Many Bollywood actresses like Bhagyashree, Namrata Shirodkar, and others, who gained fame early in their careers left the industry after marriage. One such actress, who was the top star in Bollywood for 15 years, left the industry after marriage and moved to the US.
The actress we are talking about was called 'Ice Maiden' and lived with tag throughout her career. The actress gave several superhits with Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Vinod Khanna, and Sunny Deol among other superstars. She is the 80s-90s beauty queen Meenakshi Seshadri.
Prior to her acting career, Meenakshi Seshadri won the Eve's Weekly Miss India contest in 1981 at the age of 17 and represented India at Miss International 1981. After a forgettable debut in Painter Babu, Meenakshi acted alongside another newcomer, Jackie Shroff, in Hero. The film was a blockbuster and Meenakshi became an overnight star.
She then went on to rule over Bollywood from the 80s-90s and gave several blockbusters and superhits including Damini, Dacait alongside Sunny Deol, Shahenshah opposite Amitabh Bachchan, Mahaadev with Vinod Khanna, and more. Her pairing with Jackie Shroff, Rishi Kapoor, Sunny Deol, and Vinod Khanna was hugely popular and often praised by the media. However, her best and most successful pairing, as well as her best on-screen chemistry was with Anil Kapoor. Her successful films with Anil Kapoor include Aag Se Khelenge, Meri Jung, Humlaa, and Ghar Ho Toh Aisa.
In an interview with Rediff, the actress revealed how she was called Ice Maiden and told Dinesh Raheja, "I would like to talk about one of our encounters (laughs). We met for the first time at the outdoor of Subhash Ghai's Hero in Ooty. I was unwell and stayed close to my mom. You went back and wrote I was an 'Ice Maiden' because you thought that fit my personality and attitude. This title stuck to me throughout my career. But now, I have evolved. America is a melting pot and you become a different person after you assimilate with people from so many countries. So for the second innings of my career, I want you to come up with a new label."
She also talked about her children's reaction to her being an actress and said, "My children are very proud of me, and of the fact that at the age of 17, I was a Miss India and then one of the top actresses in India for 15 years. But they have only seen a few of my noteworthy films. I don't think they quite understand the Indian style of acting in the '80s."
After the release of her film Ghatak, the actress quit Bollywood and left India to live with her husband and focus on family in US. However, after living abroad after 28 years, she is back in India and is now open to making a comeback to films.
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