Parveen Babi (April 4, 1949 - January 20, 2005) was an Indian actress.
She was born in Junagadh and did her early schooling in Aurangabad and
later attended St. Xavier's College, Ahmedabad. Her father Vali
Mohammed Babi, a Gujarati muslim, was an administrator with the Nawab
of Junagadh. Babi was born fourteen years after the marriage of her
parents and was an only child.
She was one of the most
successful Bollywood actresses in the 1970s and was known for her
portrayal of strong women who did not care about the conventional norms
of society. She was the first Indian actress to have featured on TIME
magazine's cover, in 1975. In her most successful films, she was paired
opposite Amitabh Bachchan who was one of the biggest stars of the
decade. She is often compared with her contemporary Zeenat Aman due to
their common image of being Westernized beauties. In films like Deewar
(1975), Shaan (1980) and Namak Halaal (1982) her screen presence maybe
have been minimal (the films largely working around the hero) but Babi
brought a certain attractive aloofness to the roles and songs she
appeared in
She was found dead in her Mumbai apartment on
January 22, 2005 after her residential society secretary complained to
the police that she had not collected milk and newspapers from her
doorstep for two days.She was found to have gangrene of the foot as a
complication of her diabetic condition. The police ruled out any foul
play. She was buried next to her mother at Santa Cruz, in Mumbai on
January 23, after her funeral was made according to Islamic teachings.