her performance in Basu Chatterjee’s film Rajnigandhaa (1974), died in Mumbai on Thursday after a brief lung and heart ailment, family sources said. She was 71 and breathed her last at a private hospital in Juhu, where she was rushed last Sunday after severe breathing problems.

A major figure in Bollywood in the 1970s-1980s, comfortably straddling both commercial and alternate cinema, Sinha was noted for her sad and sombre roles as well as light and romantic films with many top actors of the era. Among her other notable films were: Hawas (1974), Chhoti Si Baat (1975), Mera Jeevana (1976), the crime-thriller Inkaar, Kitaab (both 1977), Pati, Patni aur Woh and Basu Chatterjee’s Safed Jhooth (both 1978), a horror flick Saboot (1980), Love Story and as a gangster in Josh (both 1981) and Salman Khan’s mega-hit Bodyguard (2011).

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Gracefully sailing into senior roles in films and television, she was seen in serials like Kkavyanjali (2005), Haar Jeet (2012), Qubool Hai (2012), Isqh Ka Rang Safed (2015), Chandra Nandini (2016) and later in Kulfi Kumar Bajewala (2018 onwards), telecast on various entertainment channels.

Born in Mumbai on November 15, 1947, to film producer Rana Pratap Singh, she started her professional career as a model and even won the Miss Bombay contest, catching the eye of renowned filmmaker Basu Chatterjee, making her mark in the industry though she entered it after getting married.

Though her first film was Raja Kaka (1974), it was Chatterjee’s Rajnigandhaa that year which catapulted her to fame, with the title song by Lata Mangeshkar still fresh in public memory. Inkaar was another important crime thriller in which she was paired opposite late actor Vinod Khanna.

Here are the five best songs to remember the actor by:

Rajnigandha Phool Tumhara (Rajnigandhaa) 

 Janeman Janeman (Chhoti Si Baat )

 Chhodo Ye Nigahon (Inkaar)

 Jeena Bhi Kya Jeena Hai (Saboot)

 Thande Thande Paani Se Nahana (Pati Patni Aur Woh)

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