Asha Sachdev

Sachdev was born as Nafeesa Sultan on May 27 in 1956.^[5] She is the daughter of actress Raziyah (who later changed her name to Ranjana)^[5] and musician Ahmed Ali Khan (Ashiq Hussain). After her parents divorced and her mother remarried, she adopted the stage name "Asha Sachdev", from the name of her stepfather. Singer Anwar Hussain is her brother and through her father's second marriage she is the half-sister of actor Arshad Warsi. Later in her life, Sachdev converted from Islam to Hinduism.^[6]

In 2018, Sachdev revealed that she was engaged to a man named Kishen Lal in her youth, but he died shortly after, in an accident. She is unmarried till date.^[4]

Sachdev was an alumna of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune and joined Bollywood. She began her career in a low-budget film Double Cross in 1972, wherein she played a bold and dynamic role; the film was a flop. She subsequently played the leading lady in Hifazat (1973) and was appreciated for her good performance and the songs, especially "Yeh Mastaani Dagar" and "Hamrahi Mera Pyar", which became popular. Somehow the image stuck and thereafter she was offered only supporting and bold characters. Her bare dare appearance in red hot pants in the Navin Nishchol-Rekha star thriller Woh Main Nahin (1974), which was remake of Naan Avan Illai, created a storm and she was flooded with item dance offers and vamp roles.

She occasionally received offers in the leading role, as in Agent Vinod and Ek Hi Raasta (both 1977), which became hits. She won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Neetu Singh's best friend in Priyatama in 1978. In the role, she wore a simple saree and was bespectacled throughout the film. Some of her other notable films include Mama Bhanja, Lafange, Mehbooba, Satte Pe Satta, Duniya Meri Jeb Mein, The Burning Train, Judaai, Prem Rog and Eeshwar. In the late 1980s, she moved to television, acting in serials throughout the 90s.

She made a comeback to films later in the 2000s and was seen playing character roles in films like Fiza (2000), Aghaaz, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007) and Aaja Nachle (2008). In television, she worked in the early soap opera, Buniyaad (1986), and in 2008, she also appeared in the series, Jugni Chali Jalandhar on SAB TV, with actor Ranjeet.^[7]