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She was one of the top actresses in 1970s. Regarded as the future superstar of Hindi cinema, her personal life faced several challenges which led her to quit industry at the peak. She got married twice, but both times lost her spouse in unfortunate events. We are talking about none other than Leena Chandavarkar.
Born in Karnataka to a Konkana Marathi family, her father Sreenath Chandavarkar was an army officer. After her debut film Maseeha got shelved in 1969, she debuted with Man Ka Meet following the year. She became an overnight sensation and later, starred in several hits like Mehboob Ki Mehndi, Bairaag, Anhonee, Humjoli. The actress also worked with several superstars including Dilip Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Jeetendra and more. Alongside her contemporaries including Rekha, Mumtaz, Sharmila Tagore, she became the highest-paid Bollywood actress of 70s.
While her professional life was going all well, Leena’s personal life somehow got distorted. When at the top of her career, she got engaged to industrialist Siddharth Bandodkar. Siddharth was the son of the first Chief Minister of Goa, Dayanand Bandodkar. Unfortunate, her marriage came to an end, when her husband died within a year, after he accidentally shot himself while cleaning the revolver. He passed away after 11 months of treatment, and Leena became widower at the age of 26.
According to reports, Leena fell into depression after her husband’s death. She moved back to her home and stopped working for a while. After some time, she move to Mumbai to complete her unfinished projects. She signed Pyaar Ajnabee Hai, directed by Kishore Kumar. During the shoot, Leena and Kishore Kumar fell in love with each other. However, Kishore wanted to marry Leena, but she was reluctant to accept his proposal as he was already married three times before. Her father was completely against this, but somehow Kishore Kumar convinced him and he agreed to their union.
Kishore Kumar married Leena Chandavarkar in 1980. During the wedding, the actress was already seven months pregnant. But this marriage did not last long either. Kishore died in 1987, leaving Leena widow for the second time at the age of 36.
Following the tragic turn of events, Leena decided to step away from the showbiz. Her last film appearance was in Mamta Ki Chhaon Mein opposite Rajesh Khanna in 1987.
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