After the death of Divya Bharti, a number of Bollywood actresses tried to fill that void left by the young star. In terms of looks, the one who came closest to Divya’s Indian beauty was a young starlet named Mamta Kulkarni. Although Mamta Kulkarni had already done a few films, she found fame, both on and off camera, in the years to come. She gained fame as a sex symbol, worked in blockbuster films, but within years, her career fizzled out after a criminal case.
Mamta Kulkarni’s Bollywood debut and controversies
Mamta Kulkarni made her Bollywood debut in 1992 with Tirangaa, where she had a supporting role. She made her mark in a lead role with Aashiq Awara the following year. She began to be noticed by the mid-90s with starring roles in hits like hits like Krantiveer, Karan Arjun, and Sabse Bada Khiladi. In 1993, she first became controversy’s favourite child for the first time when posed topless on the cover of Stardust Magazine. The picture polarised everyone about her and became a raging controversy. The actress went one step ahead and did another bold shoot covered just in paint a couple of years later.
Mamta Kulkarni’s drug racket
In 2013, Mamta reportedly married Vicky Goswami, a drug lord. In 2016, the actress was named as a co-accused in a Rs 2000-crore international drug racket in which Vicky was the mastermind. The police even went to her home in Mumbai in 2017 and declared her a ‘proclaimed offender’. Mamta has denied the charges against her.
Mamta Kulkarni, the yogini
In the mid-2010s, Mamta announced that she had become a yogini and she even authored a book titled Autobiography of an Yogini, chronicling her life journey. Mamta Kulkarni has not acted in films in over 20 years with her last appearance in 2003 Bangladeshi film Shesh Bongsodhar. Her last Bollywood film was the 2002 release Kabhie Tum Kabhie Hum. She lives away from the limelight.
