Mumbai: Actress of 80s and ‘Ram Teri Ganga Maili’- fame Mandakini is now living a low profile life. Mandakini’s film journey was cut short for her connection with famous Gangster Dawood Ibrahim.
Another reason for her low profile life is that her film did not do well at the box office post ‘RTGM’. Although Mandakini worked in many films, but the role of Ganga in RTGM made her a household name in India. Mandakini will celebrate her 50th birthday July 30.
Here are some unheard tales of Mandakini
Mandakini’s real name is Yasmeen Joseph and she is from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. It is said that Mandakini was rejected by three filmmakers before she was signed for RTGM. Mandakini became talk of the town for having a rumoured affair with the underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
It is said that Mandakini was 22 when actor and director Raj Kapoor saw her for the first time. Raj Kapoor had changed her name to Mandakini before casting her in the film.
Mandakini made her debut with this film in the Hindi film Industry. Mandakini gave a tremendous bold, especially the scene which was shot under the waterfall wearing a white, transparent saree. People still do not know how this scene was cleared by the censor board.
In 1994, some photographs of Mandakini with Dawood Ibrahim surfaced in the social media which jolted the film industry. Grapevine says Mandakini and Dawood also have a son. However, Mandakini denied these many times.
Mandakini, in an interview, said that she was only a friend of Dawood. She often used to go to Dubai for shows and there she met Dawood. Sonakshi Sinha and Akshay Kumar’s movie ‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Dobaara!’ is rumoured to be based on Dawood Ibrahim’s life. Akshay played the role of gangster Dawood while Sonakshi played the character of Mandakini.
Later, Mandakini stopped doing movies in1996 and the reason was the failure of her films at the box office. Mandakini married a former Buddhist monk, Dr. Kagyur T. Rinpoche Thakur.
They have a son named Rabbil and a daughter Rabze Innaya Thakur.
PNN/Agencies