Urmila Matondkar is one of Bollywood’s actresses that does not thrive on the success of her directors, she thrives on the success of her performances. She began her career in the 80’s as a child artist in the movie Kalyug. Later she starred in Masoom opposite Jugal Hansraj which did about average at the box-office. She later made her debut as an adult actress in the film Narasimha alongside Sunny Deol. But her flops are a thing of the past because her hits have created the actress she is today.
Her many hits include Ram Gopal Verma’s Rangeela opposite Aamir Khan and Jackie Shroff, which won her not only praise from her fans but a new glamorous look. After that movie people have also noticed the similarity between Urmila’s and Asha Bhosle’s voices and ever since, Asha Bhosle has been singing for Urmila. Also Rangeela has made Urmila a favorite actress amongst directors like Ram Gopal Verma.
Urmila is also known for performing all types of roles such as a young girl in Satya, an abused wife in Pinjar, a girl possessed by ghosts in Bhoot, the other woman in Judaai, a daughter of a man who claims to have killed Gandhi in Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Mara, a girl faced with many troubles in Ek Hasina Thi, and a daughter traumatized by her lover’s death in Banaras. She stands today as an underrated actress in Bollywood along with Manisha Koirala, Mahima Chaudhary, and Juhi Chawla when she should be part of the Rani, Preity, and Kajol group. Now some people may disagree with me but why wouldn’t a talented actress like Urmila be doing films like Krissh, Fanaa, Koi Mil Gaya, or Kal Ho Na Ho? Is it because she doesn’t work with those so called ‘big’ directors? Or is it because she can’t perform in the shoes of a Rani, Preity, or Kajol?
I think it’s because Bollywood rates stars according to which directors they work with not because of how much talent they’ve shown. If you don’t believe me look at the facts: When did Rani reach the level when she was most popular as an actress? When she received her awards for Black, and I’m not saying that she hasn’t done justice to her role, I’m saying that she reached popularity when she worked with Sanjay Leela Bhansali – a so called ‘big’ director.
Urmila’s never had a chance to work with those directors, but her performances in every movie show that she is capable of doing a Naina in Kal Ho Naa Ho, a Michelle in Black, and a Zooni in Fanaa. Her upcoming movies include Onir’s Bas Ek Pal opposite Sanjay Suri and Ram Gopal Varma’s remake of Sholay. Bas Ek Pal should do about average at the box-office and the Sholay remake is something everyone’s looking forward to as the orignal Sholay is a Bollywood blockbuster. So we fans of Urmila wish her best of luck as she’s on her way towards success, success she deserves.
