Leena Chandavarkar is a former Indian actress. She was Kishore Kumar’s fourth wife and stayed with him until his death.
Wiki/Biography
Leena Chandavarkar was born on 29 August 1950 in Dharwad, Karnataka (age 73; as of 2023). Her zodiac sign is Virgo. She received her education from Mission High School, Basel, Karnataka. She didn’t go to college. After completing her studies, she participated in the Filmfare Fresh Face competition in 1965 and finished second. After that, she received several advertising assignments. She worked in advertising until 1968. In 1968 she made her first film.
Leena Chandavarkar in an advertising shoot
appearance
Height: 5′3″ (approximately)
Weight: 55 kg (approx.)
Eye color: brown
Hair color: black
Lina Chandavakar
family
Lina was born into a Brahmin family. Her father Srinath Chandavarkar was an Indian Army officer. Little is known about her mother. She has a brother, Anil Chandavakar. She was married twice. Her first marriage was to Siddharth Bandodkar. Her second marriage was to Kishore Kumar. She has a son with him, Sumeet Kumar.
Leena Chandavarkar with her first husband Siddharth Bandodkar
Leena Chandavarkar with her second husband Kishore Kumar
Leena Chandavarkar and her son Sumeet Kumar
Profession
Lena has received several modeling assignments. She wanted to pursue an acting career but didn’t get good movies. She is very conservative and traditional. So she had to give up a lot of movies. In 1968, she finally got a good role in Sunil Dutt’s film Man Ka Meet. She plays the female lead alongside Sunil Dutt’s brother Som Dutt. Vinod Khanna also plays the villain in the film. This is also Khanna’s debut novel. Between 1969 and 1979, she made several films with popular actors. By the late 1980s, she had worked with Dilip Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Sanjeev Kumar, Jeetendra and others.
Leena Chandavarkar with Sunil Dutt and Vinod Khanna
In 1970, she collaborated with Jeetendra in the film Huumjoli. The song “Dhal Gaya Din Ho Gayi Shaam” from the movie became an instant hit and is loved across India. Leena has since become a household name and she became extremely popular after this song.
She has become a very popular actress and every director wants her to be the heroine of the movie. In 1971, she collaborated with Rajesh Khanna in the film “Mehboob Ki Mehndi”. It is considered her best performance and she received praise from all over India for her role in the film and the way she was portrayed.
Leena Chandavarkar in Mehboob Ki Mehndi
She made 30 films in her 15-year career. Her last film was Sarfarosh. In a 2015 interview, she stated that she would still be willing to make movies if she was offered a good role.
dispute
On February 16, 2015, at the 2015 Hum Log Awards, which Leena attended, she had an incident with Ram Jethmalani; who also attended the event. When she came on stage, Jeetmalani stepped forward to hold her hand and greet her, but he accidentally kissed her. After the photo of the kiss went viral, many people on social media platforms felt sorry for Lena and trolled Jess Malani. Lena later clarified that they both admired each other and there was nothing wrong with the kiss.
Ram Jethmalani kisses Leena Chandavarkar
favorite thing
Favorite food: Roast chicken
Favorite actor: Kishore Kumar
Favorite actress: Nargis
Favorite Bollywood movie: Bidai (1974)
Favorite Hollywood movie: So Far East (1954)
Favorite singer: Kishore Kumar
fact
- She competed in the Filmfare Fresh Face competition when she was 15 years old. She was the runner-up in this competition. Rajesh Khanna and Farida Jalal also participated in the competition and they won.
- Nargis is Lena’s mentor. She taught her non-classical dance, driving and Hindi. Lena’s mother tongue was Kannada, so Nargis had to teach her Hindi.
- She has never done a bikini photoshoot because she is very conservative.
- She has made more than 30 films, most of which were hits.
Lina Chandavakar
- She met Kishore Kumar for the first time in 1973 when she was shooting for the film Manchali. Kishore was on set as he sang a song in the film.
Leena Chandavarkar in Manchali
- She married Siddharth Bandodkar on December 8, 1975. Siddharth is the son of Dayanand, the first chief minister of Goa.
Leena Chandavarkar with her first husband Siddharth Bandodkar
- Her marriage did not last long and on December 18, 1975, Siddharth accidentally shot himself while cleaning his revolver. He fought for his life for more than a year and finally died on November 7, 1976.
Leena Chandavarkar and Siddharth Bandodkar
- In 1980, she married her second husband Kishore Kumar. They have one son, Sumeet Kumar.
Leena Chandavarkar and Kishore Kumar with their son Sumeet
- Kishore Kumar died on October 13, 1987. Leena never married after Kumar’s death.
- She has completely quit acting, but now she writes lyrics for her son Sumit Kumar’s music albums.
Leena Chandavarkar and her son Sumeet Kumar
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education